STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: There are employed at the South Water Street Freight Station, Chicago, Illinois, a force of employes who perform the work incidental to the receipt and forwarding of Carrier's less carload business coming within the Scope Rule of its Agreement with the Employes effective June 23, 1922.
G. F. Richardson was employed February 19, 1936 as a laborer in the Inbound Freight House at the South Water Street Freight Station, Chicago, Illinois. Under the then prevailing terms of the Clerks' Agreement he established seniority on the first day worked and his name appeared on the succeeding issue of the "Inbound House" seniority roster January 1, 1937 as rank No. 177 and seniority date February 19, 1936. Thereafter his name and correct seniority date appeared on the seniority rosters issued January 1 of each year 1938 through 1949, including 1943, 1944, 1945 and 1946 during which period he was absent from the Carrier's service due to his having been granted a military leave of absence.
For reasons known only by the Carrier, the January 1, 1950 issue of the controlling seniority roster omitted any reference to Richardson and the Employes assumed his name had been removed therefrom for good and sufficient cause.
Thereafter, Richardson's name was omitted from the rosters issued January 1, 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1954.
to the agreement which was clearly not the intention of the parties. (See Award 6365.) Rule 21 is crystal clear and unambiguous. The fact that Mr. Richardson's name was inadvertently omitted from the roster in 1950 does not change the rule. In Award 5351, this Board stated:
The Employes' statement in part (a) of their claim is not supported by the rules of the agreement, and consequently, no basis exists for their request in part (b) to remove G. F. Richardson's name from the South Water Street Freight House Consolidated Roster. The Board should deny the claim.
All data in this submission have been presented to the Employes and made a part of the question in dispute.
OPINION OF BOARD: In resolving the issues herein, we quote with approval that part of First Division Award 19399 which holds:
In the case at hand, we have carefully studied the Record and the Agreement of the Parties; and we find no justification for abolishing-or diminishing-the seniority rights of Mr. Richardson.
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