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57 FLRA No. 117
Dept. of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Fort Worth, Texas and National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Local 171, Case No. DA-CA-90788 (Decided November 30, 2001)
The complaint alleged that the Respondent violated §§ 7114(b)(4) and 7116(a)(1), (5) and (8) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute by refusing to furnish certain information requested by the Union. The complaint also alleged that the Respondent violated § 7116(a)(1) and (5) of the Statute by acting in bad faith in withholding the same requested documents. The Judge recommended that, with the exception of one allegation in the complaint, the Respondent be found to have violated the Statute as charged. The Authority adopted the Judge's findings, conclusions, and recommended Order only to the extent consistent with this decision.
Preliminary, the Authority concluded that the Respondent's particularized need exception was barred by § 2429.5 of the Authority's Regulations. The Authority explained that under § 2429.5 of its regulations, it will not consider issues that could have been, but were not, presented to the Judge. In this case, the Respondent did not argue before the Judge that the Union's request failed to establish that the information was necessary, as required by section 7114(b)(4)(B) of the Statute. Also, the Authority found that the Judge did not err by addressing the Respondent's March 2 conduct. The Authority noted that although, the Judge acknowledged that the General Counsel appeared to abandon its allegations regarding this conduct, he did not find a concession regarding these allegations.
As to the merits, the Authority concluded that the Respondent had an obligation to furnish requested information to the Union. The Authority explained that under § 7114(b)(4) of the Statute, an agency must, upon request, furnish to a union data that is: (1) normally maintained by the agency; (2) reasonably available; (3) necessary for full and proper discussion, understanding, and negotiation of subjects within the scope of collective bargaining; and (4) not guidance, advice, counsel or training. Additionally, the Authority found that the Judge did not err by finding a separate statutory, bad faith violation, and that the Judge's factual errors did not undermine his decision.