Board of Contract Appeals
                    General Services Administration
                         Washington, D.C. 20405
 
 
                         ______________________
 
                             April 28, 1999
                         ______________________
 
 
                            GSBCA 14895-TRAV
 
 
                    In the Matter of JOHN E. MORRIS
 
 
        John E. Morris, Conyngham, PA, Claimant.
 
        John Guy, Financial  Analysis Division, Resource  Management
   Directorate,   Tobyhanna Army Depot, Tobyhanna, PA, appearing for
   Department of the Army.
 
   NEILL, Board Judge.
 
        Claimant, Mr. John E. Morris,  is a civilian employee of the
   Department  of the  Army.     He  has asked  that  we review  his
   agency's denial of  a claim for reimbursement of  taxi fares paid
   while he was on temporary duty in Korea.  In his original request
   for review as  well  as in his supplemental  comments, Mr. Morris
   contends that  these costs  were incurred in  trips taken  to the
   local military  base for meals  when meals at his  hotel were not
   suitable.   Because the claimant has already elected to have this
   matter resolved in accordance with the formal grievance procedure
   provided for  in a  collective bargaining  agreement between  his
   union and agency, the Board has  no authority to hear the matter.
   The case is, therefore, dismissed.       
                               Discussion
 
        The record for this case shows that on October 19, 1998, Mr.
   Morris   filed  a  grievance  with  the  American  Federation  of
   Government Employees concerning the same claim which has now been
   presented  to us  for review.    The grievance  has already  been
   processed through to a fourth step review.  
 
        In numerous cases similar to this one, we have held that the
   Civil  Service  Reform  Act plainly  provides  that,  for federal
   employees whose  grievances  are  not  excluded  from  collective
   bargaining agreements, the agreements are the only administrative
   procedures  available  for  resolving   grievances.    Bernadette
   Hastak,  GSBCA  13938-TRAV,  et al.,  97-2  BCA    29,091; accord
   Harold S. Rubinstein, GSBCA 14667-RELO, 99-1 BCA   30,113 (1998);
   Bernard F. Anderson, GSBCA 14438-TRAV, 98-2 BCA   29,924; Claudia
   J. Fleming-Howlett, GSBCA 14236-RELO, 98-1 BCA   29,534; Larry D.
   Morrill, GSBCA  13925-TRAV, 98-1  BCA   29,528;  True L.  Carter,
   GSBCA 14131-TRAV, et al., 98-1 BCA    29,530; William A. Watkins,
   GSBCA 13970-TRAV,  97-2 BCA    29,222; see  also Dunklebarger  v.
   Merit Systems Protection Board, 130 F.3d 1476 (Fed. Cir. 1997). 
 
 
        In short, if a  claim can be resolved by  using a collective
   bargaining agreement's grievance procedure, then this Board lacks
   the  authority  to settle  it.    Only  if the  agreement  should
   explicitly and unambiguously exclude the disputed matter from its
   procedures would we have the authority to resolve it.   Given the
   readiness  of  both  the  union  and management  to  process  Mr.
   Morris's grievance, it is apparent that no such  exclusion exists
   in this case.  Accordingly, this case is dismissed.    
 
                                           ____________________
                                           EDWIN B. NEILL
                                           Board Judge