CHICAGO, ST. PAUL, MINNEAPOLIS & OMAHA RAILWAY
COMPANY
(a) That Carrier violated Agreement rules when it failed and refused to allow O. T. Klaenhammer, clerk, assigned incumbent of revising clerical Position 4, rate $11.14 per day, St. Paul Local Freight Station office, compensation claimed for February 25 and 26, 1948, and
(b) That Carrier shall now reimburse clerk Klaenhammer $8.64 for February 25 and $7.28 for February 26, 1948, under provisions of Rule 51 of current Rules Agreement, dated and effective July 16, 1926.
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: O. T. Kbaenhammer, with seniority date of July 30, 1913, on St. Paul Station Class 1 seniority roster, was the assigned incumbent of Revising Clerk Position 4, rate $11.14 per day.
On February 25 and 26, 1948, Clerk Klaenhammer had permission to be absent from duty to attend the funeral of his brother-in-law at Menomonie, Wisconsin.
On his return to duty, February 27, Clerk Klaenhammer submitted Carrier Form OD 309, request for compensation for February 25 and 26 under provisions of Rule 51, account while his and other positions had been filled, Position 22, rate $8.64 per day had not in turn been filled on February 25 and Position 15, rate $7.28 per day, had not been filled on February 26, both vacancies created by his absence.
Clerk Klaenhammer had qualified by length of service under provisions of Rule 51 for this compensation and Carrier having blanked positions due to his absence also had qualified him for payment of compensation claimed.
Claim was declined in letter of Agent of March 11, which states in part "For your information our Company cannot grant your request for wages on those days as the circumstances are not of such a nature that in this instance can be applied to the provisions as illustrated in 13RC Rule 51."
On appeal, Clerk Klaenhammer's claim was in turn declined by Superintendent of Twin City Terminal Division and Director of Personnel.
When Clerk Klaenhammer was absent Carrier had the option of filling all of the vacancies created by his absence and avoid claim now before this Honorable Board, having failed to do so Carrier is obligated to compensate him under Rule 51.
Carrier has not attempted to make any showing of practice of declining claims under Rule 51 nor agreement on what should constitute good and sufficient reasons either in conference or by correspondence, just relying on the coptention that Rule 51 expressly denies superior officers the authority to overrule a supervisor when supervisor's action results in arbitrarily eliminating Rule 51 from the Rules Agreement.
Employes call to this Honorable Board's attention that since Award 1524 of July 1941, all claims under Rule 51 that have been appealed have been allowed by Director of Personnel with one exception which Employes agreed would not be honored.
Employes now ask that this Honorable Board sustain claim for Clerk Klaenhammer as outlined in Statement of Claim.
CARRIER'S STATEMENT OF FACTS: O. T. Klaenhammer, Clerk, St. Paul Freight Office, absented himself from duty February 25 and 26, 1948, stating as reason therefor that he attended the funeral of his brother-in-law.
POSITION OF CARRIER: It is the position of the carrier that under the plain language as contained in rule 51, i. e., that the supervising officer is to be the judge as to allowances under provisions thereof, this board has no jurisdiction.
Inasmuch as the material facts are similar insofar as the issue presented by that docket and this docket are concerned, we believe that a sustaining award is in order, for reasons appearing in the Opinion of the Board in the previous case.
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 the 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