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62 FLRA No. 17
United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Customs And Border Protection and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1917 (Ellenberg, Arbitrator), 0-AR-4039 (March 29, 2007)
The Arbitrator determined that the Agency violated the parties' collective bargaining agreement (CBA) when it discontinued dues withholding for a group of employees. The award required the Agency to take numerous remedial actions, including issuing dues withholding statements to all bargaining unit members. The Agency filed exceptions contending that the award failed to draw its essence from the agreement and that the remedies exceeded the arbitrator's authority.
The Authority found that the award did not fail to draw its essence from the parties' agreement, and that, with one exception, the remedies were responsive to the issues before the arbitrator. However, the Authority held that the arbitrator exceeded his authority by ordering the agency to provide all bargaining unit employees with dues withholding statements. In that regard the Authority noted that the underlying grievance encompassed only those employees whose dues withholding had been terminated.
The Authority therefore concluded that the award was deficient because it provides a remedy to persons not encompassed by the grievance, and modified the award by requiring the Agency to provide statements to only those employees whose dues withholding was improperly terminated.