C:\MYDOCU~1\SCHEDU~2\3-28903.htm

Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD Award No. 28903 THIRD DIVISION Docket No. MS-29781 91-3-91-3-141 (Joseph R. Smith PARTIES TO DISPUTE:

(The Pittsurgh 6 take Erie Railroad Company

STATEMENT OF CLAIM: "This is to serve notice, as required by the rules of the National Railroad Adjustment Board, of my intention to file an Ex Parte submission within 30 days covering an unadjusted dispute between me and the P 6 LE Railroad, involving the question of severance pay and job security as stated in the contract that existed between the union and the railroad on November 31, 1985, the last day I worked.' 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.

Section 152, Second of the Railway Labor Act provides:

"All disputes between a carrier or carriers and its

their employees shall be considered, and, if

possible, decided, with all expedition, in conference

between representatives designated and authorized so

to confer, respectively, by the carrier or carriers

and by the employees thereof interested in the

dispute." 45 U.S.C. 152, Second. (Emphasis added.)

Disputes must be handled in the usual manner which includes the

parties' obligation to hold a conference on the property to discuss the claim before the dispute is ripe for adjudication by this Board. Id.; 45 U.S.C. 153, First (i). The mandatory conference not only permits an in-depth dis cussion of each party's evidence to avoid undue surprise at the later, formal adjudicatory stage (if necessary) but it also encourages the parties to ex plore all avenues of possible settlement to promote the voluntary resolution Form 1 Award No. 28' Page 2 Docket No. MS

91-3-91-3-14.

of disputes. Had Claimant and the Carrier held a conference, they might 1 been able to reach a mutually satisfactory accommodation on this claim. Railway Labor Act's dispute resolution process is designed to force the ties to attempt to reach a settlement even if one party perceives little likelihood of successfully resolving the case before resorting to the Boa; The parties must cultivate any possibility of settlement. Inasmuch as thi is no record of the parties conferencing this claim on the property, we 14 jurisdiction to address the underlying merits of this case. See Third Di, sion Awards 25346, 24259, 22629. A W A R D Claim dismissed. NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD By Order of Third Division Attest: ~~r cy J. )1eW -Executive Secretary Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 30th day of July 1991.