Board of Contract Appeals

                 General Services Administration

                      Washington, D.C. 20405





                      _____________________



                         March 20, 2003 

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                         GSBCA 16005-TRAV





              In the Matter of EDMUND J. WIATR, JR.





     Edmund J. Wiatr, Jr., Utica, NY, Claimant.



     Cynthia C. Cummings, Senior Associate Counsel, Defense Finance and Accounting

Service, Columbus Center, Columbus, OH, appearing for Department of Defense.



PARKER, Board Judge.



     Edmund J. Wiatr, Jr. has asked the Board to review the Department of Defense's

(DoD's) decision that he was not entitled to interest on the amount reimbursed to Mr. Wiatr

in connection with temporary duty travel performed in September 2002.  We dismiss this

case for lack of jurisdiction because Mr. Wiatr is an employee covered by a collective

bargaining agreement that provides a grievance procedure which is the exclusive

administrative means for resolving this dispute.



     Under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, Pub. L. No. 95-454, 92 Stat. 1111 

(codified as amended in scattered sections of the United States Code), where a collective

bargaining agreement provides procedures for resolving grievances which are within the

scope of the agreement, and the agreement does not explicitly and unambiguously exclude

the disputed matter from these procedures, the procedures are the exclusive administrative

means for resolving the dispute.  In such cases, the Board lacks jurisdiction to consider the

matter.  Mona Lisa Dogans, GSBCA 15861-TRAV, 02-2 BCA   32,000; Claudia J. Fleming-

Howlett, GSBCA 14236-RELO, 98-1 BCA   29,534.  An exception exists for situations in

which the matter at issue is specifically provided for by federal statute; in such cases the

matter is considered not to be one involving a condition of employment subject to the

grievance procedures in the collective bargaining agreement and, thus, would be subject to

Board jurisdiction.  Id.; 5 U.S.C.   7103(a)(14) (2000).



     Here, the applicable collective bargaining agreement between the agency and the

American Federation of Government Employees provides a general grievance procedure that

does not exclude matters relating to federal travel.  Because of this, and because the matter

at issue is not one specifically provided by federal statute -- the dispute concerns the extent

to which Mr. Wiatr complied with the procedures established in DoD's Financial

Management Regulation for obtaining interest on travel claims -- the Board lacks

jurisdiction to review Mr. Wiatr's claim.









                                   _______________________

                                   ROBERT W. PARKER

                                   Board Judge