ORDER
The above-captioned matter concerns the provisions of the Congressional Accountability Act that apply the unfair labor practice prohibitions of the Federal Service Labor Management Relations Statute to employees, employing offices, and labor organizations in the legislative branch. 2 U.S.C. § 1351. The charging party (Union) requests that the Board publish the hearing officer’s January 29, 2021 Decision on Motions for Summary Judgment. For the reasons set forth below, we grant the Union’s request.
The Union’s request is governed by 2 U.S.C. section 1416(e), which provides:
A final decision entered under section 1405(g) or 1406(e) of this title shall be made public if it is in favor of the complaining covered employee, or in favor of the charging party under section 1331 of this title, or if the decision reverses a decision of a hearing officer which had been in favor of the covered employee or charging party. The Board may make public any other decision at its discretion.
See also OCWR Proc. Rule § 1.06(d). Here, although the hearing officer’s decision was entered under section 1405(g), it is still potentially subject to review by the Board under section 1406.0 F Therefore, the Union’s request concerns the Board’s discretionary authority under section 1406(e) to publish non-final decisions.
The OCWR General Counsel suggests that the determination of whether to publish a non- final decision ultimately involves weighing the public interest in transparency against the potential privacy interests of the litigants. We agree.
In determining the nature and extent of the public interest in transparency in this case, we note that this matter concerns the USCP’s suspension of the parties’ current collective bargaining agreement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Publication of the hearing officer’s decision will allow the Union to exercise its right, if not obligation, to inform bargaining unit members who are directly affected by the decision.
