Form I NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION
Award No. 32038
Docket No. SG-32571
97-3-95-3-495
The Third Division consisted of the regular members and in addition Referee
James E. Post when award was rendered.
(Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
"Claim on behalf of the General Committee of the Brotherhood of
Railroad Signalmen (BRS) on the Port Authority Trans-Hudson
Corporation (PATH):
Claim on behalf of L. F. Ambrosio, et al., for payment in accordance
with the compensation afforded to other employees for attending the
N.I.D.A. training program, with the amount to be determined by a check
of Carrier's records, account Carrier violated the current Signalmen's
Agreement, particularly the seniority provisions and Article VII-C, when
it failed to advertise vacancies in the N.I.D.A. Training Program and
assigned junior employees instead of the Claimant and other senior
employees to attend the training program. BPS File Case No. 9664PATH."
FINDINGS:
The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record and an 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.
Form 1 Award No. 32038
Page 2 Docket No. SG-32571
97-3-95-3-495
Parties to said dispute were given due notice of hearing thereon.
At the time this dispute arose, Claimant was assigned to a position of Signal
Testman.
Carrier established a supplemental training program for Signal Department
emplovees in 1992, consisting of classroom instruction of 2.5 hours twice a week for two
to three vears, and made it available to Signal Shop Repairmen and Signal Testmen.
Subsequently, the program was opened to employees in other classes, and Carrier began
assigning employees to slots in the program without regard to seniority.
The Organization filed claim on June 28, 1994, on behalf of Claimant contending
that Carrier violated the agreement when it assigned a junior employee to attend the
training program. Carrier denied the claim on July 6, 1994, asserting that the
agreement cited did not require it to send employees to training classes in any particular
order, seniority or otherwise.
The Organization filed an appeal of the decision August 3, 1994, which was denied
by Carrier August 22, 1994.
Being unable to obtain satisfactory adjustment of the claim, the Organization
instituted proceedings for final disposition of the claim with this Board by letter dated
September 27, 1995.
In its submission to this Board, Carrier raises a procedural issue which we must
first resolve before consideration, if any, can be given to the merits.
It is the position
of
the Carrier that the Organization did not timely file its appeal
with this Board. The record reveals that the Notice
of
Intent to file with this Board was
dated September 27, 1995, more than one year beyond August 22, 1994, the date
of
Carrier's final declination
of
the claim.
Article XI, Paragraph
C of
the controlling agreement provides:
"C. A final decision denying a grievance shall be binding upon the
BRS unless, within one (1) year from the date
of
said final decision, such
Form 1 Award
No. 32038
Page 3 Docket
No. SG-32571
97-3-95-3-495
grievance is disposed
of
on the property or proceedings for the final
disposition of the grievance are instituted by the General Committee of the
BRS with notice to PATH."
Clearly, the Organization did not file proceeding with this Board for final
disposition of its claim within one year from the date of Carrier's final decision.
Therefore, the Carrier's final decision of August
22, 1994,
is final and binding
disposition thereof.
This Board is left with no alternative except to dismiss the claim for lack of
jurisdiction to address the merits
of
the claim.
AWARD
Claim dismissed.
ORDER
This Board, after consideration of the dispute identified above, hereby orders that
an award favorable to the Claimant(s) not be made.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Third Division
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 6th day of May 1997.