American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2904 and Marine Corps Reserve Support Command, Kansas City, Missouri (Authority decision, January 30, 1998)

Final FLRA decision. This is a final order of the Federal Labor Relations Authority involving an arbitral award under 5 U.S.C. § 7122. Judicial review under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a) generally does not extend to such an order unless the order involves an unfair labor practice under 5 U.S.C. § 7116. This decision resolves exceptions to an arbitration award and does not state that it involves an unfair labor practice.

Plain-English summary

AFGE Local 2904 challenged an arbitration award involving the Marine Corps Reserve Support Command in Kansas City. The Authority found no ground under section 7122(a) for setting aside the award and denied the exceptions. It did not consider the union's unsolicited supplemental response because the union had not requested permission to file it. The Authority did consider the agency's supplemental opposition after authorizing it because attachments to the union's exceptions had not been properly served. The decision does not describe the underlying grievance or the award's terms.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a); supplemental filing procedure discussed in the decision.
• Outcome: Union's exceptions denied; arbitration award left in place.
• Key point: The Authority rejected the union's challenges and excluded an unauthorized supplemental submission.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v53 p1261 ]
53:1261(105)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

53 FLRA No. 105

FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

_____

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES

LOCAL 2904

(Union)

and

MARINE CORPS RESERVE SUPPORT COMMAND

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

(Agency)

0-AR-2991

_____

DECISION

January 30, 1998

_____

Before the Authority: Phyllis N. Segal, Chair; Donald S. Wasserman and Dale Cabaniss, Members.

This matter is before the Authority on exceptions to an award of Arbitrator Kent Hutcheson 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 Regulations. The Agency filed an opposition to the Union's exceptions.(*)

Under section 7122(a) of the Statute, an award is deficient if it is contrary to any law, rule, or regulation; or is deficient on other grounds similar to those applied by Federal courts in private sector labor-management relations. Upon careful consideration of the entire record in this case, the Authority concludes that the award is not deficient on any of the grounds raised in the exceptions and set forth in section 7122(a).

Accordingly, the Union's exceptions are denied.

FOOTNOTES:
(If blank, the decision does not
have footnotes.)

*/ The Union filed an unsolicited
response to the Agency's opposition to the Union's exceptions. As the Authority's Regulations do not provide for the filing of supplemental submissions, and as the Union failed to request permission to file its submission under section 2429.26, the Authority has not considered the submission. See American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1770 and U.S. Department of the Army, Headquarters, XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 52 FLRA 1348 n.1 (1997).

The Agency filed a supplemental opposition to the Union's exceptions. However, the Agency's submission resulted from an Authority Order permitting the Agency to file a supplemental opposition to the Union's exceptions based on the fact that the Agency had not been properly served with attachments to the Union's exceptions. Accordingly, the Authority has considered the Agency's submission. See U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Grand Coulee Project Office and Columbia Basin Trades Council, 42 FLRA 166 n.* (1991).