ployes, who do not have the :right accorded assigned employes by the agreement to apply for short vacancies, and in agreeing that an employe would not be considered as moving from one assignment to another except when doing so by application or bid, the Chief Operating Officer certainly did not agree that an employe would not be considered as moving from one assignment to another except when moving from one assignment to another by application or bid for a position or vacancy bulletined in accordance with Rule 9 as the Employes attempted to misconstrue the understanding to serve their purposes. Because "application' instead of "bid" is used in Rule 9 and other rules dealing with bulletined new positions and vacancies does not restrict its customary meaning. An assigned employe applying for a short vacancy under Rules 8, 11 (b) and 19 (c) is making an "application" to exercise his seniority just as much so as one who makes "application" to exercise his seniority under the rules governing the filling of bulletined new positions or vacancies, and the Railway asserts that the word as used in the understanding applies and was intended to apply to any and all applications to exercise seniority under the rules of the Agreement, otherwise the understanding would have contained the language the Employes attempted to read into it and which it plainly, specifically and purposely does not contain.

6. On the facts, abundantly proven by the evidence produced above, assigned Clerk Schnarr had a prior right over furloughed Clerk Holliday under Rules 3 (e), 7, 8, 11 ,b) and 19 (c) to the short vacancy in question, and under the mutual understanding of the operation of those rules both prior and subsequent to September 1, 1949, unaffected by the 40-hour week revisions of other rules, when he applied for and was used on the short vacancy, he assumed all of the conditions of the assignment in which the short vacancy existed, including its rest days and coincidently relinquished the conditions of the assignment from which he moved including its rest days exactly as he would have done if the vacancy had been of sufficient duration to require bulletining and he had applied for it and been awarded it.

No basis for the claim. therefore, exists in the rules of the agreement, and the claim should be denied.

The Florida East Coast: Railway Company reserves the right to answer any further or other matters advanced by the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes, in connection with all issues in this case, whether oral or written, if and when it is furnished with the petition filed ex parte by the Brotherhood in this case, which it has not seen. All of the matters cited and relied upon by the Railway have been discussed with the employes.

(Exhibits not reproduced.)

OPINION OF BOARD: On October 9, 1952, Clerk Sandifer of the Miami Ticket Agency requested a leave of absence as follows:

"Account of my wife having just returned home from the hospital it will be necessary that I be off effective October 10th and 1 will advise later as to what date I will be able to return to work."

Regular Clerk Selina" applied for and was assigned to that short vacancy. On October 11th Sandifer advised that he would return on the 12th and did so. The 10th and llth worked by Schnarr on that vacancy coincided with the rest days of his regular assignment.

Rule 19 (c) provides in part that furloughed employes "shall be given preference on a seniority basis to all extra work, short vacancies and/or vacancies occasioned by the filling of positions pending assignment by bulletin, which are not filled by rearrangement of regular forces". It fairly appears that the parties previously agreed that, under such rule and Rule 8, a regular employe applying for a short vacancy should be assigned to it, the regular forces should be rearranged to give them the benefit of more favorable

conditions and the senior furloughed employe should be called for the ultimate vacancy. Such agreed interpretation is not inconsistent with the rule.

The vacancy here, although of unknown duration, turned out to extend over only the rest days of Schnarr's position, so it was not necessary to rearrange any others of the regular force nor to call a furloughed employe. That subsequent development does not affect the propriety of the original application of the rule in accordance with such agreed interpretation.

We have repeatedly held that rest days attach to a position, not to an employe so that he may not carry them with him as he moves from one position to another. Consequently, under the exception of Rule 45 (c) the claim of Schnarr 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

That the Agreement was not violated.

AWARD

Claim denied.

NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD By Order of Third Division