National Federation of Federal Employees v. Federal Labor Relations Authority

TATEL, Circuit Judge.

In this case, the Federal Labor Relations Authority ruled that a federal agency had no obligation to bargain over two union proposals calling for disclosure of certain documents. According to the FLRA, the proposals interfere with the federal agency’s statutory “right to assign work” because the agency would have to assign personnel to review the many documents sought by the union. But longstanding FLRA precedent makes clear that union proposals interfere with the right to assign work only when they specify which employees are to perform the task at issue — something…