(Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen PARTIES TO DISPUTE:

STATEMENT OF CLAIM: "Claim of the General Committee of the Brotherhood of
 Railroad signalmen on the former Texas & Pacific Railway Company:

 On behalf of Signalmen J. E. McCarty, B. M. Blackman, and D. B. McCarty, for eighty hours' each at their respective rates, account on September 14, 1978, 10 U.T.B. relays were shipped off the former Texas & Pacific property for repair at Sedalia, Missouri." (Carrier file: K 315-175)

 OPINION OF BOARD: The Organization has progressed the instant claim having
 to do with transfer of repair work on ten (10) GRS-type U.T.B. signal relays, based on the contention such transfer of work was violative of the Signalman's Scope Rule contained in its controlling Agreement with the Texas and Pacific Railway Company, bearing effective date of May 1, 1957. We note from the record evidence however, that prior to the origination of this instant claim, the Texas and Pacific Railway Company merged with the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company into a "single system". In so merging the parties became subject to the various provisions of Mediation Agreement A-7128, effective February 7, 1965, which among other things provides for the following:





        "SECTION 1. The Organizations recognize the right of the Carriers to make technological, operational and organizational changes, and in consideration of the protective benefits provided by this Agreement the Carrier shall have the right to transfer work and/or transfer employees throughout the system which do not require the crossing of craft lines."

                Award Number 23876 Page 2

                Docket Number SG-23315


            ARTICLE VII: DISPT.R'ES COMMITTEE


"SECTION 1. Any dispute involving the interpretation or application of any of the terms of this agreement and not settled on the carrier may be referred by either party to the dispute for decision to a committee consisting of two members of the Carriers' Conference Committees signatory to this agreement, two members of the Employes' National Conference Committee signatory to this agreement, and a referee to be selected as hereinafter provided. The referee selected shall preside at the meetings of the committee and act as chairman of the committee. A majority vote of the partisan members of the committee shall be necessary to decide a dispute, provided that if such partisan members are unable to reach -a decision, the dispute shall be decided by the referee. Decisions so arrived at shall be final and binding upon the parties to the dispute.

 SECTION 2. The parties to this agreement will select a panel of three potential referees for the purpose of disposing of disputes pursuant to the provisions of this section. If the parties are unable to agree upon the selection of the panel of potential referees within 30 days of the date of the signing of this agreement, the National Mediation Board shall be requested to name such referee or referees as are necessary to fill the panel within five days after the receipt of such request. Each panel member selected shall serve as a member of such panel for a period of one year, if available. Successors to the members of the panel shall be appointed in the same manner as the original appointees.

 SECTION 3. Disputes shall be submitted to the committee by notice in writing to the Chairman of the National Railway Labor Conference and to the Chairman of the Employee' National Conference Committee, signatories to this agreement, who shall within 10 days of receipt of such notice, designate the members of their respective committees who shall serve on the committee and arrange for a meeting of the committee to consider such disputes as soon as a panel referee is available to serve, and in no event mare than 1 Decision shall be made at the close of the meeting if possible (such meeting not to continue for more than five days) but in any event within five days of the date such meeting is closed, provided that the partisan embers of the c~ittee may by mutual agreement extend the duration of the meeting and the period for decision. The notice provided for in this Section 3 shall state specifically the questions to be submitted to the committee for decision; and the committee shall confine itself strictly to decisions as to the questions so specifically submitted to it.
                      Award Number Page 3

                      Docket Number SG-23315


        SECTION 4. Should any representative of a party to a dispute on any occasion fail or refuse to meet or act as provided in Section 3, then the dispute shall be regarded as decided in favor of the party whose representatives are not guilty of such failure or re settled accordingly but without establishing a precedent for any other cases; provided that a partisan member of the committee may, in the absence of his partisan colleague, vote on behalf of both.


        SECTION 5. The parties to the dispute will assume the compensation, travel expense and other expense of their respective partisan committee members. Unless other arrangements are made, the office stenographic and other expenses of the committee, including compensation and expenses of the referee, shall be shared equally by the parties to the dispute."


Carrier has taken the position that given the above quoted provisions, the instant dispute falls within the jurisdiction of Special Board of Adjustment No. 605 and therefore the Third Division of the Adjustment Board is without authority to rule on the case at bar. As additional support for its position, Carrier has cited numerous Third Division Awards upholding the jurisdiction of Special Board of Adjustment No. 605 in comparable matters such as the one here under consideration. We find in our review of these awards Third Division Award 19723, to be particularly pertinent and representative of our thinking relative to the jurisdiction issue. In Award 19723, we held:

        "Carrier urges that the matter be referred to the Disputes Committee provided for in Article VII of that Agreement. In a long line of cases ore have held '... that when the determination of a dispute is dependent upon the interpretation or application of the February 7, 1965 Agreement, that procedures established and accepted by the parties themselves for resolving disputes under that Agreement should be respected.' (Award 17625) Contrary to Petitioner's argument that the terms of Article VII, Section 1 are permissive (Supported by Award 18071), we will reaffirm those awards (19295, 19371, 18602, 19166, 19289, 18925, 18602 and a host of others) which hold that the proper forum for resolving disputes arising from the February 7, 1965 Agreement is the Disputes Committee established under that Agreement. In this case the issues cannot be resolved without an appropriate interpretation under that Agreement."


We reaffirm here what we said in Award 19723, and accordingly therefore, we rule to dismiss the instant claim based on our lack of jurisdiction to decide the issue in dispute.
                      Award Number 23$76 Page 4

                      Docket Number SG-23315


FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, 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, 193+;

 That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction aver the dispute involved herein; and

        That the claim must be dismissed.


                        A W A R D


        Claim dismissed.


                            NATIONAL RAIIROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD

                            By Order of Third Division


Attest: Acting Executive Secretary
        National Railroad Adjustment Board


By A44-0-
        Rosemarie Brasch - Administrative Assistant


Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 13th day of May, 1982.

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