OFFICIAL TIME
Justification for Official Time
An arbitrator issued a ruling in favor of a Union that challenged requirements imposed on the local president to justify his use of official time. Management required the president to state the location of his meeting, the purpose of the meeting, with whom he was meeting and what the meeting was about. The arbitrator prohibited management from requiring the president to say any more than where the meeting would be held. US Border Patrol, 117 L.A. 1252 (Massey, 2002).
Lobbying
In U.S. Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Memphis District, Memphis, Tennessee and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 259, 52 FLRA No. 93 (Member Armendariz concurring in part and dissenting in part), the Authority held that an award permitting union officials to use official time to lobby Congress on matters concerning unit employees' working conditions was not contrary to the Hatch Act or 18 U.S.C. 1913. The Authority determined that the employee lobbying activities involved in the case did not fall within definition of "political activity," as provided by the Hatch Act's implementing regulations. The Authority also concluded that 18 U.S.C. 1913, which makes it a crime for any employee or officer of a Federal agency to use money appropriated by Congress to pay for specific items intended to influence in any manner a Member of Congress or any legislation or appropriation, was not violated because the Statute constitutes an express authorization by Congress for using Federal funds to grant official time to employees to lobby Congress on representational matters. In determining that the award was not contrary to 18 U.S.C. 1913, the Authority considered the provision's plain wording, its legislative history, relevant court decisions, and administrative opinions of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the General Accounting Office.
Treasurer Duties
Here the case law from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) that
supports that Treasurer duties as they relate to preparation of reports (and
the record keeping required to get there) stating that such activities are
not internal Union business and hence training to learn such is of mutual
benefit to the agency and union.
38 FLRA 1366
B. Analysis and Conclusion
Preparation of reports that "function as an externally imposed disclosure
mechanism opening to view facets of the operations of the labor
organization" is not an activity "solely related to the institutional
structure of a labor organization and, thus, is not . . . related to the
internal business of a labor organization within the meaning of section
7131(b)." Id. at 9.
The Agency argues that the "preparation of documents which the union is
required by law to submit in order to retain viability must be found to be
prepared for internal [union] purposes." Agency Statement of Position at 5.
We disagree. Records, reports, and books that a union must prepare and
maintain to meet requirements established by Federal agencies are not
related to the internal business of a labor organization within the meaning
of section 7131(b).
In our view, Proposal 1 is similar to the proposal found negotiable in VA,
Cleveland, which concerned official time for the preparation of financial
and other reports required by the U.S. Department of Labor under section
7120(c) of the Statute, concerning the operations of a labor organization.
In that case, the Authority found that, unlike the activities expressly
cited in section 7131(b) of the Statute as not eligible to be conducted on
official time, such reports did not solely relate to the structure and
institution of the labor organization. 2 FLRA at 8. Rather, they "make[]
available to the public information regarding the conduct of union affairs."
Id. Similarly, the records and reports referenced in Proposal 1 do not
solely relate to the structure and institution of the Union. Rather, the
Union must prepare and maintain these records and reports to meet
requirements imposed by Federal agencies upon the Union to disclose certain
information about its operations. Accordingly, Proposal 1 is not
inconsistent with Federal law and is, therefore, within the duty to bargain.
45 FLRA 339
B. Analysis and Conclusions
This provision is to the same effect as Proposal 1 in National Treasury
Employees Union and U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue
Service, 38 FLRA 1366 (1991) (IRS). In that case, the agency argued that a
proposal that permitted the use of official time to prepare and maintain
records and reports required of the union by Federal agencies was
inconsistent with section 7131(b) of the Statute. In that decision we
stated:
In our view, Proposal 1 is similar to the proposal found negotiable in VA,
Cleveland, which concerned official time for the preparation of financial
and other reports required by the U.S. Department of Labor under section
7120(c) of the Statute, concerning the operations of a labor organization.
In that case, the Authority found that, unlike the activities expressly
cited in section 7131(b) of the Statute as not eligible to be conducted on
official time, such reports did not solely relate to the structure and
institution of the labor organization. Rather, they "make[] available to the
public information regarding the conduct of union affairs." Similarly, the
records and reports referenced in Proposal 1 do not solely relate to the
structure and institution of the Union. Rather, the Union must prepare and
maintain these records and reports to meet requirements imposed by Federal
agencies upon the Union to disclose certain information about its
operations. Accordingly, Proposal 1 is not inconsistent with Federal law and
is, therefore, within the duty to bargain.
[Citations omitted.]
Workload reduction (Official time to do Treasurer Record Keeping Duties) for
the Treasurer comes under protected activities:
a.. Article 3 Section 1
b.. Article 9 Section 1
c.. Artcile 9 Section 2 Pargraph A
d.. Article 9 Section 2 Paragraph A14 (Official time for preparation of
Labor managment reports. Case law says all record keeping required to meet this requirement is official time as the record keeping requirements are
imposed on the Agency employee (the Treasurer) by other Federal Agencies
such as the Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service).
e.. Article 9 Section 3 Paragraph A, B, E - Details official time release
procedure to be followed.
f.. Article 35 Section 4 Paragraph C - Supervisor will make allowances for
factors beyond the control of the employee which may have caused the
employee not to achieve a speicif performance level (e.g. Union offical
duties [Treasurer]...)... Employees will be rated only on the actual time
spent functioning against their performance standards.
g.. Federal Labor Relations Statute 7102
h.. Federal Labor Realtions Statute 7116(b)(1)
Letter from Minahan & Shapiro to DFAS on Offical Time for Treasurer