EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: The locale of this dispute is Augusta, Georgia, where Carrier maintains two separate and distinct departments, involving its storeroom operations and crew calling operations. Employes employed in both departments are covered by the Clerks' Agreement and shown on Mechanical and Stores Department seniority roster. District No. 2. Employes' Exhibit "A" attached hereto, shows that there were 11 employes on the roster when it was published on July 1, 1952.
Prior to the 40-Hour Week Agreement, effective September 1, 1949, the Stores Department was operated 6 days per week and the crew calling was performed 24 hours per day, 7 days per week Subsequent to the 40hour week, the Stores Department was reduced to 5-day operations, Monday through Friday, while crew calling was continued on a 24-hour basis 7 days per week. For the purpose of furnishing relief on the three 7-day positions of crew caller, Carrier established a regular relief assignment under Rule 34(e) to relieve on five of the six rest days, which left one tag-end rest day unassigned.
For the purpose of evading the expressed provisions of Rule 38(f), in the performance of work necessary on tag-end rest days, Carrier rearranged a 5-day position of stock clerk by assigning a work week of Tuesday through Friday as stock clerk and clerk-caller on Saturday.
Under date of June 16, 1952, the position of "stock clerk" was advertised for bids on Bulletin 2211 (Employes' Exhibit "B"), reading in part as follows:
It appears that a regularly assigned clerk-caller was sick and unable to fill his position on July 16, 1952 and subsequent days. Since it was not then known how long he would be off duty, it was treated as a short vacancy and claimant was temporarily assigned to that position and paid the higher rate of his regular position.
Such temporary assignment is in full accord with the provisions of Rules 8 and 20 (b) and claimant was properly paid under Rule 40 (i)
No overtime being worked or needed, Rule 38 (k) is not applicable to that situation.
When it was subsequently ascertained that the absent clerk-caller could not return to work within 30 days, Carrier's supervisor sought agreement by the Division Chairman to a continuation of that temporary arrangement. He declined to agree. The vacancy was then bulletined and claimant's regular position was abolished, which had the effect of requiring claimant to bid in the vacancy. The abolishment was handled in accordance with Rule 14 and since thereafter the rules did not require that claimant be paid any more than the rate of the clerk-caller position to which assigned, we find no violation of the agreement in the actions taken. Hence Claim No. 1 must be denied.
Carrier required three 7 day clerk-caller positions at Augusta, Georgia. When the 40-Hour Week Agreement became effective September 1, 1949, it hired a clerk-caller and established a relief position to cover five of the six rest days of those three positions. It also established by bulletin a position relieving the second trick clerk-caller position on Saturday and working as stock clerk Tuesday through Friday.
Rule 34 (e) provides for the establishment of regular relief assignments "to perform relief work on certain days and such types of other work on other days as may be assigned under individual agreements". In our Awards No. 6969 and 6979 we held that similar agreement provisions clearly and specifically authorized the establishment of relief positions such as that involved here. Thus the claim is without merit.
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