The Third Division consisted of the regular members and in addition Referee Gerald E. Wallin when award was rendered.
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.
Although the Claimant requested and was granted a Referee Hearing before the Board, he did not make a personal appearance at the scheduled time and place despite having been mailed two letters of notification. Form 1 Award No. 38844
The Claimant was issued a notice of disqualification on March 18, 2003 that contained the following two paragraphs:
The listing of copy recipients shows that the Claimant's Organization representative also received a copy of the notice.
No claim or grievance was fled by the Claimant pursuant to Rule 49, nor was an Unjust Treatment Hearing requested pursuant to Rule 52 to challenge the disqualification. Both of these Rules establish a 30-day riling time limit from the date of occurrence or cause of the complaint in which to take such action.
However, the Claimant requested that the notice of disqualification be removed from his personnel file by letter dated December 15, 2003. From the context of his letter, it appears that the Claimant had reviewed his file sometime in December 2003 and was reminded of the existence of the disqualification notice.
In its Submission, the Carrier objected to our consideration of the merits of the claim on the basis of the Claimant's failure to timely comply with the requirements of either Rule 49 or 52.
It is well settled that claims must be submitted in accordance with the applicable Agreement and handled thereafter in the usual and customary manner on the property. If such claims are not so submitted and handled, then we do not Form 1 Award No. 38844
gain jurisdiction to consider them on their merits. Such is the case here. The record does not establish that the instant dispute was properly submitted and handled in accordance with the applicable procedural requirements. Therefore, we do not have jurisdiction to review it. As a result, we must dismiss it.
This Board, after consideration of the dispute identified above, hereby orders that an Award favorable to the Claimant(s) not be made.