Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
SECOND DIVISION
Award No. 13783
Docket No. 13673
03-2-02-2-34
The Second Division consisted of the regular members and in addition Referee
Don A. Hampton when award was rendered.
(Brotherhood Railway Carmen Division
( Transportation Communications International Union
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Springfield Terminal Railway Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
"Claim of the Committee of the Union that:
1. The Springfield Terminal Railway Company violated the terms
of our current agreement, in particular Rule 14 when they
arbitrarily denied the September 4, 2000 holiday (Labor Day)
to Carman Kenneth S. Gardner.
2. That, accordingly, the Springfield Terminal Railway Company
be ordered to compensate Carman Kenneth S. Gardner, in the
amount of eight (8) hours pay, at the prevailing rate hourly
rate. This is the amount he would have earned had the carrier
properly complied with the agreement."
FINDINGS:
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.
Form 1 Award No. 13783
Page 2 Docket No. 13673
03-2-02-2-34
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, 2000 the Claimant ". . . called the Carrier and left a message
that he would be off of work on September 1, 2000 due to his illness, requesting a
compensated sick day." September 1, 2000 happened to be the Claimant's last
scheduled work day prior to the Labor Day Holiday. The Claimant received sick
pay for September 1, 2000 and holiday pay for Labor Day, September 4, 2000.
The Carrier subsequently determined that the Holiday pay was paid in error
and eight hours pay was deducted from the Claimant's pay from the pay period that
ended September 16, 2000 thus generating the claim before us.
The controlling language in the current Agreement is Rule 14.2 which reads:
"To be eligible for holiday pay, employees must either work or be
available for work on the last workday before and the first workday
after the holiday ...The eligibility requirements of this paragraph
may be waived for regularly assigned employees who request and
receive permission to be off on any of the specified qualifying days
or portions thereof. Permission will not be denied unless requested
unreasonably or excessively."
The Rule clearly states that an employee must either work or be available for
work on the last work day prior to and the first work day subsequent to the holiday;
further that the Carrier may waive these requirements. In the case at hand, the
Claimant called and left a message that he would not be in due to illness. There is
no indication what so ever that the Carrier waived any of the provisions of Rule 14.
The Claimant left a message that he would not be in and this is not the same as
requesting from management permission to be absent. As the Carrier obviously did
not waive the requirements of Rule 14 there has been no Rule violation. Such
decision by the Carrier based on the facts of record in this claim do not seem
unreasonable or arbitrary.
Form 1 Award No. 13783
Page 3 Docket No. 13673
03-2-02-2-34
The Organization's contention that a similar claim settled on the property
with another labor Organization established a precedent does not withstand
scrutiny. First the settlement in question indicates that the settlement was without
precedent and secondly the terms of the agreement in that case were markedly
different than Rule 14 which is controlling in this claim. As there has been no Rule
violation the claim must be denied.
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 24th day of October 2003.