NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION
(Supplemental)
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: The Carrier performs switching and transfer service in the Chicago Switching District with line haul and other switching carriers, and in addition serves industries located along its line of railroad. It maintains yards at South Chicago, 87th Street, West 22nd Street and Clearing, Illinois. Its largest car handling operation is performed at Clearing Station. The yard facilities at Clearing consist of two (2) receiving yards for all inbound freight trains and two (2) departure yards for all outbound freight trains, namely, East and West Yards. A hump facility is maintained for the switching of cars. The "hump" operates in two directions, to the East and West Classification Yards where the cars are classified for outbound movement. Trains are made up in the East and West Classification Yards and pulled into the East and West Departure Yards for later handling in transfer movements. The operation is continuous twentyfour hours per day, seven days per week. Three (3) Yard Crews are worked daily on each shift in each yard to pull cars from the Classification Yards to the Departure Yards. Yard Clerks are employed twenty-four hours per day seven days per week, to check each individual car initial and number in trains pulled down and to perform all necessary clerical work.
The Yard Clerks, some titled Utility Clerk and some Checkout Clerk, in addition to checking each individual car initial and number in trains pulled down, performed such other general yard clerk work, as marking cars, furnishing bills to crews, tracing cars and bills and preparing the necessary records incident thereto, as well as checking the teletyped hump switch list for errors or omissions, or generally speaking, those set forth in Bulletin No. 87 dated June 30, 1959 and Bulletin No. 261 dated December 29, 1956. Employes' Exhibit Nos. 1 and 2.
For well over a quarter of a century, or some thirty-seven (37) years, to the knowledge of the undersigned, the checking of car initials and numbers 13339--10 S10
OPINION OF BOARD: This is a claim by the Clerks founded upon the alleged transfer of work exclusively the Clerks' from the Clerks to Yard Conductors and Yardmasters. Two previous awards have been rendered in connection with this alleged transfer, Special Board of Adjustment No. 448, Award No. 1 and No. 2. Award No. 1 was a claim by a Car Retarder Operator and No. 2 by a Yardmaster, both from the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and both claiming compensation on account of performing clerical work "as outlined in Trainmaster D. R. Turner's letter dated April 14 1961." The Clerks were not parties to the hearings before the Special Board No. 448. The Trainmen have been given notice of this hearing. An exhaustive examination of the record has been made and in addition to the original panel discussion a recall was issued and had.
Though not exclusively, the principal attack of the claim is toward the work assigned to the Yard Conductors and the principal defense of the Carrier is directed toward the Yardmasters. 13339--11 811
The evidence is sufficiently clear to establish that the assignment of work to the Yardmasters was either assignment of new work upon which the Clerks had no claim or in the alternative was the assignment of work that was not exclusively the Clerks. This is in line with the decisions of Special Board No. 448.
The problem related to the assignment of work to the Yard Conductors is more difficult. It seems sufficiently well established that the Clerks only prepared form No. 340 upon which every car's initial and number was shown. But preparation of this form was discontinued. The Yard Conductors now furnish the initial and number of the first and last car only. The Clerks have also established that the Yard Conductors now furnish the initial and number of the first and last car but do not establish the furnishing car initials and numbers was previously done exclusively by Clerks. Substantial evidence exists that car numbers and initials are furnished by many railroad personnel.
The Clerks should have attached the forms previously and now used and traced the procedure previously and now used if they wished to show that the Clerks exclusively performed a function and work which previously existed and which now continues but which is now being performed by others.
The record as it exists is not sufficiently clear to establish that any part of the work now being performed by the Yard Conductors and for Yardmaster$ was or is the exclusive work of the Clerks.
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