The Organization made no complaint that the consolidation has been a burden or placed additional work on dispatchers, otherwise claims would have been filed under the National Agreement.

The Carrier submits that this claim should be denied. While there is no burden on the Carrier to show that its action is authorized by an agreement rule, Article 5 (i) supports its action in this case.

All data in support of the Carrier's position have been exchanged with the Employes in conference on the property.

(Exhibits not Reproduced.)

OPINION OF BOARD: The claim of the Enmloyes is to the following effect: That the Carrier violated the latter portion of Article 3 (a) when, effective January 26, 1952, the Carrier aholished Relief Position No. 3 in its Hoboken, New Jersey, office and combined the Boonton Line with the Morristown Line dispatching territory for relief purposes between the hours of 5:00 A. M., Saturdays, and 11:59 P. M., Sundays; that as a result of this violation the Carrier be required to restore Relief Position No. 3, and until it is restored compensate the train dispatchers who were entitled to perform relief work the difference between what they have earned and the amount they would have earned had the violation not occurred.

We are primarily concerned with Article 3 (a) of the Supplemental Agreement effective September 1, 1949.

While a certain portion of Article 3 is involved, we set forth a part of Article 3 to obtain the concept of it.

"Article 3 (a) Rest Days. Each regularly assigned train dispatcher will be entitled and required to take two (2) regularly assigned days off per week as rest days, except when unavoidable emergency prevents furnishing relief. Such assigned rest days shall be consecutive to the fullest extent possible. Non-consecutive rest days may be assigned only in instances where consecutive rest days would necessitate working any train dispatcher in excess of five (5) days per week.

A regularly assigned train dispatcher required to perform service on the rest days assigned to his position will be paid at rate of time and one-half for services performed on either or both of such rest days.

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The doubling of territory, or absorbing additional duties or responsibilities for relief purposes shall not be permitted except as otherwise agreed.* * "

The underscored portion of Article 3 is pertinent to this dispute.

The Carrier maintains a train dispatching office at Hoboken, N. J., where continuous train dispatching service is maintained 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, on two train dispatching territories known as the Boonton Line and the Morristown Line. Each line is manned by a set of train dispatchers on the First, Second, and Third tricks. There are two assistant chief train dispatcher positions in this office, one assigned on the second trick and the other on the third trick. These train dispatchers are assistant chief train dispatchers are covored by the same agreement and in the same seniority district. All trick train dispatchers do the same type of work.

Effective September 1, 1949, a supplemental agreement known as the Forty~Hour-Week Agreement was put into effect, granting employes a fiveday work week with two rest days in each seven. The Carrier at that time established three relief positions, known as Relief Positions No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3. No. 1 relief position afforded relief as follows: Third trick assistant chief dispatcher, Sundays and Mondays. Second trick train dispatcher, Tuesdays Morristown Line. Second trick assistant chief dispatcher Wednesdays and Thursdays. Assigned rest days Friday and Saturday

No. 2 relief position afforded relief as follows: First trick train dispatcher Saturdays and Sundays, Boonton Line. Assigned rest days Fridays and Saturdays.

On January 17, 1952, the chief dispatcher at Hoboken issued notice of the pending changes to become effective January 26, 1952. As a consequence, the Carrier rearranged its work and assignments which resulted in the aolishment of the No. 3 relief position and combined the Morristown and Boonton Line dispatching territories between 8:00 A. M., Saturdays and 11:59 P. M., Sundays. The Carrier asserts the assignments of relief positions were changed in order to afford the necessary relief of the regularly assigned employes on account of change in rest days.

The Carrier offered evidence in substance as follows: That Hoboken, New Jersey, is the eastern terminus of the Carrier and is located on the west side of the Hudson River, immediately opposite Manhattan Island (New York City). From Monday to Friday it is a busy station into and out of which pour the trains carrying heavy suburban traffic between New York City and towns located on the Carrier's line in eastern New Jersey such as Newark, Orange, East Orange, South Orange, Maplewood, Summit, Morristown Dover, Mountain Lakes, Paterson, and other towns. A fleet of Carrier's ferryboats ply across the Hudson River between the Hoboken passenger station and New York City. There is also a connection with the HudsonManhattan "Tube" trains operating between Hoboken and New York City, and a connecting bus service to mid-town Manhattan. These connections operate on curtailed service on Saturdays and Sundays. A large number of new industries have developed in the above locations, such as branches of large department stores handling every conceivable type of merchandise that formerly could only be obtained in the metropolitan area, also, a great number of industries have adopted the five-day week policy. This change naturally resulted in at least a fifty per cent or more decrease in traffic on Saturdays and Sundays, as fully shown by a check made which appears in the record and need not be set forth. All of this evidence has been con sidered.

The Employes, in the light of such evidence, make no contention that the single set of train dispatchers handling the combined territories from 8:00 A. M., Saturday to 11:59 P. M., Sunday, are in any sense overburdened with work. We see no necessity for two sets of train dispatchers to perform the necessary service from 8:00 A. M., Saturday to 11:59 P. M., Sundays, during which period the volume of train service has been greatly reduced.

Recognizing that most cases present different factual situations, the awards of both parties to this dispute have been studied, especially so with reference to whether or not the Employes had a valid claim under the evidence adduced.

We believe the following to be pertinent in a determination of this dispute:

Award 5664 of this Division: "SECOND: The Scope rule in this Agreement protects train dispatchers' work and not a particular position or trick at Enid, Oklahoma. Consequently a trick may be abolished, if the work

The work however need not entirely disappear before a position or trick may be properly abolished, provided none of the work is assigned to, or performed by, others not covered by the Agreement" (See Award 5641).

"As we said in Award 439: Neither can the Board agree that under the application of the Agreement between the employes and the Carrier, the duties and work of a classified position must entirely disappear before the regular assignment of a position may be discontinued or abolished, as to do so would soon require all employment on the railroads to be regular full time assignments, would do away with the necessity for or use of extra employes, and would be against the economic operation of the Carriers and opposed to the best interests of the Carriers, the employes, and the public." See, also, Award 6602, adopting a similar principle.

In Award 6184, we said: "The determination of the number of employes needed to perform its work is the function of Management except as it has limited itself by agreement. Under the rules quoted the assignment of relief employes is not a condition precedent to the establishment of seven day positions. Relief assignments are only required to be made when there is work necessary to be done. When all the work can be efficiently performed by staggering of regularly assigned employes, the necessity for relief assignments on rest days does not exist. In other words, Carrier may, in accordance with its operational requirements, stagger te work week assignments of employes regularly assigned to seven day service so that the rest days of some will coincide with the work days of others, and thus make it possible for the regular employe to do all the work necessary to have performed on those days without the necessity of any relief. It should be understood that such employes must be of the same class and within the same seniority district."

The record conclusively discloses the abolishment of the assignments involved was done for the reason that during the hours involved, i.e., 8:00 A. M., Saturdays to 11:59 P. M., Sundays, due to a considerable change in business and the reduction of te number of trains handled, the work load of the dispatchers had decreased to the point that only one set was necessary to efficiently and economically handle the situation.

Based upon an analysis of all eidence, it must be found that the Employes have failed to sustain the burden of proof and therefore the claim is accordingly 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 Carrier did not violate the Agreement

AWARD