ARBITRAT:CN AWARD
PJkRTIES ) Consolidated Rail Corporation
TO )
DISPUTE ) United Transportation Union
QUESTION ) The terms and conditions of. an implementing
agreement directed toward consummation of the
AT ) Consolidatod Rail Corporation's acquisition of
control, lease and operation of the property of
ISSUE ) the Detroit Terminal Railroad Company pursuant
to Interstate Commerce Commission Finance Docket
No. 29489.
DISCUSSION: Interstate Commerce Commission ("I.C.C.") Finance
Docket too. 29489, decided on March 10, 1981,
concerned the Consolidated Rail Corporation ("Carrier") acquiring-control of the Detroit Terminal Railroad Company ("Terminal
Company"). In its Decision and Order the I.C.C. prescribed
that protection for employees affected by such transaction would
be those conditions which the Cc-mission had previously imposed
in New York Dock Ry. - Control - Brooklyn Esstcrn Dist., 36'
I.C.C. 60 (19?9), now commonly referred to as "The New Yo-k
Dock Conditions."
Pursuant to conditions as imposed by the I.C.C.,
the Carrier, on behalf of itself and its wholly-owned subsidiary,
the Terminal Company, served a prescribed 90-day notice upon its
employees represented by the United Transportation Union ("~nion"
of its desire to initiate negotiations relative to the terms and
conditions of an implementing agreement directed toward consu:-Tation of the approved transaction.
The Carrier's notice of intent to negotiate the
implementing agreement was served upon the Union by the Carrier
in a letter dated April 17, 1981. On that same date, a prescribed
notice of intent was placed on employee bulletin boards to notify
the affected employees of changes the Carrier anticipated would
made on or about July 16, 1981 as a consequence of its operation
and control of the Terminal Company.
Formal negorirtions between representatives of
the Carrier and the Union commenced May 5, 1981, and continued
on various dates over a succeeding two-month period of time.
Tentative agreement was finally reached between representatives
of the parties on June 25, 1981. Final agreement was subject to
ratification by the Local Union, the Union submitting that in
accordance with its Constitution it was required to submit the
proposed agreement to the Local Union.
Subsequently, by letter dated 'July 29, 1981, the
General Chairman for the Union advised Carricr's Senior Director
of Labor Relations as followss
"Please be advised that I have not been able
to get Local Chairman J.A. Holt to agree that
the proposed agreement, which would include the
Detroit Terminal Railroad Company. into Conrail's
Consolidated Detroit Terminal, is acceptable.
'Under Article 85 of the IYTU Constitition the
General Chairman must have the concurrence of
the Local Chairman before he can sign a Local
Agreement.
'Lacking Local Chairman Holt's concurrence, I
must inform you that this matter must be placed
before an arbitration tribunal."
Upon notification of the Union's position relative
to the agreement, the Carrier instituted steps to formally invoke
the arbitration provisions of the New York Dock Conditions. Those
provisions, in pertinent part, provide as follows:
'APPENDIX III
"4. Notice and Agreement or Decision - (a)
Each railroad contemp sting a transaction which
is subject to these conditions and may cause the
dismissal or Zisplacement of any employees, or
rearrangement of forces, shall give at least
ninety (90) days written notice ........
'Within five (5) days from the date of receipt
of notice .... a place shall be selected to hold negotiations ....and these negotiations shall commence immediately
thereafter .... If at the end of thirty (30) days there
is a failure to agree, either party to the dispute may
submit it for adjustment in accordance with the following procedures:
"(1,) Within five (5) days from the
request for arbitration the parties shall select
a neutral referee and in the event they are unable
to agree within said five (5) days upon the
selection of said referee then the National
Mediation Board
shall
immediately appoint a
referee.
"(2) No later than twenty (20) days after
a
referee has been designated a hearing on
the dispute shall commence.
"(3) The decision of the referee shall be
final, binding and conclusive and shall be
rendered within thirty (30) days from the
commencement of the hearing of the dispute.
'(4) The salary and expenses of the referee
shall be borne equally by the parties to the
proceeding; all other expenses shall be paid
by the party incurring them.
"(b) No change in operations, services, facilities, or
equipment shall occur until after an agreement is reached
or the decision of a referee
has
been rendered."
In implementation of the above arbitration provisions,
the parties jointly selected the undersigned to be the neutral
referee to finally
determine this
labor dispute. Formal acceptance
of selection as the neutral referee was provided the parties
by the neutral referee in a letter dated August 8, 1981.
