(Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen PARTIES TO DISPUTE.




STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the General Committee of the Brotherhood of
 Railroad Signalmen on the former Pennsylvania Rail
 road Company:



(a) Claim that the company violated Article 4, Section 5(a) of the Agreement when on Friday, September 25, 1970, between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., they allowed one (1) signal inspector and two (2) signalmen from a foreign seniority district, Seniority District #2 and #3, and having no seniority on Seniority District #1, to perform work on the interlocking machine at Fair Tower, Trenton, N. J.

 (b) Claim that Mr. W. A. Addayson, Foreman C&S and Mr. Walter Demarest and Horace H. Whittam, Signalmen CBeS, all headquarters Newark, N. J., Seniority District #1, available and not used, be paid six and one half (6J) hours, at the punitive rate, the time made by-the foreign district men who performed this work.

 OPINION OF BOARD: The Carrier does not contend that its conduct was
 contrary to the rules of the parties' Agreement;
 instead, it asks that we excuse its deviation therefrom because it did not
 have employes contractually entitled to the work who were qualified to
 perform it.

 Our awards on this subject are not unanimous and offer no clearly marked course for us to follow. In this case we will follow those which have heard a Carrier's request that its lack of qualified employee be considered. We are so moved be Carrier had Seniority District #1 employes present to learn the work is question.


We are also constrained to comment that a meeting of the parties before the fact rather than afterwards might have foreclosed this dispute. We render this award with the specific notation that we intend no suggestion of precedent in similar
        FILINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Hoard, upon the whole record and all the evidence, finds and holds:


        That the parties waived oral hearing;


That the Carrier and the Employee involved in this dispute are respectively Carrier and Employee within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as approved June 21, 1934;

 That this Division of the Adjustment Hoard has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein; and

        That the Agreement was not violated.


                      A W A R D


        Claim disposed of per Opinion and $indiaga.


                          NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT HOARD

                          By Order of Third Division


ATTEST:- AIs .
        Executive Secretary


Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 19th day of May 1976.