12:0511(96)AR - AFGE Local 1923 and SSA, HQ, Bureaus and Offices -- 1983 FLRAdec AR

 12 FLRA No. 96
 
 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
 EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1923
 Union
 
 and
 
 SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION,
 HEADQUARTERS, BUREAUS AND OFFICES
 Activity
 
                                            Case No. O-AR-239
 
                                 DECISION
 
    This matter is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of
 Arbitrator Leroy S. Merrifield filed by the Agency under section 7122(a)
 of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute)
 and part 2425 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations.
 
    This matter concerns the performance by the grievant, a section
 secretary, GS-4, of the duties of the position of branch secretary,
 GS-5, for a total period of over 80 days in a rotating detail during
 which she never served for more than 30 consecutive calendar days in the
 position.  The grievant filed a grievance claiming that she had been
 detailed to the branch secretary position for a period that exceeded 30
 calendar days and that under Article 17, Section (C)(3) of the parties'
 collective bargaining agreement /1/ she was entitled to have been paid
 at the GS-5 rate for the cumulative period of her detail.  The Activity
 denied the grievance because the grievant had not served more than 30
 consecutive calendar days in the branch secretary position, and the
 grievance was submitted to arbitration on the issue of whether the
 Activity had violated the agreement by denying the grievant a temporary
 promotion and backpay.
 
    The Arbitrator ruled that the collective bargaining agreement did not
 require a detail to a higher grade position for 30 calendar days or more
 to be consecutive days in order for the employee to be entitled to be
 paid at the higher rate.  Accordingly, the Arbitrator awarded as
 follows:
 
          1.  The employer violated the collective agreement by denying a
       temporary promotion and backpay to (the Grievant).
 
          2.  The employer shall place in the Grievant's Official
       Personnel Folder a Standard Form 52 noting the detail to the GS-5
       Secretary position.
 
          3.  The employer shall indicate in the Grievant's Official
       Personnel Folder that she derive whatever benefits accrue from an
       accurate recording of this temporary promotion during the time the
       Grievant performed the duties of the GS-5 Secretary.
 
          4.  The Grievant shall be made whole by compensating her with
       the backpay for the relevant period in the amount equal to the
       difference between what she was actually paid and what she should
       have been paid by the employer at the GS-5 rate.
 
    The Agency has filed exceptions to the award contending that the
 award is contrary to law, rule, or regulation;  that the award fails to
 draw its essence from the collective bargaining agreement and is based
 on a nonfact;  that the Arbitrator failed to conduct a fair hearing by
 refusing to consider pertinent and material evidence;  and that the
 award creates a new contract between the parties by which the Agency
 cannot abide.  The Authority finds that the exceptions fail to establish
 that the award is deficient on any basis as contended by the Agency.
 The exceptions constitute nothing more than disagreement with the
 Arbitrator's interpretation of the parties' agreement to find that there
 was no requirement of 30 or more consecutive calendar days on detail and
 that consequently the Activity violated the agreement by denying a
 temporary promotion and backpay to the grievant.  The Agency in these
 exceptions is clearly seeking to have its own interpretation of the
 agreement substituted for the interpretation of the Arbitrator.
 Accordingly, the exceptions provide no basis for finding the award
 deficient and the exceptions are denied.  See, e.g., National Federation
 of Federal Employees, Local 1418 and U.S. International Communication
 Agency, Voice of America, 9 FLRA No. 137 (1982).  Issued, Washington,
 D.C., August 10, 1983
                                       Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman
                                       Ronald W. Haughton, Member
                                       Henry B. Frazier III, Member
                                       FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY
 
 
 
 
 
 
 --------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------
 
 
    /1/ Article 17, Section (C)(3) pertinently provides:  "Employees
 detailed to higher grade positions for 30 calendar days or more shall be
 paid the appropriate higher rate from the first day of detail."