Form 1

NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION

Award No. 33622
Docket No. MW-32348
99-3-95-3-180

The Third Division consisted of the regular members and in addition Referee Martin H. Malin when award was rendered.

PARTIES TO DISPUTE :

STATEMENT OF CLAIM :

(Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes

(Consolidated Rail Corporation

"Claim on behalf of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:

(1) The Agreement was violated when the Carrier failed to permit




(2) As a consequence of the violation referred to in Part (1) above, Mr. A.








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.

This Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved

herein.
Form 1
Page 2



On August 9, 1993, the Claimant attempted to displace a junior employee from a Machine Operator Class 2 position operating a backhoe. The Claimant did not have a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) certification, also known on the property as a ConRail certification. Because FHWA certification was one of the qualifications for the position, the Carrier refused to allow the Claimant to displace the junior employee.


The Carrier contends that it properly denied the Claimant's request to displace because the Claimant was not qualified for the position. The Organization argues, however, that the Carrier was responsible for certifying the Claimant and that the Carrier may not rely on the Claimant's lack of FHWA certification when that resulted from the Carrier's own inaction.


Award No. 33622 `r
Docket No. MW-32348
99-3-95-3-180

r

We have reviewed the record carefully. Apart from naked assertions, we find no evidence regarding the steps that the Claimant took to become FHWA certified. We also find no evidence of what the Carrier did, or failed to do, that inhibited the Claimant from becoming FHWA certified. The Organization's assertions that the Carrier prevented the Claimant from becoming FHWA certified are not evidence. Absent evidence to support the assertions, we must deny the claim.


AWARD

Claim denied.

ORDER

This Board, after consideration of the dispute identified above, hereby orders that an Award favorable to the Claimants) not be made.

NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Third Division

Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 16th day of November 1999.