NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION
STATEMENT OF DISPUTE: Claim of the General Committee of The Order of Railroad Telegraphers on the St. Louis South western Railway that
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: There is an agreement, bearing effective date of December 1, 1934, herein referred to as "The Telegraphers' Agreement", in effect between the parties to this dispute, copies of which are on file with the Board.
The following rest day relief clerk-telegrapher assignment, rate of pay $1.32 per hour, is the position involved in this dispute:
The regular incumbent of the above mentioned position was temporarily absent from his position February 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, 1949, thus creating six (6) days of extra work.
Telegrapher J. H. Stone, Jr., seniority date August 6, 1948, was the senior idle extra employe and was available for duty but was not called by the Carrier to perform this temporary extra work in accordance with Article 14 of the Telegraphers' Agreement. Instead the Carrier called Extra Telegrapher M. J. Jones, seniority date November 1, 1948, to fill the position.
POSITION OF EMPLOYES: Article 14 of the Telegraphers' Agreement is clear and simple and easily understood, and is quoted below for the convenience of the Board:
of officers acquainted with his work. It was the opinion of Assistant Chief Dispatcher Gibbons who was charged with the responsibility of placing extra telegraphers on the different vacancies and who sent a junior telegrapher to the ,job. It was the opinion of Acting Assistant Chief Dispatcher W. L. Jones, who subsequently relieved Mr. Gibbons account illness. Following is copy of note sent to General Chairman Fitzhugh by Mr. Jones, who incidentally is General Chairman of the American Train Dispatchers Association:
The facts are clear that Telegrapher Stone was not qualified for the position. Consequently the claim is not supported by the rules, and Carrier respectfully requests that it be denied.
OPINION OF BOARD: A violation of Article 14 of the current Agreement is charged because the Carrier called an extra man who was junior to the Claimant to work as relief telegrapher on a vacancy at Malden, MissouriDexter Junction, Missouri, February 1 to 6, inclusive, 1949. Article 14 provides that the senior extra employe shall have preference to extra work.
The Carrier recognizes the force and effect of Article 14 in proper cases, but relies upon Article 18-1 which says that, "Employes will be in line of promotion and where ability and qualifications are sufficient in the opinion of the Management, seniority will prevail."
It appears from the record that Malden-Dexter Junction constitutes one of the heaviest train order points on the Carrier's system and that a very substantial part of the work there is handled by telegraph. Claimant entered the Carrier's service on August 6, 1948, when 18 years of age and with less than two months' training as a student telegrapher. Between the time when he was employed and when he was refused the position about which he now complains, the Claimant had worked 36 days at jobs where train orders were handled exclusively by telephone and 62 days on light branch line jobs where a limited number of train orders were issued by telegraph but were seldom received.
The record is devoid of evidence from which it may be deduced that the Carrier acted arbitrarily or capriciously. Under the circumstances Rule 14 must yield to Rule 18-1 and the Carrier's determination that the Claimant did not possess the necessary qualifications for the Malden-Dexter Junction vacancy cannot be disturbed.
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 Employe involved in this dispute are respectively Carrier and Employe 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 4813-12 96