NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION Locket Number MW-24799
Tedford E. Schoonover, Referee
(Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Consolidated Rail Corporation
( (former Lehigh Valley Railroad Company)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: "Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:
(1) The Carrier violated the Agreement when it dismissed Mr. Ricardo
Avery without the benefit of a fair hearing and investigation as stipulated in
Agreement Rule 5-a (System File SD LV-185).
(2) The claim as presented by Local Chairman Joel Myron on July 12,
1979 to Division Engineer J. V. Acrea shall be allowed as presented because said
claim was not disallowed by Division Engineer J. V. Acrea in accordance with
Article V, Section 1(a) of the August 21, 1954 National Agreement.
(3) As a consequence of either or both (1) and/or (2) above, the
Carrier shall
"return him (the claimant) to duty and pay him all back
time from January 5, 1979 to the present, including
overtime lost.'"
OPINION OF BOARD: Although this case involves circumstances of an alleged
theft of checks and incarceration in January 1979, the
essential facts on which the claim must be determined are the prevailing rules
of the Labor Agreement as well as the National Agreement of August 21, 1954.
In the first place, Rule 2-h provides for forfeiture of seniority by
employes who fail to return to service within seven days after being notified or
advise the proper Carrier officer of any change of address. Moreover, claim is
dated July 12, 1979, a date well past the 60 days filing limit required in
Article V, Section 1(a) of the National Agreement of August 21, 1954. Thus, we
are bound to conclude that claimant's seniority was forfeited under Rule 2-h. by
his own failure to respond to recall or keep the carrier advised of any change
in address. In these circumstances the claimed violation of Rule 5-a is without
validity.
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 Employes involved in this dispute are
respectively Carrier and Employes within the meaning of the Railway Labor
Act, as approved June 21, 1934;
Award Number 24594 Page 2
Locket Number MW-24799
That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the
dispute involved herein; and
That the Agreement was not violated.
A W A R D
Claim denied.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Third Division
ATTEST:
Z",./
Nancy l~ver - Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 15th day of December 1983.
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