Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD Award No. 12280
SECOND DIVISION Docket No. 11960-T
92-2-90-2-69
The Second Division consisted of the regular members and in
addition Referee John C. Fletcher when award was rendered.
(International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Burlington Northern Railroad Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
1. That in violation of the current Agreement, Rules 26, 76 and 98,
in particular, the Burlington Northern Railroad Company arbitrarily assigned
employees of the various shop crafts at Havre, Montana to perform work of the
Electrical Craft.
2. That accordingly the Burlington Northern Railroad Company should
be ordered to compensate furloughed Under 40 Ton Crane Operations Floyd K.
Landsiedel, Jerald Amor, Steve Brough, Ardell Tollefson and Karen Vaughn eight
(8) hours daily, five (5) days per week, beginning April 1, 1989, and continuing until an Electrical Craft Under 40 ton Crane Operator is reassigned to
perform the subject work of the Electrical Craft. All of the Claimants are
furloughed from the Havre, Montana facility.
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.
As Third Party in Interest, the International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers was advised of the pendency of this dispute
and filed a Submission with the Division.
On April 1, 1989, Carrier installed a new one-ton overhead crane
above stalls 1 and 2 at its Havre Diesel Shop. This crane was attached to a
movable bridge which had been installed in 1968 for use with a sand hopper,
and is operated from the ground by means of a control panel connected to the
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92-2-90-2-69
crane by a cable. The crane is used to position parts for installation and to
secure parts during removal in connection with light repairs being performed
on locomotives. Carrier has continued to use two-ton overhead cranes for
light repair work in stalls 3 through 6, as well as larger cranes for heavy
repairs in stalls 7 through 9. The five cranes which service stalls 3 through
9 have been operated exclusively by electricians. Carrier states it has
utilized employees of various other crafts (predominantly machinists) to operate the new crane in stalls 1 and 2. According to Carrier, the assignment of
the work depends upon the type of repair operation being performed, and generally does not exceed one hour per day.
In asserting the operation of the new crane is exclusively the work
of electricians, the Organization has relied upon Rule 26(g)(2) of the Agreement, which reads, in part, as follows:
"(2) Crane operators now holding seniority as
such will be carried on separate seniority rosters
covering the entire district, and will have prior
rights to any vacancies as crane operator. When
vacancies as crane operator on cranes of less than 40
tons occur they will be bulletined as such, and if
there are no bidders from the crane operators' roster
the senior electrician helper bidding for the posi
tion will be assigned thereto and will establish
seniority as crane operator as of the first day of
service as such. When vacancies as crane operator on
cranes of 40 tons or over occur they will be bulle
tined as such and if there are no bidders from the
crane operators' roster the senior electrician
mechanic bidding for the position will be assigned
thereto, and will establish seniority as crane
operator as of the first day of service as such.
Crane operators on cranes of less than 40 tons shall
not have bumping rights to crane operators' positions
of 40 tons or over, and bids from such employees to
positions of crane operator of 40 tons or over will
be considered only when there are no bidders from the
ranks of 40 ton crane operators or electricians.
Crane operators of 40 tons or over shall retain their
mechanic's seniority and crane operators of less than
40 tons shall retain their helper's seniority. Crane
operators who, on the date of this agreement do not
have a seniority date either as helper or electrician
will be given their original dates they previously
held in either of these categories. This rule shall
not prevent the use of crane operators on cranes of
less than 40 tons from performing electrician help
ers' work, or the use of crane operators of 40 tons
or over from performing electrician work when no
crane operation is necessary." (emphasis added)
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The organization has also cited Rule 76, which reads, in part, as
follows:
"ELECTRIC SHOP CRANES
Electricians' work shall include the operation of
electric cranes of 40-ton capacity or over where such
work is now performed by electricians, regardless of
method of operation, and making running repairs including cleaning and lubricating. Crane operators
shall be assigned to operate cranes under 40 tons
capacity where such work is now performed by electrical craft crane operators, regardless of method of
operation, and making running repairs including
cleaning and lubricating
....'
(emphasis added)
This Board does not approach this dispute without some arbitral
history. In Second Division Award 7482, this Division denied a claim involving this Carrier and this Organization, contending that the IBEW Agreement was
violated when employees of various crafts operated two 15 ton and one 35 ton
overhead cranes that were placed in service at Carrier's Northtown, Minnesota
diesel maintenance facility. The Board, in that dispute, noted no regular
positions in regard to the three cranes in question had been listed or filled.
Rather, the cranes, as they are in the dispute herein, were operated by the
various crafts, as needed, in connection with the specialized work. The Board
further noted the Organization failed to show it operated such cranes on an
exclusive basis throughout the Carrier's system. Finally, the Board held the
Organization was required to first seek its remedy through Rule 93, which
addresses controversies as to craft jurisdiction and directs such disputes be
settled by the contesting organizations. In our Award 7856, which also involved a dispute at Northtown, we followed Award 7482.
More recently, the Board revisited the issue at Havre, Montana, the
location involved herein. In Award 12000, this Division found no violation of
the Agreement when Carrier eliminated a Crane Operator position with less than
two hours work per day and thereafter had the crane operated by other Electricians in the course of their regular duties. Award 12001, also involving
the facility at Havre, addressed the installation of a new 7 1/2 ton crane,
which Carrier directed be operated by whichever mechanic was required to do so
in the performance of his duties. This Division again cited Award 7482, and
found no violation of the Agreement.
These Awards lead us to conditions which must be satisfied before the
Board can find Carrier was required to establish a Crane Operator position.
First, there must be evidence to establish the crane is operated at least two
hours per day. Second, the Organization must show, either by Rule or systemwide practice, that the work is exclusively reserved to the IBEW. Third, the
craft jurisdiction dispute procedures of Rule 93 must be exhausted.
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Applying those tests to the dispute herein, the Board finds Carrier
has asserted the crane is used less than one hour on most days and there is no
evidence to the contrary. Even though Carrier has acknowledged Electricians
have exclusively operated the overhead cranes in stalls 3 through 9 at the
Havre Diesel Shop, this is not satisfactory to conclude there is a system-wide
practice. Finally, there is no evidence the procedures of Rule 93 have been
invoked. For these reasons, we find no violation of the Agreement.
A W A R D
Claim denied.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Second Division
Attest:
ncy J er - Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 18th day of March 1992.