OPINION OF BOARD: These claims arise under the August 19, 1960 Agreement, Part III, Holidays, which amended, effective July 1, 1960, the August 21, 1954 Agreement on the same subject. We are specifically concerned with Section 3 of Article III of the 1960 Agreement, which provides holiday pay for "all others" (other than regularly assigned employes).

It clearly provides that such employes shall qualify for such holiday pay if ". . . on the workday preceding and the workday following the holiday they satisfy one or the other of two clearly defined conditions:

"(i) Compensation for service paid by the carrier is credited; or (ii) Such employe is available for service. * * *"

The record before us shows that each of these 39 Claimants (a) performed compensated service on eleven or more days during the 30 calendar days immediately preceding the holiday; and (b) had a seniority date for more than 60 calendar days prior to the holiday.

With respect to the alternate qualification-"such employe is available for service"-the parties themselves define "available" to mean that an employe is "available" unless he "lays off of his own accord or does not respond to a call, pursuant to the rules of the applicable agreement, for service."

Claimants herein were unassigned or extra employes used to provide relief for vacation and other vacancies as well as extra work under Rule 12 and other applicable rules of the Clerks' Agreement. They fall in the category of other than regularly assigned employes within the meaning and intent of the August 19, 1960 Agreement. We are not here concerned with Article IV of the August 21, 1954 Agreement which was to " . become effective November 1, 1954, except on such Carriers as may elect to preserve existing rules or practices . . ", because this Carrier elected to preserve existing rules and practices.

There is no charge or evidence in the record in this case that Claimants laid off or failed to respond to a call. They were in an involuntary layoff status.

The Agreement providing, as it does, holiday pay to such employes where they meet one or the other of the two stipulated requirements, and these Claimants having met all the requirements of the August 19, 1960 Agreement, a sustaining award is required.

FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record and all the evidence, finds and holds:

That the parties waived oral hearing;

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

That the Agreement was violated.

AWARD