' - ' Form°1' : . ' ' , NAT.IEJNAI, RAILROAD' ADJUSTMENT BOARD


                                                  9S-2-93-,2-101


            The Second Division consisted of the regular members and in addition Referee Eckehard Muessig when award was rendered.


    ' (International Association of Machinists and

            ( Aerospace Workers

            PARTIES TO DISPUTE::

            (The Atch.ison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

            ( Company '


            STATEMENT OF CLAIM:


                    "1. That under the Agreement of September 25, 1,964, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company 'hereinafter referred -t.o as carrier) laid off in force reduction Machinists B, J. Rogers, J. D. Johnson and T. W. Clendennon on April 22, 1988, a mere seventy-four (74) days prior to notice being served under Article I, Section 4, of

. September 25, 19C'4 Mediation Agreement to
                    close the Amarillo, Texas Rail Welding

                    Facility.


- 2.That the_C;arrier violated Article I, Sections

                    1, 2, 3, 4, 5, E, i, 8, and 9 of the September

                    25, 1964 Mediation Agreement when. they laid

                    off Claimants,,_just, prior to notice being

                    served that the Rail Welding Plant would be

                    closed and abandoned and work formerly

                    performed thereat. would be contracted to

Colorado Foundry and Iron at Pueblo,
 - Colorado.'?

            F)~NDINGs_


            The Second Division of the Adjustment Board, upon thcz whole record and all the evidenc':e, ,`_ inds that


            The carrier or carriers and the employee or employees involved in this dispute are respectively carrier and employee 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 therein.

      . . . .Form 1:. -~t,,a;: , :. .;. . . . -Award' No.': . 12 814

              page 2: . . . -. . _ , .... .. .- . ' Docket 'No : 1-2 5 9 9

              95-2-93-2-107.


            Parties to said dispute waived right of appearance at hearing thereon.


            The dispute was still pending with SEA No. 570 when on June 1, 1993, the parties at the National Level agreed that disputes of this type which had not been assigned to and argued before a Referee at SEA No. 570 could "be withdrawn by either party at any time prior to August 1, 1993." The Agreement allowed that "a dispute withdrawn pursuant to this paragraph may be refexed to any boards available under Section 3 of the RLA . . . .~ (underscore ours for emphasis)


              The Claimants were Welding Plant Maintainers at the Carrier's centralized welding plant ("CWP") in Amarillo, Texas. They

. basically maintained and repaired machinery used to weld strips of:
            rail. This latter task was performed by the Brotherhood of:

            Maintenance of Way Employes.


            The significant event that caused this claim to arise occurred on April 18, 1988 when the Claimants were placed in a furlough status effective April 22, 1988. On July 5, 1988, the Carrier

I, issued a Bulletin that the CWP would be closed "on or about October
            3, 1988."


            The Organization, in its simplest terms, contends that the Claimants were furloughed in anticipation of the October 3, 1988 closing. It asserts that the July 5 notice is "proof positive" that the Carrier,k7as aware, prior to April 22, 1988, that its facility would be totally closed.


                We are unable to find any evidence in the record to establish

' a nexus between the abolishment of the Claimants' positions and the
            discontinuance of operations at the CWP. The evidence shows that

            it was not unusual to have force reductions at the CWP. For

            example, at one point in 7.982, all of the welding plant maintenance

            positions were abolished for approximately 2 1/2 months.


                                    AWARD


                Claim denied.


                                  O R D E R


' This Board, after consideration of the dispute identified
            above, hereby orders that an award favorable to the Claimant(s) not

            be made,

Form- 1 .~t.~:~:~ :~ . w Award No. x28 4
 , . - _ ,
 Page 3 _ Docket No. 12699
 95-2-93~-2-10.1

                        NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD

                        $y Order of Second Division


e

 v Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 26th day of January 1995.