NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION
(Supplemental)
Bill Heskett, Referee
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
TRANSPORTATION-COMMUNICATION EMPLOYEES UNION
(Formerly The Order of Railroad Telegraphers)
GULF, COLORADO AND SANTA FE RAILWAY COMPANY
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the General Committee of The
Order of Railroad Telegraphers on The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Company, that:
1. The Carrier violated the Agreement between the parties
when it required or permitted an employe not covered thereunder
to handle a train order at Cleveland, Texas on January 24, 1963.
2. For this violation, Carrier shall be required to pay Claimant
R. L. Sapp, the agent-telegrapher assigned at Cleveland, Texas on
January 24, 1963, a call payment (three pro rata hours) under
Article XIII of the Agreement.
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: There is in effect an Agreement between the parties bearing effective date of June 1, 1951, and by
reference thereto it is made a part of this dispute.
There exists at Cleveland, Texas, on Carrier's Southern Division a oneman agency, the occupant thereof being an employe covered by the Telegraphers' Agreement.
On January 24, 1963, Conductor Blanchette copied Train Order No. 18,
completed at 12:36 A. M., outside the assigned hours of Agent Telegrapher
R. L. Sapp. This order read as follows:
"Jan. 24, 1963 Train Order No. 18
To C&E Extra 2722 North
At Cleveland
Order No. 125 of Jan. 23 is annulled.
Extra 2722 North has right over Extra 2702 South Silsbee
to Conroe.
Dear Sir:
This will acknowledge your letter, December 18, 1963, wherein
you have reaffirmed your decision of July 10, 1963, declining claim
in behalf of Agent-Telegrapher R. L. Sapp, Cleveland, Texas, January 24, 1963, for a call payment account Conductor Blanchette
copying a train order thereat while the agent was off duty.
This is to advise your decision is not
satisfactory, and the
dispute will be appropriately appealed to the Third Division for
adjudication.
The facts are not in dispute.
Superintendent Baker has stated
that:
'Since it was an emergency, it was necessary to instruct conductor of train handling due to drawbar being
pulled out Train 239:
No effort was made to contact the agent, regardless of his
location; however, Article XIII, Section 1, provides for payment of
a call when train orders are copied in an emergency at an office
where a telegraph service employe is employed but not on duty.
Your attention is also directed to Award 11921, Third Division,
sustaining a similar claim involving a similar rule, wherein the
Referee stated:
'It's quid pro quo is "in which case the telegrapher will
be paid for the call." * * * Claim sustained;
Yours truly,
/s/ R. O. Norton
General Chairman"
OPINION OF
BOARD: This claim presents the question of whether or
not an operator is entitled to pay for a call where he is unavailable and an
emergency exists.
Article XIII, Section 1, of the Agreement reads, in part, as follows:
. no employe other than covered by this Agreement and train
dispatchers will be permitted to handle train orders at telegraph or
telephone offices where an operator is employed and is available or
can be promptly located, except in an emergency, in which case the
telegrapher will be paid for the call."
It is manifestly clear that in the event of an emergency it matters not
whether the operator is or is not available. No doubt, the parties recognized
that availability was not important since the operator would most likely
not be called in an emergency. Regardless, the Claimant is entitled to a call
payment under his claim. See Award 11921 (Seff).
FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the
whole record and all the evidence, finds and holds:
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That the parties waived oral hearing;
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 Carrier violated the Agreement.
AWARD
Claim sustained.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of THIRD DIVISION
ATTEST: S. H. Schulty
Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 20th day of September 1967.
Keenan Printing Co., Chicago, Ill. Printed in U.S.A.
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