National Treasury Employees Union v. Federal Labor Relations Authority

Title VII of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, 5 U.S.C. §§ 7101-7135 , governs labor-management relations within the federal civil service. The act guarantees employees of virtually all federal agencies, id. § 7103(a)(3), the right to bargain collectively over conditions of employment, id. § 7102(2), but exempts from negotiation proposals affecting management rights, id. § 7106. If a federal agency takes the position that a proposal made on behalf of its employees is exempt from negotiation, the employees’ exclusive bargaining representative may then appeal the agency’s allegation of nonnegotiability to the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) for a negotiability determination, id. § 7117(c)(1). The Civil Service Reform Act requires the FLRA to issue a “written decision on the [agency’s] allegation and specific reasons therefor .. .. ” Id. § 7117(c)(6).

The issue of negotiability arose in this case after the National Treasury Employees Union (Union) submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services (Department) four proposals concerning employee performance appraisal systems. The Department refused to bargain with the Union over these proposals, contending that…