Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION
Award No. 32765
Docket No. CL-33676
98-3-97-3-148
The Third Division consisted of the regular members and in addition Referee
John C. Fletcher when award was rendered.
(Transportation Communications International Union
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
"Claim of the System Committee of the Organization (GL-11706) that:
1. The Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Company violated the Rules
Agreement effective April 15, 1972, as amended, when it allows
and/or permits employes of another Carrier not coming under the
Scope of the TCU Agreement to perform work (duties and
responsibilities relevant to officer's payroll) which have historically
and by agreement been assigned to the clerical employes on the
Houston Belt & Terminal Railway.
2. Carrier shall now be required to compensate clerical employee
Freda R. Edwards for eight (8) hours pay at the straight time rate
of 5129.28 per day, subject to general increases and COLA,
commencing January 1, 1996, and continuing until such time as
claim is settled and the work in question returned."
FINDINGS:
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.
Form 1 Award No. 32765
Page 2 Docket No. CL-33676
98-3-97-3-148
This Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved
herein.
Parties to said dispute were given due notice of hearing thereon.
For many years certain of Carrier's payroll functions were supported on site
through a software contract with, first, the Data Processing Department of the Missour
Pacific Railroad Company ("MP"), next, the Union Pacific Railroad ("UP"), and then
Union Pacific Technology ("UPI"). Effective January 1, 1996, Carrier changed
vendors, it contracted with Automated Data Processing ("ADP") to do its payroll
accounting, and its contract with UPT was terminated. ADP uses state-of-the-art
software that streamlined and eliminated several incidental tasks that had been assigned
to Carrier's Clerical employees. One of the functions that was eliminated was the
manual preparation of the Company Officers payroll - 13 paychecks twice a month. The
Organization contends that having the work associated with this task now performed by
employees not subject to its Agreement is a violation of its "Positions or Work" Scope
Rule.
This Board is mindful of the line of Awards that hold that under a Positions or
Work Scope Rule, Carrier is proscribed from having work subject to the Agreement
transferred to outsiders, strangers not subject to the Agreement. The facts in this case,
though, do not support a showing that any work previously performed by Clerks is now
being performed by individuals not subject to the Agreement. Instead, what is apparent
is that certain functions have been eliminated through the use of sophisticated software.
The elimination of work by computer technology is not a transfer of work to strangers
to the Agreement.
The claim is without merit. It will be denied.
AWARD
Claim denied.
Form 1 Award No. 32765
Page 3 Docket No. CL-33676
98-3-97-3-148
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 23rd day of September 1998.