[Claims on Matters Subject to a Negotiated Grievance Procedure]

A union employee submitted a grievance pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement, requesting that he be granted a retroactive temporary promotion since he had been detailed to and performed duties at a higher level. The grievance was denied at the step 1, 2, and 3 levels by appropriate agency personnel, and the union did not file for arbitration within the time limits required by the collective bargaining contract. It requested an extension to submit the case to arbitration, which the agency denied. Subsequently, the employee filed a request for a decision with GAO. The agency objected to any GAO jurisdiction in the matter on the grounds that the claim had originally been filed under its negotiated grievance procedures. In a recent case, GAO held that the purpose of establishing a 20-day period was to assure the parties to the dispute that GAO would not decide the issue for 20 days but would consider any comments submitted to it within that time period. GAO held that it would exercise its discretion in this case and consider the agency's comments but would not take jurisdiction over the matter, because to do so in the face of the agency's objection would be disruptive to the negotiated grievance procedures.