The Third Division consisted of the regular members and in addition Referee W. Gary Vause when award was rendered.
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: "Claim of the System Committee of the
Brotherhood that:
The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record and all thc'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.
On September 9, 1970, Claimant was employed with Carrier as a Carpenter. On or about May 16, 1986, Claimant was placed in a furloughed status, and did not return to service since that date. When the Carrier published the B&B seniority rosters for 1991, the Claimant's name was removed therefrom. Form 1 Award No. 30717
The Carrier argues that the Claimant's failure to return to active service within four years results in the expiration of all seniority rights. Because the Claimant had not been employed since May 16, 1986, his name was properly removed from all seniority rosters as provided under Article 3, Section (g) of the current Agreement, which states in pertinent part:
The carrier's position is supported by the literal language of Article 3, Section (g). However, the organization argues that the Carrier failed to recall the Claimant to service so that it would be in the position of removing his name from the seniority roster. The organization also asserts that due to the number of Agreement violations against the Claimant in the past, and payments the Claimant received in settlement of those claims, the Carrier cannot rely upon Article 3, Section (g) to remove the Claimant's name from the seniority roster.
The record reflects that the payments made to the Claimant, and referenced by the organization in its Submission, were the result of settlements negotiated between the Carrier and the Organization. The parties agreed that such payments were "without prejudice" to the position of either party, and would not be referred to in the handling of any cases.
More importantly, Article 3, Section (g) does not contain any provision which operates to extend seniority because a Claimant is paid monies based on claims brought by the organization. Form 1 Award No. 30717
The facts of this case show that the Claimants seniority rights expired because he was not 11.·. returned to active service within four (4) years" as prescribed in Article 3, Section (g) of the Agreement.
This Board, after consideration of the dispute identified above, hereby orders that an award favorable to the Claimant(s) not be made.