Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUS'1fiETdT BOARD Award. No.
7398
SECOND DIVISION Docket No.
7279
2-A&s-sM-'77
The Second Division consisted of the regular members and in
addition Referee Herbert L. Marx, Jr. when award was rendered.
( Sheet Metal Workers' international
( Association
Parties to Dispute:
(
( The Alton and Southern Railway Company
Dispute: Claim of Employes:
1. That the Alton and Southern Railway Company violated the controlling
agreement, particularly Rules
13
and
24
(A) and (M) when furloughed
Sheet Metal Worker Helper Stanford Riley was refused position of
Sheet Metal Worker Apprentice.
2.
That accordingly, the Alton and Southern Railway Company, who
returned Sheet Metal Worker Apprentice Stanford Riley to service
on August 10,
1976
with all seniority rights unimpaired, now be
ordered to compensate him as follows:
1. Compensate Claimant for all time lost.
2.
Make whole for all vacation rights.
Pay the premium (Hospital Association Dues) for hospital,
surgical and medical benefits for all time out of service.
Pay premiums for Group Life Insurance for all time held out
of service.
Compensate Claimant for all holidays while out of service.
6.
Compensate Claimant for all sick pay.
7.
Make whole for all insurance premiums.
8.
Compensate Claimant fox all jury duty pay lost.
Findings:
The Second Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record and
all the evidence, finds that:
The carrier or carriers and the employe or employes involved in this
dispute are respectively carrier and employe within the meaning of the
Railway Labor Act as approved June
21, 193+.
f
a
Form 1 Award No.
7398
Page
2
Docket No.
7279
2-_h&S-SM-
t
77
This Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute
involved herein. '
Parties to said dispute waived right of appearance at hearing thereon.
Claimant was
furloughed
as a Sheet Metal Worker Helper on November
4,
197-.
This dispute centers on his claim for a position as Sheet Metal Worker
Apprentice filled by the Carrier with a new employee in June
1975.
Claim
was initially filed with the Carrier on February
14, 1976.
Article V of the September 11,
195-
Agreement states "all claims or
grievances must be presented in writing by or on behalf of the employee
involved, to the office of the Carrier officer authorized to receive same,
within 60 days from the date of the occurrence on which the claim or grievance
is based."
The record shows that the Claimant had knowledge in June
1975
of the
Apprentice position he was seeking, and he was specifically told (through an
acknowledged telephone message to his wife) that he was not selected for the
position. An initial claim eight months later is far beyond the time limits
provided and must therefore be barred.
The Organization argues that the time period begins to toll only after
the issuance of seniority standings in January
1976,
at which time the hiring
of a new employe in the Apprentice position came to the General Chairman's
attention. While this time sequence may be correct, it does not mitigate
the consideration that the employe directly involved was fully aware of the
situation in June
1975.
One of the purposes of time limits on claims is to lessen the extent of
the loss to an employe and the consequent cost and inconvenience to the
employer, should a claim be found valid. Another purpose is to insure that
a dispute is discussed, initially at least, while pertinent facts are readily
at hand. Such worthy purposes are defeated if time limits are ignored.
As to the merits -- setting aside the time limit question for this
purpose -- the Board finds nothing in the rules cited by the organization to
require the employment of a Sheet Metal Worker Helper as a Sheet Metal Worker
Apprentice. In addition, the Claimant was alleging, through a work-injury
suit, a substantial physical disability at the time the position was open.
While such allegations are frequently weighted with a measurable degree of
argumentative emphasis, the Claimant therein may logically be bound by his
own protestations of incapacity.
Form 1
Page
3
Claim dismissed.
Attest: Executive Secretary
National Railroad Adjustment Board
A 4,l A R D
Award ido.
7398
Docket No.
7279
2-A&S-SNI-'
77
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJfST11MENIl' BOARD
By Order of Second Division
By ' .,
`=~'Ro~emarie Brasch - Administrative Assistant
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this