February 5, 2007


                          CBCA 501-TRAV


                 In the Matter of JAMES E. VINSON


     James E. Vinson, Branchland, WV, Claimant.

     Robert I. Knapp, Lock and Dam Maintenance Supervisor, Huntington District, United
States Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, Huntington, WV, appearing for
Department of the Army.

GOODMAN, Board Judge.

     This case was docketed at the General Services Administration Board of Contract
Appeals (GSBCA) as GSBCA 16982-TRAV.  On January 6, 2007, pursuant to section 847
of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-163, the
GSBCA was terminated and its cases, personnel, and other resources were transferred to the
newly-established Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA).  This case was docketed by
the CBCA as CBCA 501-TRAV.  The holdings of the GSBCA and other predecessor boards
of the CBCA are binding on this Board.  Business Management Research Associates, Inc.
v. General  Services Administration, CBCA 464 (Jan. 18, 2007). 

     Claimant is a former employee of the Department of the Army's Corps of Engineers. 
He has asked us to review the agency's denial of certain expenses incurred during temporary
duty travel in 2003 when he was employed by the agency. 

     We have no authority to consider claimant's request for review.  Pursuant to 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 those procedures,
the procedures are the exclusive administrative means for resolving the matter.  Rolando J.
Jimenez, GSBCA 16570-TRAV, et al., 05-1 BCA  32,916; Wilbur D. Abrams, GSBCA
15045-TRAV, 99-2 BCA  30,481; Carla Dee Gallegos, GSBCA 14609-RELO, 99-1 BCA
 30,300.  While claimant was employed by the agency, he was a member of a bargaining
unit whose actions are governed by the National Agreement between U.S. Army Engineer
District Huntington and the American Federation of Government Employees Local #1938.
That agreement contains a detailed administrative procedure, including an appeal process
of arbitration, available to bargaining unit employees for the processing and disposition of
a grievance, the definition of which includes "any claimed violation, misinterpretation, or
misapplication of any law, rule, or regulation affecting conditions of employment."  Identical
language in  other  collective bargaining agreements has been interpreted to include claims
for travel expenses within the definition of grievance.  See, e.g., Rolando J. Jimenez.  The
agreement contains specifically-excluded matters to which its administrative procedure does
not apply, but reimbursement for travel expenses is not a specifically-excluded matter.

      Consequently, claimant was required to use the agreement's procedures, not this
Board's, for resolution of his complaint.  Claimant did not avail himself of the agreement's
procedures while he was employed by the agency. 

     The case is dismissed. 




                                   ___________________________________
                                   ALLAN H. GOODMAN
                                   Board Judge