(Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and
 ( Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
 ( Express and Station Employes
 PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
 (Southern Railway Company

"(a) Carrier violated the Agreement at Knoxville, Tennessee, when it suspended Extra Board Clerk, Mr. G. D. Stair from service beginning September 25 and ending October 24, 1974 account calling Mr. B. 0. Glandon an unqualified engineer for the Bulls Gap, Tennessee to Asheville, North Carolina run on Saturday, September 21, 1974.

 (b) Carrier shall be required to compensate Mr. Stair for all time lost September 25 through October 24, 1974."

 OPINION OF BOARD: Claimant holds seniority date of December 26, 1971
 on the Knoxville District agent-operators'and
 clerks'seniority roster. On September 20-21, 1974 ,he was working off
 the clerks'extra board protecting a third trick crew caller's position,
 11:00 P.M. to 7:00 A.M. At about 6:00 A.M. he was instructed to call
 an engineer with radio qualifications for a through freight, Bulls Gap,
 Tennessee to Asheville, North Carolina. He called one B. 0. Glandcn,
 an engineer who had radio qualifications but who was not qualified for
 the Bulls Gap to Asheville territory. Printed instructions noting
 that Glandon should not be used on that run were under the glass on
 Claimant's desk but he apparently did not notice them. Engineer
 Glandon accepted the call even though he knew he was not qualified,
 thereby compounding Claimant's mistake. En route between Bulls Gap
 and Asheville the train separated, apparently due to the inexperienced
 handling of Engineer Glandon.

 Claimant was called before a formal investigative hearing following which he was suspended for thirty (30) days for failure to follow instructions in calling out Engineer Glandon. For the record, it is noted that Glandon also was brought up on charges as a result of the incident and likewise suspended without pay for 30 days.


We have reviewed the record and find that Claimant was accorded all of the due process to which the Agreement entitled him. The record more than supports Carrier's finding that he did not follow properly conveyed instructions, i.e., that he was negligent in the performance of his duties. It is true, but basically irrelevant to Claimant's culpability, that the engineer compounded Claimant's error by failing to inform Claimant that he was not qualified. See Awards 13643, 15978, 17269, 17761, 19433, 20557 and 20954.

 The only question before us is whether the discipline imposed is so disproportionate to the offense committed that it can fairly be termed arbitrary, unreasonable or capricious. Negligence of the type involved in this case is not de minimis. The consequences in probable damage to property and danger to lives if unqualified operating employes are called to handle massive and powerful equipment over unfamiliar territory are too apparent to require elaboration. The purpose of discipline in such cases is not necessarily punitive but deterrent to insure that employes like Claimant will exert every effort in the future to avoid any recurrence. We cannot say that the 30-day suspension is unreasonable in light of Carrier's broad discretion under established precedent to assess discipline, even though the quantum might be greater than we would have applied in the first instance. Awards 21058, 20034, 14601, 14272, e-t al. The claim must be denied.

 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

        That the Agreement was not violated.

                    Award Number 22173 Page 3

                    Docket Number CL-21994

                    A W A R D


        Claim denied.


                        NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD

                        By Order of Third Division


ATTEST: 44. IV, &d&tr=e
        Executive Secretary


Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 31st day of August 197$.