Form I NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD Award No. 10922
SECOND DIVISION Docket No. 10196-T
2-SSR-SMW-'86
The Second Division consisted of the regular members and in
addition Referee John J. Mikrut, Jr. when award was rendered.
(Sheet Metal Workers' International Association
Parties to Dispute:
(Seaboard System Railroad
(Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company)
Dispute: Claim of Employes:
1) Claim in behalf of Sheet Metal Workers C. F. Manire and L. J.
Pope for thirty-two (32) hours each at time and one-half rate of pay.
2) On or about March 9, 1981, Maintenance of Way employee Mr. Butch
Croft installed approximately 1,000 feet of two (2) inch PVC water pipe, two
(2) riser pipes and two (2) water faucets on each riser pipe at Baldwin Shop,
Baldwin, Florida.
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 employes within the meaning of the
Railway Labor Act as approved June 21, 1934.
This Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the
dispute involved herein.
Parties to said dispute waived right of appearance at hearing thereon.
On or about March 9, 1981, a Maintenance of Way employe, Butch Croft,
installed approximately 1,000 feet of two-inch PVC water pipe complete with
risers and faucets at Carrier's Baldwin Shop, Baldwin, Florida. Said work
provided water service for camp car facilities at the Baldwin facility. A
Claim was filed by the Sheet Metal Workers Union in protest of Carrier's
assignment of said work to Employe Croft. The record shows that Sheet Metal
Workers are not normally assigned at this point. The Brotherhood of
Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE) intervened in the instant dispute as a
Third Party.
The Sheet Metal Workers' International Association (SMWIA) bases its
Claim upon a combined reading of Schedule Rule 26(a), 85 and 88, and a reading
of the provisions of a Carrier approved 1948 SMWIA/BMWE Jurisdiction Agreement. In this regard, Organization contends that: (1) Rule 26(a) requires
that none but Sheet Metal Workers shall perform work embodied in the Craft's
special Rules; (2) Rule 85 -- Classification of Work Rule -- recognizes that
Form 1 Award No. 10922
Page 2 Docket No. 10196-T
2-SSR-SMW-'86
"sheet metal workers work shall consist of
...
pipefitting in shops, yards,
buildings
...";
and (3) Rule 88 -- Road Work -- provides that "sheet metal
workers will be sent out
...
to outlying points, when their services are
required
...
. In further support of its position, Organization also argues
that in 1948, the BMWE and the SMWIA resolved plumbing jurisdictional disputes, such as that involved in the instant case, by agreeing that Sheet Metal
Workers would perform
"...
all plumbing and pipe installation
...
at points
within Terminal Yard limits where Shops are located".
According to Organization's position, Carrier violated the combined
provisions cited hereinabove by improperly assigning the disputed plumbing
work to a BMWE employe since the pipe was installed within the Terminal Yard.
Carrier and the Maintenance of Way Employes Union disagree with Sheet
Metal Workers Union's position in that they jointly contend that not only is
plumbing work not specifically stated in the SMWIA Work Rule, but also that
other Crafts have previously installed pipe at Carrier's Baldwin facility.
Moreover, Carrier further claims that it does not recognize any Third Party
Agreements in such matters. According to the Respondents, without either a
showing of specificity or exclusivity, the Claim thus must be denied.
Board precedent recognizes
"...
two ways for the SMWIA to successfully substantiate the instant claim: (a) by demonstrating that clear,
definite and unambiguous language in a rule of the parties, unencumbered by
other rules of the same agreement grants the work in question to the SMWIA, or
(b), by demonstrating that the work in question has historically and exclusively been performed by the SMWIA employes system-wide" (Second Division
Award 6867).
The Board finds, with respect to this Carrier, that the Organization
has proved specificity. If this Board was only limited to the SMWIA
Classification of Work Rules, our decision would have been opposite. However,
in the instant case, the record shows the existence of a Current Jurisdiction
Agreement, signed by both Unions and adopted by Carrier, which clearly and
unambiguously grants all plumbing and pipe installation within Terminal Yards
with Shops to Sheet Metal Workers. The fact that Respondents presently refute
the 1948 Agreement is immaterial.
On the basis of the foregoing rationale, therefore, the Claim is
sustained, but limited to the time actually required to perform the disputed
work. The record in this regard shows that one person worked one day in the
performance of the disputed work. Therefore, each Claimant is to be awarded
four (4) hours at the applicable straight time rate.
Form 1 Award No. 10922
Page 3 Docket No. 10196-T
2-SSR-SMW-'86
A W A R D
Claim sustained in accordance with the Findings.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Second Division
Attest:
Nancy J ver - Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 16th day of July 1986.