Board of Contract Appeals

                 General Services Administration

                      Washington, D.C. 20405





         _______________________________________________

                                 

                          July 10, 2003

         _______________________________________________

                                 



                         GSBCA 16082-RELO

                                 



                 In the Matter of DAVID L. MURPHY           





     David L. Murphy, East Grand Forks, MN, Claimant.



     Kurt Snyder, Chief, Travel Management Section, Office of Financial Management,

Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security,

Washington, DC, appearing for Department of Homeland Security.

     

BORWICK, Board Judge.



     In this matter, claimant, an employee of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs

Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, contests the agency's refusal to reimburse

claimant for the rental of a sport utility vehicle during claimant's relocation travel in and

around Grand Forks, Minnesota.  Claimant reported for duty at his new station in July 2002. 



     The agency, discovering that claimant was a member of a union, the National Border

Patrol Council (NBPC) of the American Federation of Government Employees, moves to

dismiss the claim for lack of jurisdiction.  The agency has provided us with a copy of the

collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in effect since February 6, 1995.  



     The NBPC's CBA, article thirty-three, establishes a grievance procedure.  Article

thirty-three, section "B," defines a "grievance" as a complaint "by a unit employee

concerning his or her conditions of employment."  The provision also includes any complaint

by any employee concerning the adverse impact of any claimed violation, misinterpretation,

or misapplication of any law, rule, or regulation affecting conditions of employment.  That

article also provides, in section "A," that the "negotiated grievance procedure shall be the

exclusive procedure available to the Union and employees in the unit for resolving

grievances which fall within its coverage, except as specifically provided Herein."  The

provision does not exclude relocation matters from the scope of the grievance procedure. 

 

     It is evident that claimant is covered by a CBA which provides the exclusive

administrative means for resolving this matter.  As we explained in Byron D. Cagle, GSBCA

15369-RELO, 01-1 BCA   31,333, at 154,761:



     Under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, 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. 

     Claudia J. Fleming-Howlett, GSBCA 14236-RELO, 98-1 BCA   29,534; Larry

     D. Morrill, GSBCA 13925[-TRAV], 98-1 BCA   29,528.  This matter,

     therefore, must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, since the claimant must

     follow the disputes procedure mandated by the collective bargaining

     agreement. 



     Here the complaint concerns a condition of employment--the right of an employee to

be reimbursed for an above-standard rental car when on relocation travel.  The grievance

procedure covers any employee complaint about any condition of employment.  Relocation

matters are not specifically excluded from the CBA's grievance procedure.  Since the CBA

establishes the exclusive procedure for resolving claimant's grievance, claimant may not

maintain a claim at the Board.  Carter v. Gibbs, 909 F.2d 1452, 1456 (Fed. Cir.) (en banc),

cert. denied sub nom.  Carter v. Goldberg, 498 U.S. 811 (1990).



     This matter, therefore, is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.







                                        __________________________

                                        ANTHONY S. BORWICK

                                        Board Judge