"VITALLY AFFECTS TEST".
This test applies only when union proposals directly, not indirectly, affect the conditions of employment of nonunit employees. The test is an exception to the rule that proposals aimed at the conditions of employment of nonunit employees are outside the scope of bargaining. The "vitally affects" test applies to third-party matters that don't normally fall within the scope of bargaining, such as the employer's relationship with non-employees and unorganized employees. "To satisfy the test," said the D.C. Circuit in Naval Aviation Depot, Cherry Point, North Carolina v. Federal Labor Relations Authority, 952 F.2d 1434 (D.C. Cir. 1992), "the union must show that the 'third party matter' about which it seeks to negotiate vitally affects the conditions of employment of bargaining unit members." (Emphasis by court.) The test doesn't apply to proposals that otherwise are within the mandatory scope of bargaining merely because they would have some impact on persons not in the unit. See, e.g.,
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