/s/ L. D. Comer" (Exhibits not reproduced.)

OPINION OF BOARD: Claimants are employed in the Somerville, Texas Treating Plants Yards as extra or unassigned employes and used to provide vacation relief and protect other vacancies. They had each performed compensated service of at least 11 days during the 30 calendar days immediately preceding the Labor Day holiday, 1960, and each had a seniority date for at least 60 calendar days preceding the said holiday. None had asked to be excused or refused to respond for work on the workdays preceding and following the holiday.

Petitioners contend that they have met all provisions necessary to qualify for the holiday pay claimed and that Carrier's refusal to so compensate them is violative of the pertinent rules of the current Agreement:

"ARTICLE III-HOLIDAYS

Article II, Sections 1 and 3 of the Agreement of August 21, 1954, are hereby amended, effective July 1, 1960, to read as follows:

Section 1. Subject to the qualifying requirements applicable to regularly assigned employes contained in Section 3 hereof, each regularly assigned hourly and daily rated employe shall receive eight hours' pay at the pro rata hourly rate of the position to which assigned for each of the following enumerated holidays when such holiday falls on a workday of the workweek of the individual employe:

New Year's Day

Washington's Birthday Decoration Day

Fourth of July

Labor Day

Thanksgiving Day Christmas

Subject to the qualifying requirements applicable to other than regularly assigned employes contained in Section 3 hereof, all others who have been employed on hourly or daily rated positions shall receive eight hours' pay at the pro rata hourly rate of the position on which compensation last accrued to him for each of the aboveidentified holidays if the holiday falls on a work day of the work week as defined in Section 3 hereof, provided (1) compensation for service paid him by the Carrier is credited to 11 or more of the 30 calendar days immediately preceding the holiday and (2) he has

had a seniority date for at least 60 calendar days or has 60 calendar days of continuous active service preceding the holiday beginning with the first day of compensated service, provided employment was not terminated prior to the holiday by resignation, for cause, retirement, death, non-compliance with a union shop agreement, or disapproval of application for employment.

The provisions of this Section and Section 3 hereof applicable to other than regularly assigned employes are not intended to abrogate or supersede more favorable rules and practices existing on certain carriers under which other than regularly assigned employes are being granted paid holidays.

NOTE: This rules does not disturb agreements or practices now in effect under which any other day is substituted or observed in place of any of the above enumerated holidays.

Section 3. A regularly assigned employe shall qualify for the holiday pay provided in Section 1 hereof if compensation paid him by the carrier is credited to the workdays immediately preceding and following such holiday or if the employe is not assigned to work but is available for service on such days. If the holiday falls on the last day of a regularly assigned employe's workweek, the first workday following his rest days shall be considered the workday immediately following. If the holiday falls on the first workday of his workweek, the last workday of the preceding workweek shall be considered the workday immediately preceding the holiday.

All others for whom holiday pay is provided in Section 1 hereof shall qualify for such holiday pay if on the workday preceding and the workday following the holiday they satisfy one or the other of the following conditions:

(i) Compensation for service paid by the carrier is credited; or

(ii) Such employe is available for service.

NOTE: `Available' as used in subsection (ii) above is interpreted by the parties to mean than 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 were "other than regularly assigned employes" and were "available for service" on the workdays preceding and following the subject holiday as "available" is defined in the Agreement. There is no specific rule or provision of the applicable Agreement which might in anyway limit or otherwise construe this definition of "available."

This Board concurs with Special Board of Adjustment No. 355 which sustained a similar claim in Docket No. 272. (See also recent Third Division Award 14364 and 14365.) The Agreement was violated.

Article IV of the August 21, 1954 Agreement was not adopted by the Carrier herein and is thus not involved in this grievance.

That the parties waived oral hearing;

That the Agreement was violated.

AWARD