"Claim of the Committee of the Union that:

1. That the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company (CSX

Transportation, Inc., (hereinafter referred to as `carrier') violated

the controlling Shop Crafts Agreement specifically Rule 154 (a) and

(b), when the carrier assigned boilermakers to perform work

exclusively reserved to the carman craft.

2. Accordingly, the carrier be instructed to pay carman F.D. LaFon,

ID #102631, (hereinafter referred to as `claimant') three hours and

thirty minutes at the applicable carman overtime rate for said

violation."

This Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein.

Parties to said dispute were given due notice of hearing thereon.

As Third Party in Interest, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Blacksmiths was advised of the pendency of this dispute, but it chose not to file a Submission with the Board.

This is another in a series of cases before the Board which address the primary question of the type of work permissible under the "simple task" provisions of Section 1, .article V -Incidental Work Rule of the November 27, 1991 Imposed Agreement.

The work at issue was performed on August 17, 1995 at the Carrier's Huntington, West Virginia, Locomotive Shop. On that date, the Carrier assigned a Boilermaker to assist a Carman to remove and replace a coupler and coupler carrier-iron on Locomotive CSXT 6061.

The Carrier, in its letter of April 2.1, 1996 to the Organization in pertinent part stated:

"Our further review of this matter indicates that the work performed by the boilermaker in assisting the carman with this work would have been as follows:

(1) Operate remote controlled crane

(2) assist with handling heavy material

(3) simple tasks of welding the wear plate onto coupler carrier iron. removing and replacing four bolts, and assisting carman in straightening cut lever and bales by heating with torch so that carman can bend into shape with hammer. The total time spent on these simple tasks was less than two hours.

Regarding these simple tasks, to weld the wear plate unto the coupler carrier iron, it would have been necessary to make two small head

welds (about three inches each), which would have required about ten minutes. All shop crafts at the Huntington Locomotive Shop do welding work. Arc welding (such as involved in the work at issue in this claim) has been done routinely throughout the shop for many years. Removing and replacing the four bolts also would require about ten minutes.

The work performed by the boilermaker in this instance was either not reserved exclusively to carmen by agreement or practice (as in (1) and (2) above or was properly performed as simple tasks pursuant to the Incidental Work Rule."

"Carrier asserts that it was privileged to assign this work to a Carman pursuant to Article V of the.luly 31, 1992 Imposed Agreement. (Article V, Incidental Work Rule, has been extensively discussed in Award 2 of this Board, issued this date. It is incorporated into this ,ward by reference.) The Board does not agree. The Incidental Work Rule, as modified by the Imposed Agreement, does not permit a Carrier to assign 'simple tasks' to an employee of another Craft when such work requires the use of special training or special tools, because special training and special tools remove the work from the category of a 'simple task.'

Welding is work that most certainly requires special training and special tools. It is not a simple task. And while Carmen, and for that matter other Crafts, as well as Machinists may perform welding in the particular work of their own Crafts, this fact is not license or privilege for a Carrier to have them do welding work in a different Craft under the revised Incidental Work Rule. If it were, for example, then any Shop Craft employee capable of performing a specialized work function applicable to

the work of more than one Craft, such as welding, could be used as a `composite mechanic' in all Crafts, something objected to by the Organization before PEB 219, something that PEB 219 did not embrace, and something that was not specifically provided in the Imposed Agreement."

With respect to the question of damages, the Board finds no Agreement support for the amount of monies claimed. The Claimant will be paid for three hours and thirty minutes at the pro rata rate.

AWARD