Form 1 LkTIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD Award No. 29321
THIRD DIVISION Docket No. CL-28753
92-3-89-3-160
The Third Division consisted of the regular members and in
addition Referee Peter R. Meyers when award was rendered.
!Transportation Communications International Union
PARTIES TO DISPUTE: (
(The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: "Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood
(~;L-10353) that:
I. Carrier violated the provisions of the current Clerk's Agreement
at Los Angeles, California, on March 14, 1988, when it failed and/or refused
to call D. A. Shenk to protect the short vacancy of J. T. Hicks Position No.
6330; and
2. D. A. Shenk shall now be compensated eight (8) hours' pay at the
time and one-half rate of Towerman Position No. 6330 for March 14, 1988, in
addition to any other compensation Claimant may have received for this day."
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.
The Organization filed a claim on the Claimant's behalf, contending
that the Carrier violated Rule 7 of the Agreement when it allowed a Towerman
to work Position No. 6330 on March 14, 1988, when he had not been off duty at
least 16 hours beforehand, as required by Rule 7. The Carrier denied the
claim on grounds that dispatchers on the property had decertified and therefore were not subj
Form 1 Award No. 29321
Page 2 Docket No. CL-28753
92-3-89-3-160
This Board has reviewed the record in this case and we find that the
Rule at issue is very clear. Rule 7 provides:
"Employees temporarily or permanently assigned to
official positions with the Company or to positions
of train dispatcher, shall retain and accumulate any
seniority rights they have under this Agreement. If
retained in or returned to the service of the Company
after being released from such positions, they must
assert such seniority rights in the manner provided
in Rule 15; except an employee retaining and accumulating seniority under this Agreement used to wor
an extra or unassigned train dispatcher will not
again be permitted to perform any service under this
Agreement until he has been off duty not less than 16
hours; nor will he be permitted to perform service
under this Agreement on rest days of a train dispatcher vacancy being protected until released from
such vacancy."
That language clearly states that if an employee works as an Extra
Train Dispatcher, that employee must be off duty not less than sixteen hours
before being allowed to perform any service under the Agreement.
The record reveals that the Towerman had been off duty for only
fifteen hours and one minute prior to returning to a position covered by the
Agreement. Under the terms of the Agreement, the Carrier was required to
declare the position vacant on March 14, 1988, and to fill it in accordance
with Rule 14. That would have made the position available to the Claimant.
The Carrier did not do that and, therefore, was in violation of the Agreement.
The Claimant should have been called in to work.
This Board rejects the arguments of the Carrier relating to the
Yardmaster Section of the Agreement.
Once this Board has determined that there is a violation of the
Agreement, we next must determine how much compensation shall be paid to the
Claimant for the violation of his rights. The Organization seeks payment in
the amount of time and one-half in addition to any other compensation that
Claimant may have received for that day. The record reveals that the Claimant's regular days off
place on a Monday. Consequently, Claimant is definitely entitled to time and
one-half for the time that he should have been called in to work. However, if
Claimant worked for the Carrier during the same hours that the Towerman was
wrongfully called back to work, that pay should be deducted from the award
made to the Claimant. The Agreement does not allow for penalty payments, but
merely allows for the Claimant to be made whole. Time and one-half payment
will make the Claimant whole. However, he should not be double paid for any
time worked that day.
Form 1 Award No. 29321
Page 3 Docket No. CL-28753
92-3-89-3-160
A W A R D
Claim sustained in accordance with the Findings.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Third Division
Attest:
ancy J. p v -Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 24th day of July 1992.