Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD Award No. 28529
THIRD DIVISION Docket No. SG-28199
90-3-87-3-718
The Third Division consisted of the regular members and in
addition Referee Robert W. McAllister when award was rendered.
(Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen
PARTIES TO DISPUTE: (
(Delaware and Hudson Railway Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: "Claim on behalf of the General Committee of the Brother
hood of Railroad Signalmen on the Delaware and Hudson
Railway Company (D&H):
Case No. 1
Claim on behalf of the following signal employees, dates and compensation:
Lost Total
Name Headquarters Days - 1986 Compensation Due
B. M. Velasco Oneonta, N.Y. 5/19 - 5/27 $ 820.96
A. J. Tucker 5/19 - 5/29 861.12
B. E. Snow Delanson, N.Y. 5/19 - 5/27 820.96
A. D. Wright Delanson, N.Y. 5/19 - 5/28 765.44
W. B. Loucks Oneonta, N.Y. 5/19 - 5/28 765.44
R. J. Oliver Oneonta, N.Y. 5/19 - 6/1 956.80
G. A. Akulis Ninevah, N.Y. 5/19 - 5/29 861.12
G. L. Schneider Oneonta, N.Y. 5/19 - 7/14 3,952.40
S. A. Schneider Oneonta, N.Y. 5/19 - 7/14 3,952.40
F. F. Schuler Taylor, Pa. 5/19 - 7/14 4,808.48
J. C. Farrell, Jr. Taylor, Pa. 5/19 - 5/29 867.60
J. L. Congdon Taylor, Pa. 5/19 - 7/14 3,922.88
Account of Carrier violated the current Signalmen's Agreement, as
amended, particularly, the Scope Rule and Rules 39, 39 1/2, 42 and 51, when it
failed to properly abolish Claimants positions during BMWE strike. Carrier
file: SI-1-86. General Chairman file: USG 75-1-86.
Case No. 2
Claim on behalf of the- following signal employees, dates and compensation:
Form 1 Award No. 28529
Page 2 Docket No. SG-28199
90-3-87-3-718
Lost Total
Name Headquarters Days - 1986 Compensation Due
P. J. McDermott Fort Edward, N.Y. 5/19 - 5/28 $ 938.00
W. C. Miller Willsboro, N.Y. 5/19 - 5/28 765.44
S. Jerdo Ticonderoga, N.Y. 5/19 - 7/14 3,922.88
S. J. Sorrell Willsboro, N.Y. 5/19 - 7/14 3,922.88
B. Trombley Willsboro, N.Y. 5/19 - 7/7 3,444.48
M. W. MacDougal Willsboro, N.Y. 5/19 - 5/28 938.00
G. C. Kross Fort Edward, N.Y. 5/19 - 5/28 771.20
T. M. Daniels Colonie, N.Y. 5/19 - 6/1 964.00
W. C. Wade Colonie, N.Y. 5/19 - 6/2 1,060.40
R. G. Carter Colonie, N.Y. 5/19 - 6/2 1,052.48
C. M. Acker Colonie, N.Y. 5/19 - 6/2 1,052.48
R. E. Bronson Fort Edward, N.Y. 5/19 - 5/28 765.44
R. C. Rawson Saratoga, N.Y. 5/19 - 5/28 765.44
K. B. Kross Colonie, N.Y. 5/19 - 5/28 920.04
Account of Carrier violated the current Signalmen's Agreement, as
amended, particularly, the Scope Rule and Rules 39 and 39 1/2 when it failed
to properly abolish Claimants positions during BMWE strike." Carrier file:
SI-2-86. General Chairman File UGC-147-2-86.
FINDINGS:
The Third Division of the Adjustment Board upon the whole record
and all the evidence, finds that:
The carrier or carriers and the employe or employes involved in this
dispute are respectively carrier and employes within the meaning of the
Railway Labor Act as approved June 21, 1934.
This Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the
dispute involved herein.
Parties to said dispute waived right of appearance at hearing thereon.
This case arises out of the March 3, 1986, strike by the Brotherhood
of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE) against the Maine Central Railroad Company and the Portland Terminal Company, companies owned by Guilford Transportation Industries, Inc., as is the Carrier herein. Within two weeks of the
onset of the strike, the BMWE established pickets on the Carrier and on the
Boston & Maine, another Guilford property. When its employees honored the
picket line and refused to come to work, the Carrier abolished jobs under the
Rule applicable to emergency force reductions, Rule 39 1/2.
Form 1 Award No. 28529
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90-3-87-3-718
On or about April 20, 1986, the Carrier notified its employees, including the Claimants, that their jobs were permanently abolished effective
April 25, 1986. Claimants were also sent a letter notifying them the Carrier
would be hiring permanent replacements. On April 26, 1986, the various
Guilford railroads, including the Carrier herein, obtained a temporary restraining order against the unions representing other than Maintenance of Way
employees, including the Organization herein. This temporary restraining
order enjoined the unions from picketing the Carriers and was conditional upon
the Carriers not implementing plans to hire permanent replacements. The temporary restraining order did not affect the BMWE pickets or the fact that
other employees honored the BMWE picket line.
On May 16, 1986, the President of the United States invoked Section
10 of the Railway Labor Act and established an emergency board to investigate
the Maine Central-BMWE labor dispute. On that same date, the Claimants reported to work, but were sent home by supervisory forces. According to the
Organization, the Claimants were told their jobs had been abolished during
the strike and that they would have to wait for jobs to be rebulletined and
awarded. The failure to return the Claimants to the positions they held prior
to the Maine Central strike resulted in the two Claims herein being filed on
July 14, 1986.
While these events were occurring, the various unions also sought
redress through the judicial system. On March 24, 1986, the Railway Labor
ExecutivTs' Association (RLEA) filed a complaint in the U. S. District Court
in Maine seeking, inter alia, to enjoin the Carrier from retaliating against
its employees who refused to cross BMWE's picket lines. In a decision rendered July 11, 1986, the Court determined the permanent job abolishments were
primarily for the purpose of avoiding the Carrier's obligation to return employees to work immediately upon the cessation of the strike by the establishment of the emergency board. The Court then held the permanent abolishments
were "nothing less than a deliberately calculated, anticipatory breach of
those obligations which the Carriers recognized they would incur ,rder the
agreements and the RLA provisions upon the ending of the strike." Thus, the
Court ruled that the permanent job abolishments were illegal and ordered the
employees affected by them be entitled to be returned to work.
1Railway Labor Executives' Association v. Boston & Maine Corp., et al., 639
F. Supp. 1092 (Me. 1986).
2Id. at 1109.
Form 1 Award No. 28529
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90-3-87-3-718
On December 22, 1986, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the First
Circuit held the question of "whether a party is in breach of a collective
bargaining agreement, 'anticipatorily' or not, requires 'the interpretation
(and) or application' of that agreement, ..4 and is a "minor" dispute which
should be litigated before an adjustment board. Accordingly, the decision of
the District Court as to this dispute was reversed and remanded with instructions that it be referred to the appropriate adjustment board.
Under the provisions of Rule 39, there are no restrictions upon the
Carrier's right to abolish jobs, except that the affected employees must be
given not less than five (5) working days' advance notice. The Scope Rule,
however, places specified work within the scope of the Agreement. This places
a restriction upon the Carrier to the extent that covered work may be performed only by employees working under the Agreement. Thus, while Rule 39
gives the Carrier the right to abolish all jobs, it would not have the right
to have non-covered employees do the work of the employees whose jobs were
abolished.
Rule 39 is modified by Rule 39 1/2 to the extent that the Carrier is
not required to give more than sixteen (16) hours notice of job abolishments
under certain emergency circumstances. These include strikes where the Carrier's operations are suspended in whole or in part and when, because of the
emergency, the work which would be performed by the employees involved in the
force reductions no longer exists or cannot be performed. Such job abolishments are considered to be temporary for the duration of the emergency.
At issue in this case is whether the Claimants' jobs were abolished
under Rule 39 or Rule 39 1/2 and whether or not the Carrier had a duty to
recall the Claimants to service. Further, if such a duty existed, how quickly
must it have been carried out?
Even though the Carrier had first abolished the jobs under Rule 39
1/2, it later served a five (5) day notice that it was permanently abolishing
the jobs. Whatever its motive may have been, the Carrier's action in doing so
was not proscribed by the Agreement. The Carrier would have been free to permanently abolish all of the jobs prior to the arrival of the pickets or once
they appeared had it met the notice requirement. There is no basis for concluding it could not have done so one month after the picket line was up. Having satisfied the five (5) day notice requirement, the Carrier was no longer
limited to the emergency conditions specified in Rule 39 1/2.
3Railway Labor Executives' Association v. Boston & Maine Cor2. et al., ___
F. 2d 150 (1st Cir. 1986).
4Id. at 159
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Page 5 Docket No. SG-28199
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As noted above, however, once the jobs are abolished, the Carrier
may not use non-Agreement personnel to perform covered work. (We note that
none of the Claims herein covers dates when the Claimants refused to cross the
picket line, so we need not address the right of the Carrier to use noncovered personnel while the picket line was up.) Throughout the handling of
these Claims on the property, the Organization alleged the Carrier "required
and/or permitted supervisory and non-BRS members to perform craft work." This
allegation was never refuted by the Carrier and must now be taken to be true.
If the Carrier hired new employees to perform covered work while the
Claimants refused to cross the picket line, those employees would come within
the scope of the Agreement. Having less seniority than the Claimants, however, they would be subject to displacement by them under either Rule 42 or
Rule 51. By not allowing the Claimants to displace, the Carrier was in violation of the Agreement. The performance of covered work by supervisors when
the Claimants were available is also a violation of the Agreement.
In developing a remedy, we must be cognizant of the fact the failure
to recall the Claimants, ear se, is not the violation. As the emergency force
reduction rule did not apply, the Carrier was under no obligation to recall
any of the forces. It is the fact that junior and non-Agreement employees
performed the work that must be remedied. Accordingly, we direct that the
Carrier allow the Claims in the order of the seniority of the Claimants to the
extent that the number of Claimants paid is equal to the number of new hires
still working after May 19, 1986, plus the number of supervisors who performed
covered work after that date. The balance of the Claims, if any, are denied.
We note the Organization has argued the Carrier is in violation of
the time limit rule because Claim No. 2 was never denied upon initial presentation. It failed, however, to state this in its Statement of Claim. According to Circular No. 1, this Board requires that "(u)nder this caption the
petitioner or petitioners must clearly state the particular question upon
which an award is desired." This Board has no power to go beyond the issues
raised in the original Statement of Claim. Third Division Awards 19790 and
21543.
Claim sustained in accordance with the Findings.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Third Division
Attest:
Nancy J. er - Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 28th day of August 1990.