The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record and all the evidence, finds that:
The carrier or carriers and the employee or employees involved in this dispute are respectively carrier and employee 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 level of operation at the Carriers Dock and Storage Facility is seasonal. On December 18, 1986, - approximately one week prior to the incident giving rise to the dispute - the Carrier reduced forces when it canceled the second and third shifts at the Duluth Lakehead Storage Facility. Form 1 Award No. 30156
Claimant Nettleton held the position of B&B Foreman. Claimants Sjoquist and Sanoski held B&B Storage Facility Mechanic positions. On the dates involved in this matter, Claimants, who had not been furloughed, were assigned to the 8:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. tour.
On December 23, 1986, the Carrier called furloughed Mechanics D. Michael and R. Harvey to perform service in connection with the unloading of the ore ship 'Columbia Star' beginning at 4:00 P.M. At midnight, Michael and Harvey were directed to discontinue work and furloughed Mechanics P. Sullivan and T. Dillon were brought in to complete the duties relating to unloading the ship until 8:00 A.M. These furloughed employees were used rather than assigning Claimant's overtime for duties related to unloading the ship. The Claim asserts that Claimants should have been assigned the work as overtime.
Rule 20(a) provides that "During the regular assigned workweek, an employee assigned to a particular job during the workday at a point where overtime is required continuous with his shift will be given all the overtime connected with that job." Here, as a result of the need to unload the ship at a time when the second and third shifts had been canceled, overtime was required for the non-furloughed Claimants. By its clear terms, because the work was "continuous with [their] shift," Rule 20(a) required that the Claimants "will be given &U the overtime connected with that job" [emphasis added]. By failing to assign the overtime to Claimants, the Carrier thus violated Rule 20(a).
The Rules cited by the Carrier do not clearly apply to this situation as does Rule 20(a). The result may appear harsh to those employees who were recently furloughed. However, the result in this case is dictated by the clear language of the relevant rule and the fact that the Carrier earlier canceled the shifts of the employees who otherwise would have been entitled to perform the work on their regular tours had they not been furloughed. This Board does not have the authority to change the relevant clear language in order to achieve a result of equitable distribution of work opportunities to recently furloughed employees. The clear language governs.
Because Claimants lost an overtime opportunity, they shall be compensated for that loss at the appropriate overtime rate as set forth in the Claim.