32:0096(13)NG - THE ASSOCIATION OF CIVILIAN TECHNICIANS and THE DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS, THE STATE OF NEW YORK -- 1988 FLRAdec NG

32 FLRA NO. 13
32 FLRA 96

Date:             12 MAY 1988

THE ASSOCIATION OF CIVILIAN
TECHNICIANS

                   Union

         and

THE DIVISION OF MILITARY AND
NAVAL AFFAIRS, THE STATE OF
NEW YORK

                   Activity

Case No. 0-NG-1548

ORDER

     The Union has filed with the Authority a petition for review
of the Activity's allegation of nonnegotiability concerning
certain negotiability issues pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 7117(c) and 5
C.F.R. 2424.1. The Union's petition is untimely and must be
dismissed.

     The Activity's allegation reads in pertinent part:
"Management regards these proposals as non-negotiable. Submitted
to Mr. Lucia (ACT) by Col Carpenter w/ Col Amnerall present on 11
APR 88 at 1:40 pm." The Union's petition: (1) is undated; (2) was
misdirected to Region 1 of the Federal Labor Relations Authority
in Boston, Massachusetts in an envelope postmarked April 21,
1988; 1 (3) was forwarded to the Authority by the Boston Region
by letter dated April 27, 1988, which was received May 2, 1988;
and (4) was filed with the Authority on April 27, 1988, by
operation of 5 C.F.R. 2429.21(b), which provides that if 
no postmark date is evident on the mailing, it is presumed to
have been mailed 5 days prior to receipt. 2

     The time limit for filing a petition for review of
negotiability issues is 15 days after the date the union is
served with the agency's allegation that the duty to bargain in
good faith does not extend to the matter proposed to be
bargained. 5 U.S.C. 7117(c)(2) and 5 C.F.R. 2424.3. The date of
service is the day when the matter served is deposited in the
U.S. mail or is delivered in person. 5 C.F.R. 2429.27(d). The
Activity's allegation is dated April 11, 1988, and, indicates
that it was served by hand on the Union on that same day.
Therefore, in order to be timely filed, the Union's petition for
review of the Activity's allegation had to be either mailed to
the national office of the Authority in Washington, D.C., and
postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service no later than April 26,
1988, or if filed in person, received at the Authority's national
office no later than the close of business that same date. 5
C.F.R. 2429.21(b), as amended. 3 However, the Union's petition
was filed on April 27, 1988.

     Accordingly, as the Union's petition for review was untimely
filed, it is dismissed.

     For the Authority.

Issued, Washington, D.C., May 12, 1988.

Jacqueline R. Bradley
Executive Director


FOOTNOTES

     Footnote 1 It is well established that a petition for review
of an   agency's allegation of nonnegotiability cannot be filed
at a Regional   Office. Since the inception of the Authority in
1979, applicable   regulations have required that any documents
filed or required to be   filed with the Authority must be filed
at the Authority's national   office. 5 C.F.R. 2429.24(a).

     Footnote 2 A discussion of the method for determining the
date of   filing in the absence of a postmark is found in
Veterans   Administration, Veterans Administration Medical
Center, Muskogee,   Oklahoma, 29 FLRA  51 (1987).

     Footnote 3 51 Fed. Reg. 45751 (1986). The amendments to
section   2429.21 of 5 C.F.R. are applicable to petitions for
review pending or   filed with the Authority on or after December
31, 1986.