Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
SECOND DIVISION
Award No. 13137
Docket No. 12931
97-2-94-2-82
The Second Division consisted of the regular members and in addition Referee
Robert M. O'Brien when award was rendered.
(Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, Division of
( Transportation Communications International Union
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(CSX Transportation, Inc. (former Chesapeake and
( Ohio Railway)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
"Claim of the Committee of the Union that:
1. That the carrier violated Rule 27 of the Shopcraft's Agreement and
Article II of the April 24, 1970 Agreement when, on August 31,
1993, the Carrier furloughed its regularly assigned Carmen
employees on the second shift and third shift at Newport News,
Virginia without having given the required five (5) days advanced
notice when no emergency conditions existed.
1. Accordingly, the carrier be instructed to pay carmen R. G. Wood,
ID #618915; G. W. Rowe, Jr., ID #619577; M. D. Morris, 1D
#620978; G. L. Sarvis, ID #620980; W. R. Thomas, ID #621087; R.
R. Walker, ID #623171; J. H. Chapman, ID # 624342; E. G.
Damron,1D #627564; T. L. Proctor, ID #621295; R. L. Bolden, ID
#618222; C. Brown, Sr., ID # 618889; R. L. French, ID #627537; T.
Williams, Jr., ID #619460; J. L. Baines, ID # 091730; H. H. Wood,
Jr., ID #604075; C. Corbin, Jr., ID #609499; G. L. Brewer. H)
#619451; D. W. Hudson, ID #613299; and C. C. Eley, Jr., ID
#609549 eight hours at the applicable Carmen's rate."
FINDINGS:
The Second Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record and all the
evidence, finds that:
Form 1 Award No. 13137
Page 2 Docket No. 12931
97-2-94-2-82
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 were given due notice
of
hearing thereon.
On August 31, 1993, the National Weather Service issued a warning that
Hurricane Andrew could possibly strike landfall in Newport News and the surrounding
coastal areas
of
Virginia. Because
of
this hurricane warning, the Carrier suspended
terminal operations for the second and third shifts and temporarily furloughed the
employees assigned to those shifts. By 7:00 A.M. the following day, September 1, 1993,
the National Weather Service announced that the hurricane threat had passed. The
Carrier notified the first shift employees by telephone to return to work and resumed
normal operations.
On October 25, 1993 the Organization filed a claim on behalf of the Carmen
assigned to the second and third shifts at Newport News, Virginia, alleging that the
Carrier failed to provide them with five days' advance notice of suspension of operations
as required by Rule 27
of
the Shopcrafts' Agreement and Article II of the April 24, 1970
Agreement. The Carrier denied the claim asserting that operations were suspended due
to the National Weather Service warning to the residents of the Newport News and
surrounding coastal area that a hurricane was heading in that direction. The Carrier
contends that it viewed suspension of operations the safest course of action to protect its
employees in the event Newport News was struck by Hurricane Andrew.
Rule 27 of the Shopcrafts' Agreement, entitled REDUCTION IN FORCES,
provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
"(b) Except as provided in Paragraph (g,) of this rule, five working days,
notice will be given the men affected before reduction is made
(emphasis added), and lists will be furnished the local committee ....
(g) Effective November 1, 1954. When abolishing positions or making
force reductions, not more than sixteen hours advance notice will be
Form 1 Award No. 13137
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required under emergency conditions such as flood, snowstorm,
hurricane, earthquake, fire or strike, provided the Carrier's
operations are suspended in whole or in part and provided further
that because of such emergency, the work which would be
performed by the incumbents of the positions to be abolished or the
work which would be performed by the employees involved in the
force reductions no longer exists or cannot be performed ...."
Rule 27 was amended by Article II - Force Reduction Rule - of the April 24, 1970
National Agreement as follows:
"Insofar as applicable to the employees covered by this agreement,
Article VI of the agreement of August 21, 1954 is hereby amended to read
as follows:
(a) Rules, agreements or practices, however established, that
require advance notice to employees before temporarily abolishing
positions or making temporary force reductions are hereby modified to
eliminate any requirement for such notices under emergency conditions,
such as flood, snow storm, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, fire or labor
dispute other than as covered by paragraph (b) below, provided that such
conditions result in suspension of a carrier's operations in whole or in part.
It is understood and agreed that such temporary force reductions will be
confined solely to those work locations directly affected by any suspension
of operations. It is further understood and agreed that notwithstanding the
foregoing, any employee who is affected by an emergency force reduction
and reports for work for his position without having been previously
notified not to report, shall receive four hours' pay at the applicable rate
for his position."
The central question to be resolved in this dispute is whether "emergency
conditions" existed when the Carrier decided to suspend operations in Newport News
and temporarily furlough Carmen assigned to the second and third shifts. If emergency
conditions existed the Carrier was not required to give the Carmen the five days
advance notice required by Rule 27.
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It is instructive to note that when the Carrier made the decision to suspend
operations at the Newport News terminal, the National Weather Service was reporting
that Hurricane Andrew could hit the area that evening. That the hurricane did not
strike the Newport News area is irrelevant. Based on the latest National Weather
Service reports the Carrier had reason to believe that its employees at Newport News
could be jeopardized by Hurricane Andrew. Therefore, this constituted an emergency
condition relieving the Carrier
of
its obligation to give employees five days' advance
notice
of
a temporary reduction in force.
That the Carrier's operations at Portsmouth and Richmond, Virginia, were not
curtailed because
of
the impending hurricane had no bearing on the decision by
management at Newport News to temporarily reduce its forces because
of
the threatened
hurricane. That decision was based on National Weather Service reports that
Hurricane Andrew could hit Virginia the evening
of
August 31, 1993. In this Board's
opinion, this constituted an emergency condition that justified the Carrier in temporarily
reducing Carmen on the second and third shifts without giving them five days' advance
notice. The claim is denied as a result.
AWARD
Claim denied.
ORDER
This Board, after consideration
of
the dispute identified above, hereby orders that
an award favorable to the Claimant(s) not be made.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order
of
Second Division
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 30th day
of July 1997.