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56 FLRA No. 42
National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 143 and U.S. Department of the Treasury U.S. Customs Service, El Paso, Texas (Hays, Arbitrator), 0-AR-3134 (Decided May 5, 2000)
The Arbitrator denied a grievance alleging that the Agency violated federal pay regulation and the parties' National Agreement by failing to pay unit employees employed as customs inspectors, assigned to a facility located within the port of El Paso, Texas, the appropriate overtime for work performed from 6:00-9:00 a.m., ··___··daily, from November 30, 1992 through December 31, 1993. The Authority concluded that the Union failed to establish that the award was deficient.
The Authority held that the award was not contrary to 19 C.F.R. § 24.16(b) and (g). The Authority sustained the Arbitrator's interpretation of 19 U.S.C. § 267 and 19 C.F.R. § 24.16(b) and (g) finding that a material and substantive distinction existed between the night hours of service of an individual inspector, and the official hours of operation of a given port or station, and that a port may have multiple starting, stopping times for various included operations, without affecting overtime per se.