Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION
Award No. 35196
Docket No. CL-35403
00-3-99-3-280
The Third Division consisted of the regular members and in addition Referee
Elizabeth C. Wesman when award was rendered.
(Transportation Communications International Union
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
"Claim of the System Committee of the Organization (GL-12333) that:
1. Claim of the System Committee of the TCU (AM999):
(a) In behalf of Claimant L. Jones account the Carrier
violated the National Railroad Passenger Corporation
(Amtrak) Clerks' Rules Agreement particularly Rules
2, 7, 14 and other rules, as amended by the September
2, 1994 Agreement when it failed to properly call and
work Claimant on December 4,1997 at the Rochester
Station, Rochester, NY. Claimant was available for
work at this Station on first shift from 7:30 a.m. to
4:00 p.m. and Mr. Jones was not properly called for
this position on first shift as baggage person/ticket
clerk. He was the senior available employee and the
Supervisor passed him by, and used a junior
employee. Mr. Jones should have been called in
accordance with the provisions of Rule 14 and was
available for this Baggage position. Supervisor
Muscat offered this overtime to junior clerk Perry on
December 3, 1997 and did not blank employee Vair's
vacancy.
(b) Claimant L. Jones now be allowed eight (8) hours pay
at the appropriate punitive rate for December 4,1997
for this violation of his seniority rights. Claimant was
Form 1 Award No. 35196
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00-3-99-3-280
senior available employee, should have been properly
called and worked, was available and did not receive
a proper call.
(c) This Claim is presented in accordance with Rule 25
and should be allowed.
II. Claim of the System Committee of the TCU (AM999):
(a) In behalf of Claimant L. Jones account the Carrier
violated the National Railroad Passenger Corporation
(Amtrak) Clerks' Rules Agreement particularly Rules
2, 7, 14 and other rules, as amended by the September
2, 1994 Agreement when it failed to properly call and
work Claimant on January 1, 1998 at the Depew
Station, Buffalo, NY. Claimant was available for
work at this Station on third shift from 11 p.m. to 8:00
a.m. and Mr. Jones was not properly called for this
position on the third shift as mail/baggage clerk. He
was the senior available employee and the Supervisor
passed him by, and used a junior employee. Mr. Jones
should have been called in accordance with the
provisions of Rule 14 and was available for this
Baggage position. Supervisor Muscat offered this
overtime to unavailable clerk Tudor. On January 1,
1998 clerk Tudor owned position at Niagara Falls
from 3:00 p.m. to 12 midnight and was paid
accordingly for this position.
(b) Claimant L. Jones now be allowed eight (8) hours pay
at the appropriate punitive rate for January 1, 1998
for this violation of his seniority rights. Claimant was
senior available employee, should have been properly
called and worked, was available and did not receive
a proper call.
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(c) This claim is presented in accordance with Rule 25
and should be allowed."
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.
Parties to said dispute were given due notice of hearing thereon.
On the dates of the incidents for which the Organization has filed a claim on
behalf of L. Jones against the Carrier for an alleged violation of the Agreement, the
Claimant was assigned to a regular Ticket Clerk position at Rochester, New York, with
assigned hours of 11:30 P.M. to 8:00 A.M. and rest days of Wednesday and Thursday.
On Thursday, December 4, 1997, the incumbent Ticket Clerk at Rochester, New York,
whose regular hours are from 7:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., marked off sick. Baggageman
M. Perry, an employee junior to the Claimant, was held over one hour past his normal
quitting time to work a baggage train that was running late.
On Thursday, January 1, 1998, Ticket Clerk Tudor, who is senior to the
Claimant, was available to work overtime due to the blanking of his regular position at
Niagara Falls, New York, because of the holiday. On that date the 11:30 P.M. to 8:00
A.M. mail/baggage position at Buffalo, New York, became vacant when the assigned
Baggageman marked off sick. Tudor, who is senior to the Claimant was called at the
overtime rate to work the position. The Organization alleges that the Claimant should
have been called on both of these occasions. On December 30, 1997, and January 5,
1998, the Organization filed claims, which were denied by Supervisor D. S. Muscat on
February 26, and March 4, 1998. Subsequent appeals were denied as well.
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The Organization alleges that a short vacancy existed on the two dates in
question, which it asserts that, according to the guidelines in RULE 7 - SHORT
VACANCIES, should have accrued to the Claimant. Additionally, the Organization
asserts that RULE 14 - OVERTIME and ARTICLE VI OVERTIME, indicate the
overtime work should have accrued to the Claimant.
The Carrier contends that the Claimant did not have the demand right to the
overtime work, and he did not suffer any lost wages, and that he is not entitled to any
additional pay. It also contends that no "short vacancies" under the meaning of the
Agreement existed. The Carrier asserts that M. Perry was not asked to perform work
which would have accrued to a Ticket Clerk position, and that the Claimant is not
regularly assigned to this particular job category at this location. Additionally, the
Carrier contends that Tudor is senior to the Claimant and was rightfully assigned the
overtime work on January 1, 1998. Further, it is the Carrier's position that decisions
regarding the assignment of work, the determination of the necessity for overtime and
the desirability of either blanking or filling positions are, and always have been, a
prerogative of management on Amtrak's property.
Upon a review of the record in this case, we find that the Organization has failed
to refute the Carrier's position. It has not shown that "short vacancies" existed, nor that
the Claimant was, in fact entitled to be called in lieu of the employees actually used by
the Carrier for the work in question.
AWARD
Claim denied.
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 20th day of December, 2000.