STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the General Committee of The Order of Railroad Telegraphers on the Southern Pacific Company (Pacific Lines) that:
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: An agreement bearing effective date of December 1, 1944 (reprinted March 1, 1951, including revisions) is in effect between the parties hereinafter referred to as the Telegraphers' Agreement.
San Simon, Arizona, is a station situated on the Tucson Division where helper engines are located for the purpose of helping trains over the grade at this point. When the helper engines are required, it is necessary that train crews be called to man these engines to help trains out of San Simon. Prior to September 1, 1949, all calls for helper engine crews were placed with the Telegrapher-Clerks at San Simon by the train dispatchers. With the advent of the 40-hour week, subsequent to September 1, 1949, the Carrier continued to require telegraphers at San Simon to call the engine crews on their regular assigned work days with the exception of Mondays between 4:00 P. M. and 12:00 Midnight when it blanked the Telegrapher-Clerk position between these hours on this day and required or permitted employes outside the coverage of the Telegraphers' Agreement located in the roundhouse to perform this
Rule 7 of the current agreement provides for the assignment of rest days, the filling of assignments on rest days, and the method of compensating employes performing service on their assigned rest days. The second and third telegrapher-clerk at San Simon were not required to perform service on their assigned rest days; therefore, Rule 7 is not involved.
Rule 14 of the current agreement merely defines overtime and provides for method of compensation. Second and third telegrapher-clerks at San Simon have been compensated in accordance therewith for any overtime worked. Rule 14 has no application to the instant claim.
Obviously Rule 15 by its very context does not support the instant claim. None of the employes at San Simon covered by the current agreement were required to suspend work during their regular hours or to absorb overtime.
Award No. 751 of this Division, also cited by the petitioner, was rendered on rules and circumstances entirely different than those here involved. It lends no support to the instant dispute.
Carrier asserts it has conclusively established that the claim in this docket is entirely lacking in either merit or agreement support and, therefore, requests that said claim be denied.
All data herein submitted have been presented to the duly authorized representative of the employes and are made a part of the particular question in dispute.
OPINION OF BOARD: At San Simon, Arizona, an open station on Carrier's Tucson Division, telegraphers are assigned to combination positions of Agent-Telegrapher; 2nd Telegrapher-Clerk; and, 3rd Telegrapher-Clerk. To accommodate the reduced work-week, the station is unattended between the hours of 4:00 P. M. and 12:00 midnight on Mondays, and between the hours of 12:01 A. M. and 8:00 A. M. on Tuesdays.
It is clear from the record that before the reduced work-week went into effect, the duties of the combination positions included the calling of helper engine crews on instructions from the train dispatcher. During the hours the station is now closed, the dispatcher communicates by telephone with the roundhouse foreman who calls the crews. The Employes see therein a violation of the scope rule of the Agreement.
It is argued that the work performed by the roundhouse employes, i. e., receiving communications for the calling of engine helper crews from the train dispatcher and calling the crews involves communication work of record.
The record before us is clear that the work which mainly gives the telegrapher first call to the position at San Simon and which partly serves to bring the position under the scope rule is the train order work that is specified in Rule 29 (a) of the Agreement. There may be other telegrapher work on the positions, but we are certain crew calling is only incidental and not the reason a telegrapher is employed.
Since it is not shown in the record that a telegrapher was needed during the hours when the position was blanked, the Agreement was not violated. 7826-20 370