Thereafter, a hearing on the dispute was held with
representatives of the parties to the dispute in Cleveland, Ohio,
on August 23, 1981.
An concerns the dispute, it is obvious from a reading
of the record that the designated representatives of both parties
were satisfied with the agreement they had reached on June 25,
1981. It is an agreement which appears to provide a fair and
equitable arrangement to protect employee interests in the
transaction. It is evident that all concerned were ably represented
by persons experienced in the art of negotiations and familiar
with a transaction of the type involved in this dispute.
Accordingly, on the basis of the record, written
submissions, and oral presentments by representatives of the
parties at the arbitration hearing, it will be the neutral
refere*'s determination that the terms and conditions of agreement between the parties be as set forth in Attachment I to this
Award. Except as
concerns a
few points of clarification, which
had
been explored and discussed at the arbitration hearing, this
Attachment tracks the agreement which the parties had reached in
direct negotiation.
It is to be noted for the record that Carrier
representatives stated the Union would be promptly furnished
the names of employees presently on furlough, and that those
persons so named shall be considered as protected employees in
the application of a Crew Consist Agreement which the parties
had entered into under date of September 8, 1978.
In making a decision as above in this dispute,
the neutral referee is guided by what he believes :o be a
reasonable interpretation of the mandates contained in the
I.C.C.'s Order, particularly as concerns representatives of
the parties having the principal responsibility for reaching
terms and conditions of an agreement which, as here, will
provide a fair and equitable arrangement to protect the interests
of employees affected by a transaction. Certainly, the Local
had a right to invoke its Union Constitutional privileges aid
have the matter placed in arbitration. However, it should be
recognized that regardless df the amount of time
one could
spend
in negotiating an agreement, no amount of effort will solve or
cure all individual worker or management needs or desires. The
purpose of collective representation is to entrust individual
rights with accredited representatives so as to avoid the pitfalls
of bargaining on an individual basis. Thus, the neutral referee
has placed great weight upon the fact that the representatives
for the Union had indicated acceptance of the agreement, and
that for the neutral referee to attempt to arbitrarily change that
which had been agreed to
would no
doubt only lead to further
controversy.
AWARD: By virtue of and pursuant to powers vested in
the undersigned by the Decision and Order of
The Interstate Commerce Commission in
Finance Docket
No. 29489
and the
I.C.C. imposition of labor protective conditions as
prescribed in the New York Dock
Conditions, it
is hereby decided
that the terms and conditions of an implementing agreement
directed toward consummation of the Consolidated
Rail
Corpora
tions's acquisition of control, lease and operation of the
property of the Detroit Terminal Railroad Company made pursuant
to the above Finance Docket, shall be as set forth in Attachment I
to this Award.
Robert E. Peterson
Neutral Referee
Briarcliff Manor, NY
August 24, 1981
ATTACHM._rNT I
AGREEMENT BET1WEEN THE UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION (CST), THE
CONSOLIDATED RAIL CORPORATICN (CONRAIL) AND DETROIT TERMINAL
RAILROAD COMPANY IN CONNECTION WITH CONRAIL'S ACQUISITION OF
CONTROL, LEASE AND
OPERATION
OF THE PROPERTY OF THE DETROIT
TERMINAL
RAILROAD COMPANY UNDER ARTICLE I, SECTION 4 OF THE
NEW YORK DOCK CONDITIONS PURSUANT TO
INTERSTATE C
OMMEPCE
COMMISSION ORDER IN FINANCE DOCKET N0. 29489.
I. Pending implementation of a single collective bargaining
agreement pursuant to Section 504(d) of the RRR Act, the
former New York Central Railroad Northern District Schedule
Agreement, dated November 1, 1967, including the union Shop
Agreement, and the Crew Consist Agreement, between Conrail
and the United Transportation Union will be applicable to
the former Detroit Terminal Railroad Company train service
employees. Detroit Terminal Railroad Agreements are
hereby terminated.
2. The territory of Conrail Seniority District "A" and
the "Detroit Consolidated Terminal" will be amended to
include the entire territory of the former Detroit Terminal
Railroad Company. The entire territory of the former
Detroit Terminal Railroad will be included within the
Conrail Detroit Terminal switching limits.
3. (a) On the effective date of. the Agreement the names
.of employees of the former Detroit Terminal Railroad
Company will be added to the bottom of the existing
Conrail District "A" Seniority Roster with prior
seniority rights retained in the Detroit Consolidated
Terminal subject to tho allocation of work as indicated
in Section 9 hereof.
