United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry and Red River Army Depot (Authority decision, March 16, 1987)

Final FLRA decision. This is a final order of the Federal Labor Relations Authority dismissing a negotiability petition. An aggrieved person may seek judicial review by filing a petition in an appropriate United States court of appeals within 60 days after issuance under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a). Filing a petition does not stay the Authority's order unless the court orders a stay under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(c).

Plain-English summary

A plumbing and pipe fitting union challenged Red River Army Depot's claim that some union proposals were nonnegotiable. Federal law gave the union 15 days after service of that claim to file its petition with the FLRA's national office. The union first mailed the petition to a National Labor Relations Board regional office, and it reached the FLRA national office after the January 5 deadline. The Authority found the petition untimely and dismissed it without reaching whether the proposals could be bargained.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Negotiability petition deadline under 5 U.S.C. § 7117(c)(2).
• Outcome: Petition dismissed as untimely; negotiability merits not decided.
• Key point: A negotiability petition must reach the FLRA through the required filing route within the statutory period.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v26 p199 ]

26:0199(24)NG

The decision of the Authority follows:

26 FLRA No. 24

UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN
AND APPRENTICES OF THE PLUMBING
AND PIPE FITTING INDUSTRY
Union

and

RED RIVER ARMY DEPOT
TEXARKANA, TEXAS
Activity

Case No. 0-NG-1361

ORDER DISMISSING PETITION FOR REVIEW

This case is before the Authority pursuant to section 7105(a)(2)(E) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute and section 2424.1 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations on a petition for review of negotiability issues filed by the Union. For the reasons indicated below, it has been determined that the Union's petition for review was untimely filed and must be dismissed on that basis.

Under section 7117(c)(2) of the Statute and section 2424.3 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, the time limit for filing a petition for review of negotiability issues is 15 days after service on the Union of the Agency's allegation that the duty to bargain in good faith does not extend to the matter proposed to be bargained. Further, under section 2429.23(d) of the Authority's rules of procedure, the time limit established in section 7117(c)(2) of the Statute may not be extended or waived by the Authority.

The documents the Union submitted with its petition for review indicate the Activity's allegation that certain Union proposals are nonnegotiable is dated December 16, 1986. The allegation apparently was served on the Union by mail on the same date. Therefore, under section 2424.3 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations as well as sections 2429.21(b) /1/ and 2429.22 which also are applicable to computation of the time limit here involved, the petition for review in order to be timely filed 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 January 5, 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 Union's petition for review was not filed with the Authority at its national office in Washington, D.C., until January 21, 1987. The record indicates that the Union mailed its petition to Region 16 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Fort Worth, Texas, in an envelope postmarked January 7, 1987, and received by Region 16 on January 9, 1987. The NLRB mailed the Union's petition to Region VI of the Federal Labor Relations Authority in Dallas, Texas in an official business envelope which was not postmarked. Region VI received the petition on January 12, 1987. The Regional Director by letter dated January 20, 1987, returned the petition to the Union with a copy of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, and an explanation that negotiability appeals must be filed with the national office of the Authority. /2/ As the petition was then mailed to the Authority's national office -- postmarked January 21, 1987, and received January 28, 1987 -- it was untimely filed.

Accordingly, as the Union's petition for review was untimely filed, it is hereby dismissed.

For the Authority.

Issued, Washington, D.C., March 16, 1987.

/s/ Harold D. Kessler
Director of Case Management

--------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------

(1) New subsection 2429.21(b) of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, applicable to petitions for review filed with the Authority on or after December 31, 1986, provides in pertinent part:

Section 2429.21 Computation of time for filing papers.

. . . . . . .

(b) Except when filing an unfair labor practice charge . . . , a representation petition . . . , and a request for extension of time . . . , when this subchapter requires the filing of any paper with the Authority . . . , the date of filing shall be determined by the date of mailing indicated by the postmark date. If no postmark date is evident on the mailing, it shall be presumed to have been mailed 5 days prior to receipt. If the filing is by personal delivery, it shall be considered filed on the date it is received by the Authority . . . . (51 Fed. Reg. 45751 (1986).)

(2) Since the Authority's inception in 1979, its Rules and Regulations have required that petitions for review of agency allegations of nonnegotiability must be filed with the Authority at its national office in Washington, D.C.