THIRD DIVISION
(Supplemental)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committe of the Brotherhood:
(1) That Carrier violated the Clerks' Agreement when on July 5, 1957, it established, rated and bulletined positions of General Clerk and Relief General Clerk, Addis, Louisiana, without regard to Rule 40 of the Clerks' Agreement.
(2) That the rate of the General Clerk positions at Addis be corrected to $16.56 plus cost-of-living adjustment, retroactive to July 5, 1957, the date the said positions were established.
(3) That Mr. L. V. Dufour, occupant of General Clerk position X-1483: that W. H. Jones, 111, occupant of position X-1484; that K. G. Goudeau, occupant of Relief General Clerk position, and/or their successors, if there be any, be paid the difference between the established rate of $16.29 per day, plus cost-of-living Adjustment and the corrected rate of $16.56, plus cost-ofliving adjustment, retroactive to July 5, 1957.
(1) That on July 5, 1957 by Bulletin No. 12, Superintendent Blassingame advertised position of General Clerk X-1483, Addis, Louisiana, with rate of pay $16.29 per day, plus cost-of-living adjustment, working assigned hours of 5:00 A. M. to 9:00 A. M. and 10:00 A. M. to 2:00 P. M. daily, Monday through Friday with Saturday and Sunday as rest days. This position was assigned to Mr. L. V. Dufour by Superintendent Blassingame by Bulletin No. 12-A dated July 16, 1957. See Employes' Exhibits 1 and 1-a.
(2) On July 5, 1957 by Bulletin No. 13, Superintendent Blassingame advertised position of General Clerk X-1484, Addis, rate of pay $16.29, plus cost-of-living adjustment, working assigned hours 3:00 P. M. to 7:00 P. M.8:00 P. M. to 12:00 M. N. daily Thursday through Monday with Tuesday and Wednesday as rest days. This position was awarded to Mr. W. H. Jones, III by Superintendent Blassingame's Assignment Bulletin No. 13-A, dated July 16, 1957. See Employes' Exhibits No. 2 and 2-a.
to the employes or duly authorized representatives thereof and made a part of the particular question in dispute.
OPINION OF BOARD: The dispute involves the questioned rate of pay for positions of General Clerks and Relief General Clerk, Addis, Louisiana. The Carrier established two regular tricks of General Clerk and a Relief Assignment on such positions at Addis, Louisiana on July 5, 1957 at an established rate of $16.29 per day, plus cost-of-living adjustment. Claimants seek a rate of $16.56 per day, plus cost-of-living adjustment, retroactive to July 5, 1957.
In the seniority district of which Addis is a part, there is a general clerk listed at Plaquemine Louisiana. This position was established on June 21, 1957 and is rated at $16.29 per day. There is a claim concerning the establishing, rating and bulletining of this position pending before this Board. The only other General Clerks' positions in the district are at Shreveport, Louisiana. The Carrier in listing the kind of clerks employed at Shreveport gave descriptive titles to numerous categories of clerks. In one instance, however, it merely listed the name Clerks at a rate of $16.56 per day. Claimants contend without contradiction that there are General Clerks at Shreveport rated at $16.56 per day.
We recognize fully that mere identity by title is not a sufficient basis for a finding of similarity of kind or class. The duties of the position are of primary importance in determining its character.
The Carriers bulletin advertising the Positions in question stated in its Brief Description of Duties:
The positions established at Addis are analogous to the duties of a General Clerk. Such clerks at Shreveport (within the Seniority District) receive $16.56 per day plus cost-of-living.
The Carrier states that the $16.29 rate in the instant case was applied "for the reason that a clerical position formerly existed at Addis, which, if it had never been abolished, would have paid $16.29 per day in July, 1957, due to the various general wage increases." Carrier also relies on the difference in population of Addis and Port Allen as compared to Shreveport and of the variance in the monthly average of cars handled, clerical units and Freight Revenue at Addis with similar activity at Shreveport to support its position. In the latter instance the difference in the size of the work forces at the two locations is disregarded. But even accepting all the Carriers' facts in the best favorable light, we do not think the arguments of the Carrier in this case are controlling. It is contended that the implementation of a decision in favor of Claimant would create untold difficulty for the Carrier. The words in the rule "in conformity with" would not provide a definitive yardstick. Webster may be of assistance at this point. He defines the phrase "to conform" to mean "to make or be like."
FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, 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