"Claim on behalf of the General committee of the Brotherhood of :Railroad Signalmen on the CSX Transportation, Inc. (CST):

Claim on behalf of J. L. Smith, for three days at his Foreman's rate of pay, account Carrier violated the current Signalman's

A reement, particularly Rule 31, When it failed to properly notify

the Claimant that his job was abolished five days prior to the

abolishment on October 19, 2001. Carrier's File . 15(02-0055).

General Chairman's File o. T1-O1-0-02: File Case o.

12402- ."

The Third Division f the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record an all the

Parties to said dispute were given due notice of hearing thereon.

"NOTE: Information as to force reduction or abolishment o positions that occurred will be contained in bulletin to be issued by the Signal Supervisor to all employees under his jurisdiction."

"r. Smith a hake A days on the 22n and 23rd because his

job as abolished as f the 19th: The man working the position Mr,,

Smith o vacation t 22nd a could not a reac

until the 23rd.

The claim reqnested that the Claimant be paid for the time that a took to exercise his seniority after his position was abolished. Specifcally, the Organization. reqnested three aYs' pay at the Foreman's rate for "Saturday, October 20, which was a PIL day, Monday, October 22 and Tuesday, October 23."

The Carrier denied the claim noting that there was no violation of the Agreement because 6`. . . y investigation reveals that the abolishment notice (copy attached) was issued on Friday, October 12 at 3:04 p.m. and was effective close of business October 19, 2001. This is certainly within the five days notice."

In an appeal to the Carrier's highest designated officer, the General Chairman continued to assert that the Claimant "was not given the required (5) aYs notice." The General Chairman went on to note that:

" r. Smith was on VACATION, his wife was in the hospital for a very serious operation, neither the National Vacation Agreement or (sic) the (O) Agreement require that an employee on VACATION, check in to see what is going on with the Railroad or his position."

In its llnal denial the Carrier reiterated that it had complied with Rule 31() and that the Claimant had been properly Notified 'the October 19 abolishment of his position.

The Carrier's paYroll recor demonstrate that the Claimant worked o

Friday, October 12, 2001 and was compensated for his monthly-rated position (Paid n Lieu of monthly rate "IL") for Saturday, October 13, 2001. The Claimant observed two vacation days on Monday, doer 15 and Tuesday, October 16, and then worked his Foreman's position on Wednesday, October 17, Thursday, October 18 and Friday, October tat which time the assignment as abolished. The Claimant next worked n Wednesday, October 2, 1.

At the outset, it must be noted that the abolishment notice of the Claimant's position was posted in a timely fashion, and in the customary and usual manner. There is no dispute that the abolishment notice was posted on October 12, 2001 on the Automated Message System (S) under the Signal P Jobs (SIGBOJOB) to which all signal employees have access. Consequently, the "employees affected" were given "not less than five working days' advance notice" of the pending abolishment as required by Rule 31(b).

Further, the fact that incumbent Smith observed two vacation days during the advanced notice period did not require the Carrier to amend, change or alter its notification procedures with respect to Rule 31(b). In other words, Rule 31(b) does not single out the "incumbent" of the abolished position to be treated any differently with respect to the advanced notification process.

Finally, the Carrier is not obligated to compensate an employee for the time that he is absent from service while he is waiting for his exercise of seniority to take effect. In fact, Rule 31(e) details the time in which previously absent employees may exercise their displacement rights, i.e., ". . . an employee absent on leave, annual vacation or for physical disability at the time he is displaced or his position is abolished will have ten (10) days after reporting for duty in which to comply with the requirements of this paragraph." Under the circumstances, the Organization is improperly seeking payment of compensation on behalf of the Claimant while e was holding displacement from Friday, October 19, until he returned to the position e voluntarily selected on Wednesday, October 24, 2001.

AWARD