TRANSPORTATION-COMMUNICATION EMPLOYEES UNION
(Formerly The Order of Railroad Telegraphers)
1. Carrier violated and continues to violate its Agreement with the employes represented by The Order of Railroad Telegraphers when effective with close of business on Friday, March 9, 1962, it abolished the position of first trick telegrapher Pittsburg, Kansas, without abolishing the work thereof but instead distributed the work of the position to clerical and supervisory employes of that station.
2. Carrier further violated and continues to violate said Agreement when, effective March 10, 1962, and continuing daily thereafter, it consistently causes, requires or permits clerical and supervisory employes to perform work at Pittsburg, Kansas, that is reserved exclusively to the telegraphers by Article I of the current Telegraphers' Schedule Agreement.
3. Carrier further violated and continues to violate said Agreement when it failed and continues to fail to comply with Article XIII of the current Telegraphers' Schedule Agreement by not removing all commercial and railroad telegraph instruments and/or railroad telephone instruments from the station premises at Pittsburg, Kansas, but permitted both the commercial telephone and railroad telephone-telegraph switchboard to remain in service at Pitts. burg.
4. Carrier further violated and continues to violate said Agreement when, effective March 10, 1962, and continuing daily thereafter, it utilizes a commercial telephone at Pittsburg, Kansas, in lieu of an emergency telephone contrary to the Memorandum of Agreement of July 25, 1942, and Article XIII of the current Schedule Agreement of July 25, 1942, by daily using this substitute telephone for intercity communications in the absence of emergency situations as defined by the aforementioned Memorandum of Agreement.
5. Carrier shall restore all work formerly performed by the first trick telegrapher at Pittsburg to employes covered by the Agreement between the parties.
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: Prior to March 10, 1962, there existed positions of telegrapher-clerk at Pittsburg, Kansas, subject to the Telegraphers' Agreement, since 1892. After seventy years the Carrier abolished the one remaining position pursuant to the following notice over the signature of the Superintendent:
The above General Agent's position is not covered by the Agreement and performs no communication service. In other words, there is no remaining employe under the Telegraphers' Agreement at Carrier's Pittsburg facility to perform communication service. Carrier has heretofore refused to reclassify the agent's position as that of agent-telegrapher, a class covered by the Scope Rule of the Agreement. Pittsburg is a city of 20,000 population.
The Agreement currently in effect, which by reference hereto, is made a part of this submission, provides:
OPINION OF BOARD: The single Telegrapher-Clerk position at the Pittsburg, Kansas station was abolished.
Carrier contends that all work which belongs exclusively to Telegraphers was abolished and that all instruments were removed as required by Article X111 of the Agreement. This Article states:
There is no competent evidence in the record that the Scope Rule has been violated. The two instances of such alleged violation, set forth in Employes' letter of May 7, 1962, are categorically denied by the Carrier in a letter dated October 4, 1962, which says, "The incidents complained of on April 6, 1962 and April 12, 1962 have been given extensive handling. There has been no encroachment upon the contractual rights of Telegraphers at Pittsburg by supervisory employes and I have a statement from the Chief Yard Clerk at Pittsburg stating that he has never transmitted a written message." Employes have failed to establish by a preponderance of evidence that work reserved exclusively to Telegraphers has been or is being performed by employes not covered by the Telegraphers' Agreement.
All telegraph sounders and keys, and railroad telephone receivers and transmitters have been removed from the station premises. Only the commercial telephone and the telegraph-telephone test panel remain. The latter is of no use without the receivers and transmitters. The retention of the test panel and the commercial telephone is not in violation of Article XIII nor is it in violation of the Memorandum of Agreement dated July 25, 1942. That Memorandum of Agreement says:
On the basis of the record, it must be concluded that there is no merit to the claim.
FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, after giving the parties to this dispute due notice of hearing thereon, and upon the whole record and all the evidence, finds and holds: