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Award No. 15715
Docket No. TE-14435
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION
Don Harr, Referee
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
TRANSPORTATION-COMMUNICATION EMPLOYEES UNION
(Formerly The Order of Railroad Telegraphers)
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY
(Pacific Lines)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
Claim of the General Committee of The
Order of Railroad Telegraphers on the Southern Pacific (Pacific Lines), that:
1. Carrier violates the intent and terms of an Agreement between the parties when, without conference or agreement, it assigned
the sale of air line tickets (United, American, Trans World, etc.) to
Southern Pacific Agents at *(1) Madera, *(2) Willows, *(3) Pittsburgh, *(4) Lincoln, *(5) Auburn, *(6) Placerville, California and
requires Agent-Telegraphers and/or other covered employes to sell
air line tickets, handle air baggage, make air line reservations, and
in general conduct air line passenger business for air line companies
without additional compensation either in the form of an increase
of salary or commissions.
*Handled as separate claims on the property.
2. Carrier shall, because of the violations set out in paragraph 1
hereof, compensate employes required to handle said air line tickets
ten (10) percent commission on the total amount of air line tickets
sold in accordance with the following:
(1) (a) F. B. Pietz, Agent-Telegrapher, Madera, California:
Ticket No. Amount Date Sold
162-6-902514 25.85 6-4-42
162-6-902515 25.85 6-4-62
163-2-270894 148.20 6-8-42
162-6-902516 52.25 6-8-42
164-1-898208 302.30 6-11-62
161-3-614214 41.10 6-14-62
161-3-614215 41.10 6-14-62
162-6-902518 159.00 6-20-62
Ticket No. Amount Date Sold
164-1-898209 166.25 6-25-62
014C-58076 228.30 6-25-62
1,190.20
Total Commission due-$119.03
(b) On each date and in each instance subsequent to June 25,
1962, on which F. B. Pietz, or his successor sells air line tickets,
Carrier shall compensate either or both in the amount of ten (10)
percent commission on all air line tickets sold.
(2) (a) W. J. Allen, Agent-Telegrapher, Willows, California:
Ticket No. Amount Date Sold
UAL 162-6-90264 41.70 6-28-62
Total Commission due-$4.17
(b) On each date and in each instance subsequent to June 28,
1962, on which W. J. Allen, or his successor sells air line tickets,
Carrier shall compensate either or both in the amount of ten (10)
percent commission on all air line tickets sold.
(3) (a) Emily Moeller, First Telegrapher, Pittsburgh, California:
Ticket No. Amount Date Sold
761931 127.90 6-29-62
761932 127.90 6-29-62
761933 86.90 6-29-62
761934 63.95 6-29-62
761935 63.95 6-29-62
761936 63.95 6-29-62
321483 145.10 7-8-62
679.65
Total Commission due-$67.97
(b) On each date and in each instance subsequent to July 8,
1962, on which Emily Moeller, or her successor sells air line tickets,
Carrier shall compensate either or both in the amount of ten (10)
percent commission on all air line tickets sold.
(4) (a) C. Smith, Agent-Telegrapher, Lincoln, California:
Ticket No. Amount Date Sold
332076,77 52.15 5-10-62
Total Commission due-$5.22
(b) On each date and in each instance subsequent to August 10,
1962, on which C. Smith, or his successor, sells air line tickets, Carrier shall compensate either or both in the amount of ten (10) percent commission on all air line tickets sold.
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(5) (a) M. R. Strawser, Agent-Telegrapher, Auburn, California:
Ticket No. Amount Date Sold
161-4-331717 52.65 8-18-62
Total Commission due-$5.26
(b) On each date and in each instance subsequent to August 18,
1962, on which M. R. Strawser, or his successor, sells air line tickets, Carrier shall compensate either or both in the amount of ten
(10) percent commission on all air line tickets sold.
(6) (a) 0. M. Shannon, Agent-Telegrapher, Placerville, Californian
Ticket No. Amount Date Sold
016-118418 160.90 10-9-62
Total Commission due-$16.09
(b) On each date and in each instance subsequent to October 9,
1962, on which O. M. Shannon, or his successor sells air line tickets,
Carrier shall compensate either or both in the amount of ten (10)
percent commission on all air line tickets sold.
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: There is in evidence an Agreement by and between the parties to this dispute, effective December 1, 1944_
reprinted March 1, 1951, and as otherwise amended. Copies of said Agreement
are, as prescribed by law, assumed to be on file with your Board and are,,
by this reference, made a part hereof.
The six (6) claims incorporated into this appeal were handled on the
property separately. However, since the question at issue, namely, that.
employes required to handle air line tickets and other duties incidental
thereto shall be paid ten (10) percent commission on the total amount of
air line tickets sold, is the same in all of the claims which have been progressed on the property under identical rules and arguments, the Employes.
have, in the interest of brevity and to eliminate repetitious handling, incorporated the six claims into this one appeal. This procedure has been approved by your Board in Awards 10619 (LaBell); 11300 (Moore); 11174
(Dolnick); 4821 (Carter).
There are, as the substantive claims show, six (6) station locations involved in these complaints. The wage scale lists the positions existing at
Madera, Willows, Pittsburg, Lincoln, Auburn, Placerville, Californa, on theeffective date of the parties' Agreement as follows:
Hourly Rate
Location Title of Position
of Pay
Auburn Agent-Monthly Rate $325.17 1.9203
Lincoln Agent-Telegrapher 1.7625
Lincoln 2nd Telegrapher-Clerk 1.6225
Lincoln 3rd Telegrapher-Clerk 1.6225
Placerville Agent-Telegrapher 1.9075
Willows Agent 1,87
Willows 1st Telegrapher-Clerk 1.6225
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the normal course of handling in chronological order are attached as Carrier's Exhibit F, sheets I through 8, involving Claim No. 1(a) (Madera);
Carrier's Exhibit G, sheets 1 through 8, involving Claim No. 2(a) (Willows);
Carrier's Exhibit H, sheets 1 through 8, involving Claim No. 3(a) (Pittsburg); Carrier's Exhibit 1, sheets 1 through 8, involving Claim No. 4(a)
(Lincoln); Carrier's Exhibit J, sheets 1 through 8, involving Claim No. 5(a)
(Auburn); and Carrier's Exhibit K, sheets 1 through 8, involving Claim No.
6(a) (Placerville).
When Carrier's Assistant Manager of Personnel denied the claims to
Petitioner's General Chairman (see sheet 8 to each of Carrier's Exhibits F,
G, H, 1, J and K), he took exception to the claim for ". . . or his (or her)
successor . . . on each date subsequent to . " on the premise such was
not a proper claim, and then went on to state that no provision of the
Telegraphers' Agreement requires payment of 10% or any other rate of
commission for handling air line ticket sales.
(Exhibits not reproduced.)
OPINION OF BOARD:
The question involved
here is
set out on page
three of the employes' submission. They state:
. . that employes required to handle air line tickets and other
duties incidental thereto shall be paid ten (10) percent commission
on the total amount of air line tickets sold . . . .
This is the claim as handled on the property and appealed to this Board.
The employes cite no rule of the Agreement to support their claim.
They do cite numerous instances where telegraphers have been paid commissions for handling business for companies or agencies other than the
Carrier.
Award 14595 (Ives) involved the same parties. In this Award we stated:
"This Board now is requested to establish a rate of pay for
the services rendered by Claimant in the amount of 10 percent of
all gross receipts from bus ticket sales. We have no authority to
do so, as such action would constitute establishing rates of pay because of new duties, a function properly performed through negotiation and the mediation procedures contained in Section 6 of the
Railway Labor Act, as amended. (Awards 7093, 8158 and 8201.)
Therefore, we are compelled to dismiss the claim without consideration of the merits of the dispute."
This Board has no authority to decide the claim before us. This is a
negotiable matter, and the claim will be dismissed.
See also Awards 7093, 12724, 13931 and 14311.
FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the
whole record and all the evidence, finds and holds:
That the parties waived oral hearing;
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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
That the claim should be dismissed.
AWARD
Claim dismissed.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of THIRD DIVISION
ATTEST: S. H. Schulty
Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 30th day of June 1967.
Keenan Printing Co., Chicago, I Ii. Printed in U.S.A.
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