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 30 FLRA NO. 36
 30 FLRA 298

30 NOV 1987

LETTERMAN ARMY MEDICAL CENTER
NUTRITION CARE DIRECTORATE

                   Activity

         and

INDEPENDENT LETTERMAN HOSPITAL
WORKERS' UNION

                   Union

Case No. 0-AR-1392

DECISION

     I. Statement of the Case

     This case is before the Authority on exceptions to the award
of Arbitrator Emily Maloney filed by the union under section 7122
(a) of the Federal Service Labor - Management Relations Statute
(the Statute) and part 2425 of the Authority's Rules and
Regulations. For the reasons stated below, the Union's exceptions
are denied.

     II. Background and Arbitrator's Award

     The dispute before the Arbitrator involved the separation of
the Union president from the Federal service in 1983, during the
first year of his employment under a veterans readjustment
appointment. 1 The Arbitrator found that the grievance was not
grievable or arbitrable.

     III. Discussion

     In its exceptions, the Union contends that the Arbitrator's
award is contrary to the parties' collective bargaining
agreement. 

     The Authority has determined that, with respect to
grievances and arbitration, the statutory and regulatory scheme
for veterans readjustment appointments is not materially
different from the scheme for a probationary period of employment
in the competitive service under 5 U.S.C. 3321 and 5 C.F.R. part
315. Veterans Administration Medical Center of Cleveland and
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 31, 19 FLRA 
297, 299 (1985). Therefore, grievances concerning the separation
of a veterans readjustment appointee during the initial year of
employment are precluded from coverage by negotiated grievance
procedures. Id. See also Department of Health and Human Services,
Social Security Administration and American Federation of
Government Employees, Local 1923, AFL - CIO, 15 FLRA  714
(1984).

     Although the Arbitrator in this case did not base her ruling
on the Authority's determination in Veterans Administration
Medical Center of Cleveland, she properly decided, in part
because of the grievant's probationary status, that the dispute
concerning the separation of the grievant during the first year
of his readjustment appointment was not grievable or
arbitrable.

     IV. Conclusion

     We conclude that the Union has failed to establish that the
Arbitrator's award is deficient on any of the grounds set forth
in section 7122(a) of the Statute. Specifically, the Union has
failed to establish that the award is contrary to any law, rule,
or regulation or that the award is deficient on other grounds
similar to those applied by the Federal courts in private sector
labor relations.

     Accordingly, the Union's exceptions are denied.

     Issued, Washington, D.C., November 30,  1987

     Jerry L. Calhoun, Chairman

     Jean McKee, Member

     FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY


FOOTNOTES

     Footnote 1 A veterans readjustment appointment is an
excepted   appointment of a veteran who served during the Vietnam
era to a   position otherwise in the competitive service and is
made under the   authority of 38 U.S.C. 2014, as amended. 5
C.F.R. 307.101(c).

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