National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 63 and Department of the Navy, Navy Commissary Store Group, San Diego (Authority decision, June 20, 1983)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority dismissed this negotiability appeal without a merits ruling. An aggrieved person may seek judicial review of a final Authority order in an appropriate United States court of appeals within 60 days after issuance under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a).

Plain-English summary

The union sought review of a Navy nonnegotiability allegation made during agency head review of a local agreement. The Authority calculated that the appeal was due April 11, 1983, but it was filed April 27. It dismissed the petition as untimely. The Authority did not reach the underlying negotiability issue.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Negotiability appeal under 5 U.S.C. §§ 7105(a)(2)(E) and 7117(c).
• Outcome: Petition dismissed as untimely; no negotiability ruling.
• Key point: The union filed after the 15-day review window.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v12 p242 ]

12:0242(56)NG

The decision of the Authority follows:

12 FLRA No. 56

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF FEDERAL
EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 63
(Union)

and

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY,
NAVY COMMISSARY STORE GROUP,
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
(Activity)

Case No. O-NG-831

ORDER DISMISSING PETITION FOR REVIEW

This matter 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, the union's petition must be dismissed.

Section 2424.3 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations provides that the time limit for filing a petition for review is 15 days after service of the agency's allegation that the duty to bargain in good faith does not extend to the matter proposed to be bargained. Additionally, pursuant to section 2429.22, when the allegation is served on the union by mail, five days are added to the prescribed period.

From the submissions of the parties, the record before the Authority in this case indicates that the local parties executed a collective bargaining agreement and forwarded it to the agency head for review and approval pursuant to section 7114(c) of the Statute. During such review, the agency head disapproved two provisions in the agreement by letter dated March 18, 1983. Apparently, the local parties subsequently agreed in a Memorandum of Understanding dated April 14, 1983, to implement the local agreement and delete the disputed provisions until such time as the Authority rendered a negotiability determination.

On April 27, 1983, the union filed the instant petition for review with the Authority. While the union's petition for review was filed within 20 days from the parties' Memorandum of Understanding, it is clear that the union's appeal in this case seeks review of the agency's allegation of March 18, 1983, which was made in the course of reviewing the local agreement pursuant to section 7114(c) of the Statute. Therefore, under section 2424.3, as well as sections 2429.21 and 2429.22 of the Rules and Regulations, which are also applicable to the computation of the time limit here involved, the union's petition for review had to be filed with the Authority no later than the close of business on April 11, 1983. However, as stated above, the union's petition for review was not filed with the Authority until April 27, 1983. Therefore, the union's petition was untimely filed and must be dismissed on that basis. See, e.g., American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 896 and Defense Printing Service, Annapolis, Maryland, 6 FLRA No. 39 (1981), request for reconsideration denied: December 24, 1981.

Accordingly, the union's petition for review in this case is hereby dismissed. For the Authority. Issued, Washington, D.C., June 20, 1983 James J. Shepard, Executive Director