Veterans Administration, Buffalo Regional Office and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3314 (Authority decision, October 20, 1987)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority denies the union's exception to an arbitration award dismissing a grievance as untimely under the parties' agreement. Under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(1), an order involving an arbitral award is generally excluded from judicial review unless it involves an unfair labor practice under 5 U.S.C. § 7116. This decision does not decide an unfair labor practice.

Plain-English summary

An employee at the Veterans Administration's Buffalo Regional Office grieved a note from his supervisor. The arbitrator ruled that the grievance had not reached step three within the deadline set by the collective bargaining agreement and dismissed it for lack of jurisdiction. AFGE Local 3314 argued that the award conflicted with the agreement. The Authority found no recognized ground to set aside the arbitrator's procedural ruling and denied the union's exception.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Arbitration exception under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a).
• Outcome: Union's exception denied; dismissal of the grievance upheld.
• Key point: Disagreement with the arbitrator's ruling on grievance timeliness did not establish a defect in the award.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v29 p964 ]
29:0964(70)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

29 FLRA NO. 70

VETERANS ADMINISTRATION,
BUFFALO REGIONAL OFFICE

Activity

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES,
LOCAL 3314

Union

Case No. 0-AR-1403

DECISION

I. Statement of the Case

This matter is before the Authority on an exception to the award of Arbitrator Jerry A. Fullmer filed by the Union under section 7122(a) of the Federal Service Labor - Management Relations Statute (the Statute) and part 2425 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations.

We deny the exception.

II. Background and Arbitrator's Award

A grievance was filed and submitted to arbitration over a note given the grievant by his supervisor. The Arbitrator denied the grievance. He determined that he was without jurisdiction because the dispute was not submitted to step 3 of the grievance procedure within the time required by the parties' collective bargaining agreement.

III. Discussion

The Union contends that the award is contrary to the collective bargaining agreement.

We conclude that the Union has failed to establish that the Arbitrator's award is deficient on any of the grounds set forth in section 7122(a) of the Statute: specific the award is contrary to any law, rule, or regulation or that the award is deficient on other grounds similar to those applied by Federal courts in private sector labor relations cases. See, for example, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Quality Service and National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals, AFGE, AFL - CIO, 6 FLRA 278 (1981) (exceptions disagreeing with an arbitrator's ruling on the procedural arbitrability of a grievance provide no basis for finding an award deficient).

Accordingly, the Union's exception is denied.

Issued, Washington, D.C., October 20, 1987.

Jerry L. Calhoun, Chairman

Henry B. Frazier III, Member

Jean McKee, Member

FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY