STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the General Committee of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Kansas City Southern Railway Company for three dollars ($3.00) per day expense allowance under the provisions of the Award of Arbitration Board No. 298, dated September 30, 1967, on behalf of R. L. Beach, William H. Baldridge, Larry D. English, G. S. Blair, Jr., Edward Verley, Ronald R. Goodwin, Melvin D. Grant, D. B. Swan, Milton Milan, Richard B. Foster, R. N. Parker, D. E. Willis, B. R. Courtney, David J. Lowery, Michael w. Norris, assigned to the signal gang or otherwise assigned to a type of service covered by Section I of the Award of Arbitration Board No. 298, commencing October 15, 1967, and continuing for each man for each and every day thereafter he is assigned in such service until the matter is settled. [Carrier's File: 013-294.7]
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: As indicated by our Statement of Claim, this is a claim for an expense allowance which we consider is due under provisions of the Award of Arbitration Board No. 298, dated September 30, 1967.
On May 10, 1966, this Organization and several other railway labor organizations served notice on most of the nation's railroads for an increase in wages and other benefits, including travel time and expenses for employees required to work away from home during their work week, such as in camps, camp cars, highway trailers, hotels or motels. In an agreement dated January 13, 1967, the parties increased wages and improved vacation benefits. They also agreed that the request for travel time and expenses would be the subject of direct negotiations which were to begin on or about June 1, 1967, and that if direct negotiations did not settle the issue, either party could invoke mediation, with the understanding that if the issue is not disposed of in mediation, it would be submitted to binding arbitration under the arbitration provisions of the Railway Labor Act.
The travel time and expense issue eventually went to binding arbitration in accordance with the provisions of an Arbitration Agreement dated July 19, 1967, which provided, among other things, that the award of the Arbitration Board shall become effective on October 15, 1967 and shall continue in force until changed in accordance with the procedures of the Railway Labor Act, as amended. The Arbitration Board was designated as No. 298; its award is attached hereto as Brotherhood's Exhibit No. 1.
During conference at the time the award was executed, the Board arrived at interpretations which are attached hereto as Brotherhood's Exhibit No. 2. At the same time, the Neutral Members of the Board issued a statement which
On November 11, 1968, Carrier made its submission to the reconvened Arbitration Board No. 298 in connection with Question No. 26. In its submission Carrier pointed out that no claims had been submitted by or on behalf of the Employees for a $4.00 lodging allowance, that there was no dispute between the parties in regard to lodging, and the only dispute involved the $3.00 meal allowance claims.
Since the Organization had elected to choose Arbitration Board No. 298 as the tribunal to adjudicate the meal allowance claims and that Board had not rendered its decision, Carrier in letter dated January 16, 1969, declined to extend the time limit. Actually there was no necessity for extending the time limit, because the Organization on January 14, 1969, advised the Executive Secretary of the Third Division of intention to file an ex parte submission covering the instant case.
OPINION OF BOARD: Arbitration Board No. 298 was constituted and established pursuant to an agreement between several labor organizations, including the Petitioner herein, and the National Railway Labor Conference representing the Carriers, including the one in this case. A number of issues were submitted to final and binding arbitration. Among these was a request for travel time and expense. On September 30, 1967 that Arbitration Board adopted an award which, among other things, contains the following:
"I. The railroad company shall provide for employees who are employed in a type of service, the nature of which regularly requires them throughout their work week to live away from home in camp cars, camps, highway trailers, hotels or motels as follows:
"V. Insofar as there are presently agreements in effect between any of the carriers and organizations party to this arbitration which agreements include provisions dealing with the types of employee benefits provided for in Sections I, II, and III, and the subparagraphs thereof in this award, the organizations party to such existing agreements shall have the option of accepting any or all of the benefits provided in this award or of continuing in effect any or all of the provisions of the existing agreement in lieu thereof. Such election must be exercised on or before December 31, 1967. There shall be no duplication of benefits."
The effective date of the options was declared to be October 15, 1967. By agreement of the partisan members of that board, the time to exercise the options under Section V of the award was extended to and including February 1, 1968.
A dispute now exists whether the Petitioner exercised valid options under Article V of the award and whether an implementing agreement is required to effectuate the meal allowance provisions in I-B of that award.
An examination of the correspondence submitted by both parties does not clearly and unequivocally establish that the Petitioner properly exercised the options within the meaning and intent of Article V of the award. In the absence of any agreement, this Board would proceed to interpret the meaning and intent of said Article V. But where an agreement between the parties exists providing for the adjudication of differences by a Disputes Committee or an Arbitration Board, this Board loses jurisdiction. Section 14 of the Arbitration Agreement gives Arbitration Board No. 298 or a subcommittee of that Board exclusive jurisdiction to rule on "any difference arising as to the meaning or the application of the provisions of such award."
There is no provision for an implementing agreement in the award of Arbitration Board No. 298 nor is there one in the Arbitration Agreement. If Arbitration Board No. 298 or its subcommittee rules on the option issue alone, this Board could thereafter adjudicate the issue of an implementing agreement and upon the merits of the claims. Until that is done, this Board has no jurisdiction. The parties are obliged to submit the option issue to the Arbitration Board established in their agreement.
FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, 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 the National Railroad Adjustment Board is without jurisdiction to determine the claim.