Panama Canal Commission and Maritime Metal Trades Council (Authority decision, December 9, 1985)

Final FLRA decision. This is a final order of the Federal Labor Relations Authority on exceptions to an arbitration award. Under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(1), orders involving arbitral awards are generally excluded from judicial review unless they involve an unfair labor practice under 5 U.S.C. § 7116. This decision does not state that it involves one.

Plain-English summary

The Maritime Metal Trades Council filed exceptions to an arbitration award served on October 3, 1985. The filing deadline was November 6. The union first sent its exceptions to an FLRA regional office on November 19, and the national office received them the next day. The Authority dismissed the exceptions as untimely without reaching their merits.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Arbitration exception deadline under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(b) and 5 C.F.R. § 2425.1.
• Outcome: Union exceptions dismissed as untimely.
• Key point: Exceptions must reach the Authority's national office by the deadline; filing at a regional office afterward did not cure the delay.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v20 p809 ]

20:0809(100)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

20 FLRA No. 100

THE PANAMA CANAL COMMISSION
Activity

and

MARITIME METAL TRADES COUNCIL,
AFL-CIO
Union

Case No. 0-AR-1059

ORDER DISMISSING EXCEPTIONS

This case is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of Arbitrator Seymour Strongin filed by the Maritime Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO (the Union) pursuant to section 7122(a) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute and section 2425.1 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations. For the reason stated below, it has been determined that the exceptions must be dismissed as untimely filed.

The Arbitrator's award is dated October 3, 1985, and appears to have been served on the parties by mail on the same day.

Under section 7122(b) of the Statute, as amended, /1/ and section 2425.1 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, as amended, /2/ which amendments are applicable to exceptions pending or filed with the Authority on or after March 2, 1984, and under sections 2429.21 and 2429.22 of the Rules and Regulations, which are also applicable to computation of the time limit here involved, any exceptions to the Arbitrator's award in this case had to be filed, that is, received in the national office of the Authority not later than the close of business on November 6, 1985. However, the exceptions were not filed with the Authority at its national office in Washington, D.C., until November 20, 1985, after having been mistakenly filed with the Authority's Dallas Regional Office on November 19, 1985.

Accordingly, as the Union's exceptions were untimely filed, they are hereby dismissed.

For the Authority.

Issued, Washington, D.C., December 9, 1985
/s/ Harold D. Kessler
Managing Director for Case
Processing

FOOTNOTES

(1) Section 7122(b) of the Statute was amended by the Civil Service Miscellaneous Amendments Act of 1983 (Pub. L. No. 98-224, Section 4, 98 Stat. 47, 48 (1984)) to provide that the 30-day period for filing exceptions to an arbitrator's award begins on the date the award is served on the filing party.

(2) 49 Fed. Reg. 22623 (1984).