NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
Third Division
"Conductor W. L. Wier, Dourer District, asks for the equivalent of the wages earucd by Conductor It. K. Taft who was recalled to service ahead of him, both being on furlough. The wages in question are those earned by Taff from date of recall and transfer to the date Wier was recalled for service."
STATEMENT OF FACTS,. 1n their ex parts submission the employes stated the facts as follows:
"Conductor Wier has seniority in the Denver District dating from March 30, 1!420. IIe was furloughed September 18, 10'31. Oil January 26, 1935, he learned that Conductor IL. K. Taft, who was junior to him on the .seniority roster, hart been recalled to service sometime in the previous month and temporarily transferred to Miami, Florida, for work. This transfer was later trade permanent. Other extra and furloughed conductors senior to Taft elected not to become parties to this grievance, which eliminates them from consideration in this case. Wier is the only conductor senior to Taft who would have accepted the transfer. He was not given the refusal of it. Role 8 of the existing agreement between The Pallntan Company and its conductors is shown in Exhibit 'R.' Under the terms of this rule it is mandatory on the company to recall conductors to work in the order of their seniority. Tbere were fifteen conductors, including Wier, who were senior to Taft at the time he was recalled to service."
"In reducing forces, seniority will prevail in selecting those to be 1-c twined in rite service. When forces are increased, those who were laid off or furloughed will lie returned to service in the order of their seniority, provided tbnv have filed tlicir tnaines and addresses with the designated official for that purpose. Failure to report for duty within seven days from the date of notification will terminate this privilege unless an explntattion satisfactory to the management is given."
In the carrier's ex pane statement of facts, W. L. Wier's service record is shown wet follows:
Hearings were accorded in the usual manner, up to and including the chief operating officer of the carrier, as provided for by the agreement
That conductor Taft was not returned to service in the Denver District, but oil request, was transferred, first temporarily and then permanently to the Miami District and that such action was not in violation of Rule 8, but was in accord with practice of many years.
Regarding temporary transfer in 1930--11)31 of certain Denver District condnetors to the Pennsylvania Terminal District, carrier states, in view of the fact that deductions were then made from conductors' seniority while on furlough and the fact that a large number of conductors were required for temporary service in the Pennsylvania Terminal District, it was decided to offer the furloughed conductors of the Denver District the opportunity of accepting or declining temporary work in that district, for the reason that the Denver conductors were men of comparatively long service and their work had been seriously curtailed by the depression. There was no rule requiring transfer of these individuals and the action was taken as a means of offering work for men whose earnings had been seriously affected.
That, for years, on request and for various reasons, transfers have been made from one district to another if and when the applicant's service could be utilized and that seniority has riot been considered a factor in such transfers.
OPINION OF THE BOARD.-The rules governing the working conditions for conductors of the Pullman Company and which became effective December 16, 1923, were operative at the time of this dispute and clearly define in rule 8 the manner in which reductions in force and recall to service are to be determined; while rule 7 (a) specifies the location or the district in which the seniority of an employe shall apply. There has been no question of the seniority of conductor Wier over that of conductor Taft in the Denver district, this laving been established by both employes and carrier in favor of conductor Wier. In the application of rule 8 of the agreement governing working conditions for conductors of the Pullman Company, Conductor Wier, holding seniority in the Denver district, was entitled to the refusal of any employment that was ofered through that district to which his seniority gave him preference. By the terms of rule 7 (n) Conductor Wier, who held seniority over Conductor Taft in the Denver district, held prior claim by seniority rights to recalls made in that district. By the application of these rules, where a shortage of conductors exists in one district and that district elects to call oil a second district for a conductor, any calls made by the second district to its conductors on furlough and subject to recall would be subject to the seniority rights as specified in rule 7 (a), and would apply as though the service was to be rendered in the second district or the district through which the recall of the conductor was made.
FINDINGS.-The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, after giving the parties to this dispute due notice of hearing thereon and upon the whole record and all the evidence, finds and holds:
That the carrier and employes involved in this dispute are respectively carrier and employes within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act as approved June 21, 1934;
That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein, and
That Conductor Wier, who held seniority in the Denver District, was entitled to seniority in the recall that was made.