NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD

THIRD DIVISION

(Supplemental)




PARTIES TO DISPUTE:

BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS,
FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYES



Brotherhood (GL-4979) that:








1. There is in evidence an agreement bearing effective date October 1, 1940, reprinted May 2, 1955, including revisions, (hereinafter referred to as the Agreement) between the Southern Pacific Company (Pacific Lines) (hereinafter referred to as the Carrier) and its employes represented by the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes (hereinafter refererd to as the Employes) which Agreement is on file with this Board and by reference thereto is hereby made a part of this dispute. The Agreement is likewise applicable to the Southern Pacific Hospital Department (hereinafter referred to as the Hospital Department) and its employes represented by the Employes.


2. Prior to 1945 the Hospital Department was considered a Department of the Carrier, and the Rules of the Agreement applied without question to those employes who were classified thereunder. As result of arbitration award during 1945 the management of the Hospital Department was delegated to a Board of Managers consisting of seven Labor and six Carrier representatives, and the Hospital Department continued to apply the rules and working conditions of the Agreement, except certain rules which governed the transfer of employes between the Carrier and the Hospital Department.


On February 1, 1955, the Employes resolved a long standing scope rule dispute with the Carrier, at which time the Hospital Department was excluded therefrom. Thus, it was necessary to serve the Hospital Department with formal notice under the Railway Labor Act in order to apply the same provisions reached with Carrier. As a result of this notice, a memorandum of agreement was signed June 7, 1955, providing that the Agreement with Carrier, reprinted to include revisions May 2, 1955, would apply to employes of the Hospital Department represented by the Employes.


3. The Hospital Department operates Southern Pacific Hospitals at San Francisco, California, and Tucson, Arizona. In addition, at the large locations on the property, such as Portland, Ogden, Los Angeles, El Paso, etc., it maintains medical departments under supervision of Division Surgeons, and at these and many other locations where the number of employes warrant, emergency hospitals are maintained in shop grounds.


At the outset and for a number of years thereafter employes with minor ailments were able to visit these hospitals for treatment as out-patients, and ordinary medicines necessary to continue treatment were furnished free of charge; however, the Hospital Department did not furnish vitamins, glandular products, liver extract (except for pernicious anemia) and other patent or proprietary medicines, nor medicines prescribed by other than Department doctors. On March 9, 1959, the Hospital Department Board of Managers voted to discontinue all "take-home" medicines.


4. Prior to November 16, 1952, the duty of handling funds in connection with sale of proprietary medicines, hospital bills, insurance form fees, making


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This claim was also denied by the Business Manager, (Hospital Department Exhibit D) by letter dated May 23, 1960, on the basis that work performed in the Pharmacy by Laurie Burbank is work of Pharmacy Helper which position is not within the scope of the Clerks' Agreement.


The Petitioner's General Chairman further handled the claims with the Business Manager; however, the exchange of correspondence is of no value as the Business Manager, the highest officer of the Hospital Department delegated to handle agreement matters, already rendered his decision, Hospital Department Exhibits B and D.




OPINION OF BOARD: This claim may be divided for purposes of settlement into three parts: (a) and (b) involving Claimant Laurie Burbank; (c) and (d) involving Claimant Charlotte Perry; and (e) involving establishment of a cashier-clerk position in Carrier's operation at Tucson Hospital.


Carrier raises the objection that this claim is barred by the following provision of Article V of the National Agreement of August 21, 1954:






It is established by the record that Mr. H. J. Short as Business Manager of the Hospital Department of Carrier is the highest officer of that department designated to handle claims ox grievances; that all correspondence related to these matters was directed to him, both on the property and by this Board; that he declined the first part of the, claim involving Claimant Laurie Burbank by letter dated June 2, 1960; that he declined the second part of the claim involving Claimant Charlotte Perry by letter dated May 23, 1960; that written notice of intention to here file this claim was served on this Board by letter dated June 5, 1961.


There is no evidence in the record of any agreement between the parties to extend the nine months' time limit or of any requests for such extension. Subsequent correspondence or conferences an the claim cannot be interpreted as agreement to extension of the mandatory time limit. This limit must be complied with unless waived by both parties.


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This Division has ruled on numerous occasions that the initial decision by the highest designated officer begins the running of the 9-month period and that subsequent handling of a claim with the highest designated officer does not extend the time within which proceedings must be instituted before the appropriate Division of this Board: See Awards 10347 (LaBelle); 10688 (Mitchell); 11777 (Hall); 12417-12418 (Coburn); 12899 (Hall); 13942 (Dorsey); 14139 (Without Referee); 14171 (Wolf).


As to the third portion of the claim involving establishment of a cashierclerk position on the property, this Board is wholly without authority to compel the establishment of any position.


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


Claims (a), (b), (c) and (d) are barred under the National Agreement of August 21, 1954.








Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 13th day of May 1966.

Keenan Printing Co., Chicago, 111. Printed in U.S.A.
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