(b) Except where a former Detroit Terminal Railroad
Company employee's seniority either as Brakeman or
Conductor has been terminated, the relative standing
determined in accordance with Paragraph 3(a) of this
Agreement shall be the employee's relative standing
both as a Brakeman and Conductor on the
ConRail
Seniority District "A" Roster and his seniority date
on such roster, both as a Brakeman and Conductor,
shall be as of the effective date of this ICC Order.
(c) Former Detroit Terminal Railroad employees who
were not promoted on their prior right seniority
district prior to the effective date of this ICC
Order, shall be eligible for promotion in accordance
with the applicable rules and practices.
(d) Former.Detroit Terminal Railroad employees given
a date as Conductor on ConRail Seniority District
"A"
Roster in accordance
with
this Agreement who were not
promoted to Conductor prior to the effective date of
this ICC Order will be entitled to exercise such
seniority when they have been promoted to Conductor
in any prior right seniority district of the appropriate
ConRail Seniority District; provided, however, that no
employee will be entitled to exercise ConRail seniority as
Conductor in any prior right seniority district in which
there are eligible prior right employees, other than those
who have properly declined promotion, who have not been
examined for promotion to Conductor in accordance with the
rules and practices applicable on such prior seniority
district.
4. Prior continuous service and qualifying years with Detroit
Termiral Railroad Company
will
h- counted in determining
vacation entitlement.
5. An employee who believes he has been adversely affected
and who files a written request with the Manager-Labor
Relations, will be furnished a written statement of the
test period earnings used to determine his average monthly
compensation and time paid for.
6. An employee as referred to in item 5 shall use the claim
form provided by the Carrier when making a claim for
benefits.
7. Upon receipt of the average monthly compensation and
time paid for, the applicable time limit on claims
rule shall apply when making claim for protective
benefits.
8. The term 'change in residence" means transfer to a
work location which is located either
(A)
outside a
radius of-30 miles of the employee's former work
location and further from his residence than was his
former work location or (B) is located more than 30
normal highway route miles from his residence and also
further from his residence than was his former work
location.
9. (a) For the purpose of allocating work and deter
mining equity
of the employees affected, CnnRail
will furnish the General Chairmen subject
hereto the engine hours operated in the combined
territory during the calendar year 1980, and a lis
of the proposed assignments to be operated in the
Detroit Consolidated Terminal.
(b)
The prior right seniority districts involved
will be assigned Job Selection Numbers based on
the equity allocation set forth in the Job
Selection List attached as Appendix "A".
(c) The General Chairmen, or their designated
representative, will be permitted to choose,
in the sequence of the job selection numbers
established in Item (b) above; the yard assignments they desire to have allocated to their
respective seniority district.
(d) The yard assignments allocated to each seniority
district in accordance with the procedures set
.forth in Items (b) and (c) above
will
be advertised
and awarded to employees of those seniority districts
in accordance with the applicable schedule agreement.
(e) A sufficient number of job selection numbers will
be assigned to each seniority district so as to
exceed the number of actual yard assignments in
the consolidated terminal.
(f) Additional yard assignments in such terminal
will be allocated to the seniority district
entitled to the next choice in accordance with
the job selection number.
(g) When a yard assignment is abolished, the General
Chairman, or his designated representative, of the
affected seniority district
will be
permitted to
choose a replacement from any of the yard assignments listed on the Job Selection List below that
of the abolished yard assignment.
In the application of this Item, the
General Chairman or his designated
representative of the affected Seniority
District may exercise his right to
select a replacement for the abolished
assignment within 72 hours computed from
the time the right of selection is
afforded or,
In lieu of selecting a replacement as
provided in option "i" he may elect
within 72 hours to hold his right of
selection in abeyance, retaining the
abolished assignment for a period not to
exceed thirty (30) calendar days and
under this Option "ii" the right of
selection shall be restricted only to
those assignments available at the time
first afforded the option to select
replacement under option "i".
(iii) If after a period of thirty (30)
calendar days
no selection is made
under Option "ii", the last assignment
on
the Job Selection List will automatically
be assigned to the affected Seniority District
failing to exercise their right of selection.
(h) Replacement yard assignments for each seniority
district affected by procedures in Item (g) above
shall be chosen by the General Chairman,.or his
designated representative of the affected seniority
district in the same manner as set forth in Item (g)
until all yard assignments have been reallocated in
numerical order on the Job Selection List.
