NFFE Local 1363 and Department of the Army (Authority decision, September 24, 1984)

Final FLRA decision. This is a final order of the Federal Labor Relations Authority dismissing a negotiability petition as untimely. 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

NFFE Local 1363 petitioned the Authority to review an Army assertion that a proposal was outside the duty to bargain. Because the agency served that assertion by mail, the filing period included the ordinary 15 days plus five additional mailing days. The Authority calculated a March 19, 1984 deadline, but received the petition on March 21. It dismissed the petition as untimely without deciding whether the proposal was negotiable.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Negotiability petition deadline under 5 U.S.C. § 7117(c)(2) and 5 C.F.R. §§ 2424.3, 2429.22, and 2429.27(d).
• Outcome: Petition dismissed as untimely.
• Key point: The petition arrived two days after the deadline calculated with the mail service allowance.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v16 p45 ]

16:0045(13)NG

The decision of the Authority follows:

16 FLRA No. 13

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF
FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1363
Union

and

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
Agency

Case No. O-NG-972

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 a negotiability issue 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 a negotiability issue is 15 days after the Agency's allegation that the duty to bargain in good faith does not extend to the matter proposed to be bargained is served on the Union. Further, pursuant to sections 2429.22 and 2429.27(d) of the Authority's Regulations which are also applicable to the computation of the time limit here involved, whenever the document which triggers the running of a prescribed period for filing is served on the other party by mail, an additional five days is added to that period.

The Agency's allegation of nonnegotiability in this case was apparently served on the Union on February 28, 1984. Therefore, under the above-cited provisions of the Statute and the Authority's Rules and Regulations the petition for review had to be filed, i.e., received in the national office of the Authority, no later than the close of business on March 19, 1984. However, the petition for review was not filed until March 21, 1984, and was thus untimely under the Authority's rules of procedure.

Accordingly, as the Union's petition for review was untimely filed, and apart from other considerations, it is hereby dismissed.

For the Authority.

Issued, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1984

Jan K. Bohren
Executive Director/Administrator