24:0115(14)AR - Pine Bluff Arsenal, Pine Bluff, AK and AFGE Local 953 -- 1986 FLRAdec AR

 24 FLRA No. 14
 
 PINE BLUFF ARSENAL 
 PINE BLUFF, ARKANSAS
 Activity
 
 and
 
 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT 
 EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 953
 Union
 
                                            Case No. 0-AR-1231
 
                        ORDER DISMISSING EXCEPTIONS
 
    This case is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of
 Arbitrator A. Dale Allen, Jr. 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 reason
 stated below, it has been determined that the exceptions must be
 dismissed as untimely filed.
 
    The Arbitrator's award and a statement of fees and expenses are dated
 August 12, 1986, and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, appear
 to have been served on the parties by mail on the same day.
 
    Under section 7122(b) of the Statute, as amended, /1/ and section
 2425.1 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, as amended, /2/ which
 amendments are applicable to exceptions pending or filed with the
 Authority on or after March 2, 1984, and under sections 2429.21 and
 2429.22 of the Rules and Regulations, which are also applicable to
 computation of the time limit here involved, any exceptions to the
 Arbitrator's award in this case had to be filed, that is, received in
 the national office of the Authority not later than the close of
 business on September 15, 1986.
 
    However, the exceptions were not filed with the Authority at its
 national office in Washington, D.C., until September 18, 1986.  In this
 regard, the record establishes that the Union addressed the exceptions
 to the Authority's Dallas Regional Office, and mailed them by regular
 mail from Pine Bluff, Arkansas on September 11, 1986.  The Dallas
 Regional Office received the exceptions on September 15, 1986, and
 exercised due diligence in forwarding them on September 16, 1986.  The
 exceptions were not received by the Authority's national office until
 September 18, 1986, /3/ and, therefore, were untimely filed.
 
    Accordingly, as the Union's exceptions were untimely filed, they are
 hereby dismissed.
 
    For the Authority.
 
    Issued, Washington, D.C., November 20, 1986.
                                       /s/ Harold D. Kessler
                                       Director of Case Management
 
 
                ---------------  FOOTNOTES$ ---------------
 
 
 
    (1) Section 7122(b) of the Statute was amended by the Civil Service
 Miscellaneous Amendments Act of 1983 (Pub. L. No. 98-224, Section 4, 98
 Stat. 47, 48 (1984)) to provide that the 30-day period for filing
 exceptions to an arbitrator's award begins on the date the award is
 served on the filing party.
 
    (2) 49 Fed. Reg. 22623 (1984).
 
    (3) It is well established that exceptions to an Arbitrator's award
 cannot be filed at a Regional Office, but must be filed with the
 Authority at its national office in Washington, D.C.  See, The Panama
 Canal Commission and Maritime Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO, 21 FLRA No.
 38, n. 5 (1986).