NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYES
ST. LOUIS SOUTHWESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY
OF TEXAS
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes:
1. That Carrier's action effective on or about February 1, 1949, changing the intent and prior application of Rule 57-1 (Sick Leave) current Agreement effective April 1, 1946 whereby the provisions thereof shall only be extended to the employe when he (or she) personally is sick, was unilateral and violative of Rule 61 (Date effective and Changes) of said Agreement.
2. That B. B. Wilkinson, General Clerk, Superintendent's Ofce, Tyler, Texas be allowed compensation at rate of pay attached to his regular position for two days, February 2 and 3, 1949 that he was absent therefrom account death of his father, during which absence the work normally attached to his position was kept up by other employes and without additional cost to the Carrier.
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: The claimant, Mr. Wilkinson, is an employe of the Carrier as General Clerk in the Superintendent's office at Tyler, Texas. His service dates from May 19, 1922.
February 2, 1949 Mr. Wilkinson's father died and this necessitated his son, claimant, being absent from his work in the office on that date-February 2-to attend to necessary funeral arrangements and on the following dateday of the funeral.
The Carrier blanked Mr. Wilkinson's position during his absence and other employes in the office "kept up", within the meaning of Rule 57-1, the work normally attached to Mr. Wilkinson's position, hence, Carrier was put to no additional expense by reason of the claimant's absence.
On February 15, Mr. Wilkinson was verbally advised by Mr. Debenport, Chief Clerk to Superintendent, that he had received a communication from the Superintendent of Personnel, Mr. F. P. Lee, placing an interpretation of the Carrier's application of Sick Leave Rule 57-1 at variance with past prac-
The Board has also passed on a specific claim that payment should be made under a sick leave rule for time absent due to death in the employe's immediate family. Third Division Awards 3347 to 3352, inclusive, cover claims of this nature. The opinion of Board in Award 3347 contains the following:
It was also decided in this award that a previous memorandum of agreement relating to payment of a maximum of three days under sick leave rule when employes were absent due to death in family related only to cases pending at the time the memorandum of agreement was made, and did not alter the sick leave rule nor require similar payment in the future.
Thus it appears that awards of the Board do not support the claim. The facts previously pointed out show the provisions of the rule involved, the history of the rule, and its application. The Carrier respectfully submits these facts show that interpreting Rule 57 to include absence for personal reasons in addition to absence because of being sick, would definitely enlarge the rule beyond the limits agreed upon. Under the Railway Labor Act that would be a matter to be handled by negotiations and agreement.
The Carrier respectfully submits that the claim is not supported by the rules nor justified for any reason, and requests that the claim be denied.
OPINION OF BOARD: The System Committee of the Brotherhood makes this claim for compensation in behalf of B. B. Wilkinson, General Clerk, Superintendent's Office, Tyler, Texas. It asks that he be paid at the rate of his regular position for two days, February 2, 3, 1949, when he was absent from work due to the death of his father.
Claimant's father died on February 2, 1949 and claimant did not report for duty on February 2, 3, 1949, because thereof. During his absence his position was not filled and the work he normally performed, and which was attached to his position, was kept up by other employes without additional cost to the Carrier.
Rule 57-1 of the parties' effective Agreement, so far as here material, provides as follows: "When the work of an employe is kept up by other em. ployes without additional cost to the Carrier, an employe * * * will not have deduction made from his pay for time absent on account of a bona fide case of sickness * * *."
The question is, does this rule apply only when the employe is absent because he or she is sick or does it apply whenever an employe is absent 5166-12 643
because of sickness or death in his immediate family or of some other close relative? It would appear that in the past Carrier has allowed and paid many claims on the latter basis.
Rules of an Agreement relate to the employes covered thereby unless otherwise expressly provided. Rule 57 relates to a specific subject and clearly covers only when absence is due to sickness of the employe claiming the benefit thereof.
Past practices under a rule on a specific subject that is clear and unambiguous does not change the rule itself and either Carrier can enforce or employes can require Carrier to enforce it according to its terms. That is what Carrier is now seeking to do. We find no violation by the Carrier as here claimed.
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