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 Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad, that:
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: The Agreement between the parties, effective June 1 1953, as amended and supplemented, is available to your Board and by this reference is made a part hereof.
Hiwanee, Mississippi, is a station on the Southern Division. There are no positions under the Agreement at this station. At 1:54 P. M, on April 16, 1962, Section Foreman Burnett an employe not covered by the Agreement, used the telephone to transmit the following message to the Train Dispatcher at Tuscaloosa, Alabama:
After transmitting the above message to the Train Dispatcher, the Section Foreman received the following lineup from the Train Dispatcher:
Claim was initiated by a time slip from Operator Boardman which was declined by the Chief Dispatcher, then handled by the District Chairman in behalf of the senior idle telegrapher W. D. Long. The Chief Dispatcher's letter of denial and subsequent correspondence between the parties is attached hereto as ORT Exhibits 1 through 7.
CARRIER'S STATEMENT OF FACTS: The claim alleges a violation of the Telegraphera' Agreement because a Section Foreman at Hiwanee, Mississippi used the telephone to talk to the Train Dispatcher at Tuscaloosa, Alabama. According to the information furnished by the claimants, the Section Foreman told the Dispatcher, "Have north local today pick up at Boice 2 flats and one box and take to Shubuta to load dragline tomorrow". The Dispatcher then told the Section Foreman, "North local left Citronelle at 1:05 PM".
The claim asks that Telegrapher W. D. Long, who is assigned as telegrapher at Meridian, Mississippi, be paid eight hours at penalty rates because of the telephone conversations. Meridian is approximately forty4ve miles north of Hiwanee. Meridian, Hiwanee and Tuscaloosa are on the Carrier's Southern Division.
The Agreement between the parties is one effective June 1, 1953. A copy of this Agreement is on file with this Board and by reference made a part hreof.
OPINION OF BOARD: At 1:54 P. M. April 16, 1962, a section foreman at Hiwanee, Mississippi, called the train dispatcher at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and asked him to "Have north local today pick up at Boice 2 flats and one box and take to Shubuta to load dragline tomorrow." The dispatcher told the section foreman that the "North local left Citronelle at 1:05 P.M." No telegrapher is employed at Hiwanee.
Claim for a day's pay was filed on the ground that the conversation was in fact the sending of a message of record and receipt of a line-up.
Previous awards have disposed of numerous disputes between these parties concerning the issues raised by the Employes with respect to the handling of alleged messages of record.
The record before us is not adequate to determine whether the response of the train dispatcher was in the nature of a line-up or merely information that the local was out of reach for the purpose indicated.