NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION
Norris C. Bakke, Referee
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS,
FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYES
CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND AND PACIFIC
RAILROAD COMPANY
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
Claim of the System Committee of the
Brotherhood that Carrier violated the clerks' Agreement
(1) When effective January 18, 1954, it abolished a clerical
position at Dodge City, Kansas, and removed clerical work, comprised
of the regularly assigned duties of that position from under the scope
and operation of the Clerks' Agreement and utilized the AgentOperator, an employe paid a monthly salary, for all services rendered,
such employe not covered by the Clerks' Agreement, to perform same,
violating Rule 1 and other related rules of the Clerks' Agreement.
(2) That the clerical work performed by the Agent-Operator,
an employe of another craft, be returned to the clerical forces.
(3) That the Carrier be directed by appropriate Board Order to
compensate V. M. Bolding, Cashier, rate of pay $312.13 per month, for
two and one-twelfth (2-1/12) hours each day at punitive rate, effective January 19, 1954.
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS:
January 11, 1954, the Carrier
issued the following letter:
"January 11, 1954
Liberal, Kansas
Messrs:
C. W. Hill
V. M. Bolding
W. F. Leffler
Gentlemen:
"This letter is notice that effective Monday, January 18, 1954 the
position of clerk at Dodge City, Kansas (Present incumbent W. F.
Leffler) is abolished.
[797]
8783-21
817
Award 5489, Opinion of Board:
"In the interests of stability in labor relations, we feel compelled
to conform to past decisions of this Board interpreting the same or
identical clauses of the Agreement unless our past ruling be clearly
erroneous. For a concise recital of the ebb and flow doctrine see
Award 4477."
As late as December, 1955, your Board upheld the position taken by the
Carrier in this dispute. In rendering Award 7198 which denied a similar Clerks'
claim on this property at Waterloo, Iowa, your Board referred to Awards 615
and 636, holding that:
11
. It has always been the rule that telegraphers may be assigned
clerical work without limit except their capacity to fill out their time
when not occupied with telegraphy."
As previously cited in Award 615, your Board held that seniority rules
merely control the distribution of the work that is available under the agreement. As we have shown, there was no necessity for maintaining the position
of Clerk at Dodge City and for your Board to order its restoration would
burden the Carrier with the added expense of maintaining a position, the
duties of which can be assigned to the remaining clerical and telegraph
employes at Dodge City without violation of any rule of the agreement.
In view of the long history of this issue before your Board and the determination of it under the applicable agreement in previously cited Awards on
this property and others, the Carrier has rejected the Organization's claim
and we respectfully request your Board to do likewise.
It is hereby affirmed that all of the foregoing is, in substance, known
to the Organization's representatives.
(Exhibits not reproduced.)
OPINION OF THE BOARD:
A mere reading of the claim indicates that
if a sustaining award should be written on this docket, the telegrapher (Agent
Operator) would be deprived of some of the work he is now doing. He is
"involved".
A study of the record indicates the possibility of a sustaining award.
Under the law a sustaining award would be ineffectual against the telegrapher. For this and other reasons as appear in our Award 8408 a determination of this claim on its merits must be deferred pending notice to the Telegraphers' Organization, giving it an opportunity to be heard.
Judgment on the Carrier's motion to dismiss is also deferred pending the
same notice.
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;
8783-22
818
That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the
dispute involved herein, subject to the following finding as to notice:
That The Order of Railroad Telegraphers is involved in this dispute and
is therefore entitled to notice of hearing pursuant to Section 3, First (j) of
the Railway Labor Act, as amended; and
That the merits of the instant dispute are not properly subject to decision
until such notice is given.
AWARD
Hearing and decision on merits deferred pending due notice to The Order
of Railroad Telegraphers to appear and be represented in this proceeding if
it so desires.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of THIRD DIVISION
ATTEST: A. Ivan Tummon
Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 15th day of April, 1959.