BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYES
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim as presented by the System Committee of the Brotherhood in behalf of O. H. Cox, Price Clerk, Eastern District Accounting Office, for payment at the rate of $10.87 per day instead of $10.26 per day on June 2, 1948, based on Rule 52 of the Clerks' Agreement effective June 1, 1946.
CARRIER'S STATEMENT OF FACTS: There is maintained in the Eastern District Accounting office one position of Head Price Clerk at a rate of $10.87 per day and two positions of Price Clerk at a rate of $10.26 per day.
The position of Head Price Clerk is assigned to supervise and direct the work of pricing material and to post prices from invoices on a panel for ready reference in pricing material used. The positions of Price Clerks are assigned to post prices on shop delivery orders of memoranda of material used, obtaining prices from the panel.
Mr. O. H. Cox occupied one of the positions of Price Clerk. On June 2, 1948 due to an accumulation of invoices the Head Price Clerk required assistance in posting prices on the panel and Mr. Cox assisted the Head Price Clerk in performing this work on this date.
Because of posting prices from invoices on the panel on June 2, 1948, claim has been presented by Mr. Cox for payment at the rate of $10.87 per day instead of $10.26 per day based on Rule 52 of the Clerks' Agreement effective June 1, 1946, reading:
rate, for his services under this rule has heretofore been the subject of claims before your Honorable Board on similar cases with other carriers and our Brotherhood, one of which may be specifically cited as dealing with matters not unlike hose involved in the instant case. Award 4545- There, with Judge Wenke as Referee, your Honorable Board stated:
The Employes feel that Mr. Cox's claim for the higher rate (Head Price Clerk's rate) for the Head Price Clerk's work performed by him on June 2, 1948, is supported by the rules of our working conditions Agreement.
OPINION OF BOARD: For a period of three hours on June 2, 1948, the claimant, a price clerk, performed work described in the submission as that of the head price clerk. The Carrier asserts that claimant did not assume the responsibilities of the position and, therefore, did not qualify under the terms of Paragraph 52 of the Rules for the pay of the higher position In an office that was comprised of a head price clerk and two price clerks, the work and responsibilities of the position of head price clerk would be largely the performance of the work. The supervising duties at the most, except with untrained employes, would be nominal, and the mere fact that during the three hours the claimant did the work of the head price clerk and did not exercise other nominal duties of such position does not indicate that he did not perform the duties and responsibilities of the higher rated position The claimant was required to work the higher rated position because the head price clerk had worked on other duties and had permitted his work to accumulate. Thus the temporary assignment was not due to an increase in volume of the work.
When employes work in a higher rated position they are entitled to the higher rates while occupying the position. (Rule 52.) As the claimant worked at the higher rate for three hours, he should be compensated at the higher rate for such period, less what has been paid for this time.
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