United Power Trades Organization (Union) and United States Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, Portland, Oregon (Agency) (Authority decision, March 17, 2010)

Final FLRA decision. This is a final order of the Federal Labor Relations Authority resolving exceptions to an arbitral award under 5 U.S.C. § 7122. Judicial review under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a) generally does not extend to an order involving an arbitral award unless the order involves an unfair labor practice under 5 U.S.C. § 7116. This decision does not identify an unfair labor practice claim. The Authority denied the union's exceptions.

Plain-English summary

The United Power Trades Organization challenged an arbitration award involving the Army Corps of Engineers' Portland District. The Authority's short decision does not describe the underlying grievance or remedy. It found no basis to overturn the award under the standards for a fair hearing or a factual error central to the result. The union's exceptions were denied, leaving the arbitration award in place.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a).
• Outcome: Union's exceptions denied; arbitration award left undisturbed.
• Key point: The published decision identifies no established hearing defect or decisive factual error.

Full text (FLRA public release)

XX FLRA No

64 FLRA No. 101

FEDERAL
LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

WASHINGTON,
D.C.

_____

UNITED POWER TRADES ORGANIZATION

(Union)

and

united states department of the army

u.s.
army corps of engineers

portland district

portland, oregon

(Agency)

0-AR-4601

_____

DECISION

March 17, 2010

_____

Before the
Authority: Carol Waller Pope, Chairman, and

Thomas M. Beck and
Ernest DuBester, Members

This matter is before the Authority on
exceptions to an award of Arbitrator Ross Runkel filed by the Union under § 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 § 7122(a) of the Statute, an award is
deficient if it is contrary to any law, rule, or regulation, or it 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 and Authority precedent, the Authority concludes that the award is not deficient on the grounds raised in the exceptions and set forth in § 7122(a). See AFGE, Local 1668, 50 FLRA 124, 126 (1995) (award not deficient on ground that arbitrator failed to provide a fair hearing where excepting party fails to demonstrate that the arbitrator refused to hear or consider pertinent and material evidence, or that other actions in conducting the proceeding so prejudiced a party so as to affect the fairness of the proceeding as a whole); U.S. Dep’t of the Air Force, Lowry Air Force Base, Denver, Colo., 48 FLRA 589, 593-94 (1993) (award not deficient as based on a nonfact where excepting party either challenges a factual matter that the parties disputed at arbitration or fails to demonstrate that the central fact underlying the award is clearly erroneous, but for which a different result would have been reached by the arbitrator).

Accordingly, the Union’s exceptions are denied.