The Second Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record and all the evidence, finds 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 herein.

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

This case was originally submitted to SBA 570. In accordance with the June 1, 1993 Letter of Understanding between the Organization and the National Railway Labor Conference the case was withdrawn from SBA 570 and submitted to this Board.

On December 14, 1987 Carrier reduced the number of laborers positions at La Junta, Colorado from eight to four. As a result, the claimants were furloughed. A claim was filed on January 20, 1988 requesting the protective benefits of the September 25, 1964 Agreement. It is the position of the organization that the claimants were deprived of employment as a result of a transfer of work and the abandonment or consolidation of facilities.

The Organization has failed in its burden to provide evidence of any transfer of work or abandonment of facilities. It is obvious with four laborers' positions remaining, that the facility at La Junta was not abandoned. Its position that the fueling of locomotives was transferred to Kansas City and other points is unsupported. To claim that locomotives need to be fueled at La Junta whether they need fuel or not is not a transfer or work. The fact that the Carrier ceased fueling locomotives at La Junta unless they need at least 2,000 gallons of fuel does not prove a transfer of work. There is no denial that fueling still exists at La Junta.

Based on the facts presented in this case, there is no basis to sustain the claim.

AWARD