TRANSPORTATION-COMMUNICATION EMPLOYEES UNION
(Formerly The Order of Railroad Telegraphers)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the General Committee of The Order of Railroad Telegraphers on the Chicago Great Western Railway, that:
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: The agreements between the parties are available to your Board and are by this reference made a part hereof.
South Freeport, Illinois is a station on the Eastern Division, Chicago District, of this Carrier about 100 miles west of Chicago.
As shown in Addendum No. 1, Wage Scale, a position of agent-telegrapher under the agreement existed at this station prior to August 22, 1958. This position has existed at this station for more than fifty years. Prior agreements listed additional positions of telegrapher at this station but for several years, it has been a one-man station.
Effective with August 22, 1958, the position of agent-telegrapher at South Freeport was declared abolished by the Carrier and the station said to be closed. The work of the position was distributed among other employes. The Mr. L. M. Kingsbury, General Chairman The Order of Railroad Telegraphers P. 0. Box 442 Manning, Iowa
This has further reference to exchange of correspondence ending with your letter July 31 relative to your Claim No. HT-1.100.
There appears to be no good purpose in further burdening the record with respect to proper appeal procedure and the time limit rule, inasmuch as the record speaks for itself.
Furthermore, a lengthy discussion as to whether or not a section foreman is precluded under terms of the Telegraphers' Agreement from copying line ups at South Freeport has no pertinency here, inasmuch as no section foreman is headquartered at South Freeport.
As shown in previous correspondence, conductors at South Freeport are functioning in the same manner as at other points on the property insofar as the handling of waybills, IBM cards, wheel reports, etc., are concerned, inasmuch as such work is an inherent part of their regular duties. The Adjustment Boards repeatedly have held that recording of information in connection with cars being handled by road and yard conductors may be required of such conductors and that such work is incidental to their regular duties. On this property, the Adjustment Board, without a referee, has denied claims of various conductors for an additional day's pay account allegedly performing telegraphers' duties, the Division holding that the work in question was incidental to claimants' regular duties. (Awards 17881 and 17994.)
OPINION OF BOARD: This is a companion case to that decided by Award 14437, with similar though not precisely the same fact situation.
In this case, however, the Superintendent, in Carrier's first declination of the claim, raised the procedural question of proper filing, contending that the Chief Dispatcher had previously been designated as "the officer of the Carrier authorized to receive" claims in accordance with Rule 23 (a).
This contention, since it was timely raised at the first opportunity, and since it is valid in view of the Carrier's letter of November 6, 1958, must be sustained.
FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record and all the evidence, finds and holds: