Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD Award No. 28678
THIRD DIVISION Docket No. MW-28678
91-3-89-3-33
The Third Division consisted of the regular members and in
addition Referee Herbert L· Marx, Jr. when award was rendered.
(Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Burlington Northern Railroad Company
(former St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: "Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:
(1) The Agreement was violated when the Carrier moved Regional B&B
Gang 820 off of its assigned territory to Bridge Nos. 488.2 and 28.9 while it
assigned Regional B&B Gang 823 to perform program repairs at Bridge No. 783.7
from June 11, 1987 through September 17, 1987 (System File B-2369/EMWC 8711-23A).
(2) Because of the violation referred to in Part (1) above:
'...
we request that Gang 820 be paid at
their respective rates of pay for all hours
Gang 823 worked on programmed jobs back 60
days of their claim thru September 17, 1987.'"
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.
Bridge and Building Gangs 820 and 823 are Regional Gangs established
under the Agreement dated January 24, 1983, which reads in pertinent part as
follows:
"(1) Regional Bridge and Building Gangs may be
created to perform any or all types of work, classified as bridge and building work or steel bridge
work, which is performed by Division Bridge and
Building Gangs, or by Region (System) steel gangs.
Such gangs may be worked on Seniority District 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the former S.L.-S.F. Ry. Co.
Form 1 Award No. 28678
Page 2 Docket No. MW-28678
91-3-89-3-33
(9) Any information contained on the bulletins
concerning the anticipated schedule of work for the
gang shall be for information only, shall be subject
to change without notice, and shall not constitute a
guarantee that the gang will perform the work speci
fied.
(18)(a) Insofar as practicable, the Carrier will
schedule programmed work for the Regional B&B Gangs
to be performed on designated territories. Such
Regional B&B Gangs will perform all programmed work
on said designated territories before being moved to
other districts, except in emergencies or where not
possible to complete a project at the time. It is
understood that Regional B&B Gangs will not be used
to perform the work of Division B&B Gangs as speci
fied in paragraph (2) above, and that Division B&B
Gangs will not be substituted for Regional B&B Gangs
to perform programmed work to avoid payment of higher
rates of pay."
Claimants are members of Gang 820 who, in 1987, were assigned work
at Memphis, Tennessee, while Gang 823 was simultaneously assigned work in
Alabama. The Organization contends the Gang 820's "designated territory"
included Alabama, while Gang 823's "designated territory" was elsewhere.
The Board finds no basis to conclude that Gang 820 had prior rights
to the Alabama work, under the circumstances here involved. Both Gangs had
been assigned to programmed work in Alabama prior to the Claim herein. The
assignments were made in a practical manner based on the Gangs' current working locations and the Carrier's priorities.
A position bulletin issued in 1983 states in reference to Gang 820,
"Designated territory is Alabama, Florida & Mississippi." The effect of this
is negated, however, by paragraph (9) of the January 24, 1983 Agreement.
A W A R D
Claim denied.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Third Division
Attest: ^ancy J. v - Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 28th day of February 1991.