THIRD DIVISION
(Supplemental)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: For many years prior to February 5, 1962, the Carrier maintained positions of night assistant foreman at the Gary Mill Yard, Gary, Indiana. Said positions were initially established and subsequently maintained principally for the purpose of having a Track Sub-Department employe available at a specific location to receive telephone messages from employes of the U. S. Steel Corporation or from the Carrier's employes regarding track repair work which was immediately needed and to thereafter relay such messages to the Track Foreman. Immediately preceding the aforementioned date, said positions were assigned as follows:
OPINION OF BOARD: In describing the creation of the jobs initially held by claimants, the Carrier describes their evolution in this language:
Carrier then states that all the involved night assistant foremen were doing after October 1, 1961 was- "answering the telephone and relaying messages."
Carrier states there was more than one gang on the afternoon shift, and one of these was given the primary responsibility of attending to trouble and emergency calls, and the secondary responsibility of light or nonpriority programmed work.
Carrier, by Bulletin Order 2962, abolished Assistant Track Foreman B. Labenek's staggered afternoon position, Assistant Track Foreman M. Gutierrez's staggered night position, and Assistant Track Foreman P. Puente%' relief position, effective February 15, 1962.
This Carrier had, beginning October 1, 1961, increased its track maintenance forces and went to a twenty-one (21) trick, seven (7) day a week track maintenance and construction program at Gary Mill.
A consequence was that all positions except those of the night shift gang and the night assistant track foremen were abolished in setting up this operation and the new gangs were built or were molded around the night gang. Staggered and relief positions were held to the mere minimum.
Carrier states that for a while thereafter it left the involved night assistant foremen on (in addition to the new gangs) as trouble shooters; "however, it soon develped that this new operating formula provided such up to date service and such flexibility that the necessity for these night assistant track foremen positions completely disappeared."
"All the involved night assistant foremen were doing, after October 1, 1961," Carrier states, "was answering the telephone and relaying messages."
Obviously, answering the telephone and relaying messages are items of work which are peculiar to some crafts, but exclusive to none.
Carrier states that when it abolished these jobs, it "did exactly . . what, since time immemorial, always had been done on the day shift without complaint from the Organization."
It being a fact that Carrier originally created the night assistant foremen positions without consultation with the Organization, it also had the right to abolish the positions, without consultation with the Organization when it determined that the necessity for these night assistant foremen positions disappeared.
We will follow Award 13139 (Engelstein) involving the same parties and deny this 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:
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