PARTIES TO DISPUTE:

STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
My termination was uncall (sic) for, unjust, and without merits, warrant and discriminatory in every respect.
OPINION OF BOARD: At the time of his termination, the Claimant, H. L. Borders, had
 a seniority date of May 18, 1972, and was a Relief Clerk at
 the Carrier's Hobart Yard in Los Angeles, California. On October 24, 1980, the
 Claimant was informed he was removed from service for violation of General
 Rules for the Guidance of Employees (Rules 2 and 31). The record establishes
 the Carrier has long had in place a progressive disciplinary system which
 subjects Employes who accrue sixty or more demerits to dismissal. The record
 also reveals that, on March 27, 1980, the Claimant was made aware he then had
 accumulated a total of fifty-five demerits.
This Board holds that, although the handling of this grievance was not procedurally proper, our examination of the facts supports a finding the Carrier has proven by a preponderance of the probative evidence introduced that the Claimant was guilty as charged.
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




        Claim denied.


                          NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD

                          By Order of Third Division


ATTEST:
              loce

        Nancy . ,fiver - Executive Secretary


Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 23rd day of May 1985.