Naval Supply Center, Charleston, South Carolina and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2510 (Authority decision, October 29, 1987)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority dismisses the union's exceptions to an arbitration award because they were filed after the deadline. 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

AFGE Local 2510 filed exceptions to an arbitration award involving the Naval Supply Center in Charleston. The Authority calculated that the exceptions had to be mailed to its national office by August 10, 1987, or delivered there by that date. The union mailed them to a regional office on August 27. Because the mailing was already late, the Authority dismissed the exceptions without addressing the award's merits.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Arbitration exception filing deadline under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(b).
• Outcome: Union's exceptions dismissed as untimely.
• Key point: The exceptions were mailed more than two weeks after the filing deadline.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v29 p1221 ]
29:1221(91)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

29 FLRA NO. 91

NAVAL SUPPLY CENTER
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

Activity

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 2510

Union

Case No. 0-AR-1430

ORDER DISMISSING EXCEPTIONS

This case is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of Arbitrator T. E. Terrill filed by 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 and transmittal letter are dated July 7, 1987, and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, appear 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 section 2429.21 of the Rules and Regulations, as amended 3 and section 2429.22 of the Rules, any exceptions to the Arbitrator's award had to be either mailed to the national office of the Authority in Washington, D.C., and postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service no later than August 10, 1987, or if filed in person, received at the Authority's national office no later than the close of business on the same date.

However, the record indicates that the Union mailed its exceptions dated August 26, 1987 (in an envelope postmarked August 27) to Region IV of the Federal Labor Relations Authority in Atlanta, Georgia. 4 On September 10, 1987, Region IV forwarded the Union's exceptions to the Authority's national office.

Inasmuch as the Union's exceptions were not mailed until August 27, 1987, they are clearly untimely. Accordingly, as the Union's exceptions were untimely filed, they are hereby dismissed.

For the Authority.

Issued, Washington, D.C., October 29, 1987.

Harold D. Kessler
Director of Case Management

FOOTNOTES

Footnote 1 Section 7122 (b) of the Statute was
amended by the Civil Service Miscellaneous Amendments Act of 1983 (Pub. L. No. 98-224, 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.

Footnote 2 49 Fed. Reg. 22623 (1984). The
amendments to section 2425.1 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations are applicable to exceptions pending or filed with the Authority on or after March 2, 1984.

Footnote 3 51 Fed. Reg. 45751 (1986). The
amendments to section 2429.21 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations are applicable to exceptions pending or filed with the Authority on or after December 31, 1986.

Footnote 4 It is well established that
exceptions to an Arbitrator's award cannot be filed at a Regional Office, but must be filed with the Authority at its national office in Washington, D.C. See The Panama Canal Commission and Maritime Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO, 21 FLRA No. 38, n. 5 (1986).