U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1858 (Authority decision, June 20, 1983)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority disposed of exceptions to an arbitration award under 5 U.S.C. § 7122. Judicial review of an arbitration order is generally excluded by 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(1) unless it involves an unfair labor practice under § 7118. This decision does not address an unfair labor practice.

Plain-English summary

The union filed exceptions to an arbitration award dated March 22, 1982. The Authority calculated an April 20 deadline but received the exceptions on April 27. It dismissed the late filing because the deadline could not be extended or waived. The order did not consider the award’s merits.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Arbitration exception review under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a).
• Outcome: Union exceptions dismissed as untimely; no merits review.
• Key point: The arbitration exception filing period could not be waived.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v12 p240 ]

12:0240(55)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

12 FLRA No. 55

U.S. ARMY MISSILE COMMAND
REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALABAMA
(Activity)

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO, LOCAL 1858
(Union)

Case No. O-AR-382

ORDER DISMISSING EXCEPTIONS

This case is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of Arbitrator William H. Mills 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 reasons stated below, it has been determined that the union's exceptions must be dismissed as untimely filed.

Under section 7122(b) of the Statute and section 2425.1 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, the time limit for filing an exception to an arbitration award is 30 days beginning on and including the date of the award. Additionally, under section 2429.21 of the Rules and Regulations, any such exception must be received by the Authority before the close of business on the last day of the prescribed time limit.

The arbitrator's award in this case, as included in the union's submission, is dated March 22, 1982. Therefore, under the Statute and the Authority's Rules and Regulations, the union's exceptions had to be filed, i.e., received in the national office of the Authority, no later than the close of business on April 20, 1982. However, the exceptions were not filed until April 27, 1982. In that regard, and as provided in section 2429.23(d) of the Rules and Regulations, the time limit for filing exceptions to an arbitration award may not be extended or waived by the Authority.

Accordingly, as the union's exceptions were untimely filed, they are hereby dismissed. For the Authority. Issued, Washington, D.C., June 20, 1983 James J. Shepard, Executive Director