(a) The Carrier violated the Rules Agreement, effective May 1, 1942, except as amended, particularly Rule 3-C-2, when it abolished a Group 2 position of Store Attendant, Symbol No. CC-3, located at the Enginehouse Storeroom, Shire Oaks, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Region, Effective June 30, 1957.
(b) The position should be restored in order to terminate this claim and that B. L. Bell and all other employes affected by the abolishment of this position should be restored to their former status (including vacations) and be compensated for any monetary loss sustained by working at a lesser rate of pay; be compensated for any monetary loss sustained under Rule 4-A-1 and Rule 4-C-1; be compensated in accordance with Rule 4-A-2 (a) and (b) for work performed on holidays, or for holiday pay lost, or on the rest days of their former position; be compensated in accordance with Rule 4-A-3 if their working days are reduced below the guarantee provided in this rule; be compensated in accordance with Rule 4-A-6 for all work performed in between the tour of duty of their former position; be reimbursed for all expenses sustained in accordance with Rule 4-G-1 (b); that the total monetary loss sustained, including expenses, under this claim be ascertained jointly by the parties at time of settlement (Award 7287). [Docket 501]
It is respectfully submitted that the National Railroad Adjustment Board, Third Division, is required by the Railway Labor Act to give effect to the said Agreement and to decide the present dispute in accordance therewith.
The Railway Labor Act in Section 3, First, subsection (i), confers upon the National Railroad Adjustment Board the power to hear and determine disputes growing out of "grievances or out of the interpretation or application of Agreements concerning rates of pay, rules or working conditions." The National Railroad Adjustment Board is empowered only to decide the said dispute in accordance with the Agreements between the parties theretoTo grant the claim of the Employes in this case would require the Board to disregard the Agreements between the parties and impose upon the Carrier conditions of employment and obligations with reference thereto not agreed upon by the parties to this dispute. The Board has no jurisdiction or authority to take such action.
The Carrier has established conclusively that its action in abolishing the position of Store Attendant held by the Claimant violated none of the provisions of Rule 3-C-2, but, on the contrary, was accomplished strictly in accordance with the provisions thereof. Therefore, your Honorable Board is respectfully requested to deny the claim of the Employes in this matter.
OPINION OF BOARD: When before the abolishment of his position the Storeroom Attendant covered by the Clerks' Agreement had taken from the shelf the equipment needed and placed it on the counter before the requisitioning employe and following abolishment the requisitioning employe (not covered by the Clerks' Agreement) himself went and obtained the equipment from the storeroom shelf, did the new practice embrace aspects of the abolished position's work such as to give rise to a breach of Rule 3-C-2.
In 1957, the Carrier abolished the second trick Store Attendant at the Enginehouse Storeroom, Shire Oaks, Pennsylvania. The bulletin described these duties of this position as follows:
Carrier claimed that the remaining work of the abolished position was turned over to the first trick Store Attendant who was covered by the Clerks' Agreement.
The Organization, on behalf of Claimant, who was formerly the holder of the abolished position, denied that and points to the agreed facts to support its position that after the turn-over work of the abolished position still 12341-17 731
"When the Store Attendant was on duty from 3:30 P. M. to 11:30 P. M., the Enginehouse employes were not permitted to wander through the Store Room and pick up the material they needed. They were required to present an MP-151 order to the Store Attendant and he would get the material from the bin and hand it to the employe. He would then mark the account and reference number on the MP-151 order.
After the Store Attendant position was abolished the Enginehouse employes would get the key to the Store Room from the Enginehouse office and go to the Store Room and pick up the material they needed. There was no Store Attendant on duty to collect an MP-151 order for the material taken from the Store Room."
(a) When a position covered by this Agreement is abolished, the work previously assigned to such position which remains to be performed will be assigned in accordance with the following:
All items of work advertised in the bulletin above have been turned over to the first trick Storeroom Attendant as required by sub-paragraph (1) of 3-C-2 (a).
It cannot reasonably be contended that when the employes of other crafts entered the storehouse to pick up equipment they were "attending Storehouse."
Such a position would lead to the result that the Storeroom could never be utilized on second trick without a clerk being present. A construction of the Rule which would place the Carrier in the position of either not utilizing the storeroom or not abolishing a position is under the circumstances here present not reasonable.
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