"The expressions 'positions' and 'work' used in this rule refer to service, duties or operations necessary to be performed the specified number of days per week, and not to the work of individual employes." (Emphasis supplied)

Rules 5'/z(c) and 5Yz(i) provide as follows:

"(c) Six-day Positions

Where the nature of the work is such that employes will be needed six days each week, the rest days will be either Saturday and Sunday or Sunday and Monday."

"(i) Beginning of Work Week

The term 'work week' for regularly assigned employes shall mean a week beginning on the first day on which the assignment is bulletined to work, and for unassigned employes shall mean a period of seven consecutive days starting with Monday."

In respect to the observance of the seven holidays listed in the last paragraph of the Notice quoted in the Joint Statement of Facts:

The second paragraph of Rule 12, signalmen's agreement, provides as follows:

"The observance of New Year's Day, Washington's Birthday, Decoration Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas, will not be regarded as reducing the established working hours or days."

In order to properly and adequately protect the maintenance and service requirements in the territory covered by the signal forces with headquarters at "NI" the services of signal employes are needed six days per week, Monday to Saturday, inclusive.

It is the position of the Carrier that the assignment of the Leading Signal Maintainer to a Tuesday through Saturday work week with Sunday and Monday as rest days and the assignment of the balance of the forces to a Monday through Friday work week with Saturday and Sunday as rest days is not contrary to the provisions of any rules in the applicable signalmen's schedule agreement but that such assignments are in conformity with the provisions of Rule 51/z (c), quoted above, and that this Board cannot properly sustain the claim of the employes.

OPINION OF BOARD: Prior to September I, 1949, Carrier maintained a signal force at "NI" West Chicago, consisting of a Leading Signal Maintainer, a Signal Maintainer and an Assistant Signal Maintainer, each assigned six days each week with Sundays as rest days. After the esablishment of the 40 hour week on September 1, 1949, the Leading Signal Maintainer was assigned to work Tuesday through Saturday and the other two were assigned to work Monday through Friday. The Organization contends that this was an improper assignment of the Leading Signal Maintainer and claims for the claimant for time lost in not being permitted to work his correct assignment and time and one-half for the time actually worked outside his regular assignment if it had been correctly assigned.

The Carrier contends that the work performed by the claimant was such that it must be performed six days per week. The record shows that the territory assigned to the signal maintenance force at "NI" West Chicago is at the west end of the Chicago suburban territory on the Galena Division. West Chicago is a turnaround point for many suburban trains. The territory assigned includes within its limits the electric interlocking at "NI", the CTC

controlled stations at "WX" and "GX", a portion of the maintenance of the electric interlocking at "BJ" (EJ&E crossing of main line) and remotely controlled interlocking "A" (EJ&E crossing of the Freeport and Williams Bay Lines). It is the position of Carrier that signal maintenance is required in this area on six days of each week. We think the evidence supports the Carrier in its contention that six day maintenance service is required in the territory assigned to the signal maintenance force at "NI". This being established, the dispute is controlled by Award 5556. For the reasons therein stated, the claim is denied

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

That the Agreement was not violated.

AWARD