(i) At the request of any General Chairman and/or Local
Chairman all yard assignments will be re-allocated in
accordance with this Section 9. Any such re-allocation
requests will not be made prior than the expiration of
30 days from the last complete allocation, and/or
re-allocation.
(j.) It a yard assignment is annulled for more than three (3?
consecutive working days, the effected Local Chairman
may select a replacement assignment in accordance
with
Item 9(g) above.
(k) In the application of this Item 9, job selection
shall be restricted to the respective prior right
territory to the extent possible.
(1) In
the application of this Item 9, regular independent
assignments are not a part of the allocation system
and will flow to Michigan Central, Penn Central "I",
and ConRail "A", in that order.
10. A consolidated extra list shall be established to protect
yard vacancies and extra yard service operating within the
Consolidated Terminal. Positions on the extra list
will
be advertised and awarded to the senior applicants consisten·
with their prior right seniority and the job selection list
attached as Appendix "H".
11. When prior right employees (employees in service as of the
effective date of this agreement) are required to learn new
territory as a result of the consolidations covered by this
Agreement and no member of the crew is qualified in the
territory a train service employee pilot will be furnished.
An employee, regular or extra, who stands for service will
not be deprived of the assignment account not being qualified
on the new territory.
Conrail shall determine the number of trips for which a
pilot will be furnished. The Corporation may require the
successful applicant to make paid qualifying trip or
trips prior to being assigned to a position encompassing
territory on which they are not qualified.
lZ. Prior continuous service and qualifying years with the
Detroit Terminal Railroad Company will be counted in
determining benefits due former Detroit Terminal Railroad
employees which may be legislated by Federal Law applicable
to ConRail.
13. Prior continuous service with the Detroit Terminal Railroad
Company will be counted in determining Health and Welfare
Benefits due former Detroit Terminal Railroad employees.
14. In the application of Item 3(b) of the subject agreement
former Detroit Terminal Railroad Company employees who
have been dismissed from service and are subsequently
reinstated to service under Railway Labor Act appeal
procedures shall have their names restored to the ConRail
Roster in their proper standing.
15. Where a prior right employee (an employee of ConRail or
Detroit Terminal Railroad as of the effective date of
this agreement) must travel a greater distance from his
home to a position off his prior right territory within
the consolidated terminal, he will be compensated at
prevailing automobile mileage rate for the additional
miles.
4,6. Furloughed men from each prior right group will be
re-called in order of their standing in their respective
group to fill prior right assignments (regular or extra)
belonging to their prior right group.
17. This agreement
will
become effective upon five C5) day's
notice to the United Transportation Union.
AT""NCHMENT 'A'
UTU(C&T)
Detroit
Consolidated Terminal
Pursuant
to I.C.C.
Finance
Docket 29489
(Conrail Acquisition of OTRR)
1980 Engine Hours
Conrail
14-
044
89.41
Conrail
DTRR
16,956
10.6%
NYC-Michigan CentraI - 901
PRR - 101
rro
t
Job Selection List
Job
Selection
Number
Total
160,000
1001
Seniority
District Job
CR-HC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
DTRR
CR-PRR
CR-MC
CR-mC
CR-MC
C R-!i C
C R-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
DTRR
CR-rC
C R-.P R R
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-HC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
DTRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-HC
CR-PR
Job
Selection
Number
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
·6
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
so
ten lority
District
CR-MC
fR-MC
R-MC
CR-MC
DTRR
CR-HC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-PRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
C R-MC
DTRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-PRR
CR-1":C
DTRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
C R-.h C
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-PRR
DTRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-!:C
DTRR
CR; MC
CR-PRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
Pass
Job
ATTDI-HMEV;' '3'
(Conso a t ed Extra L: s
L )
UTU(CZT)
Detroit Consolidated Terminal
Pursuant to I.C.C. Finance
Docket 29489
(Conrail Acquisition of D.T.R.R.
1980 Man Hours
Conrail DTRR Total
468,750.0 50,926 519,676
90.21 9.81 1001
Conrail
NYC - Michigan Central = 911 425.836.8 hrs.
PRR · 1 42r~ hrs.
1001 468,750.0
hrs.
JOB SELECTION LIST
Job
Selection Seniority
Number District Name
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11.
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
DTRR
PRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
C R-MC
CR-MC
CR-HC
CR-HC
C R-MC
DTRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
PRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
DTRk
CR-MC
Job
Selection
Humber
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54.
55
56
57
58
59
60
SenirotiY
District
CR-MC
CR-HC
CR-MC
CR-PRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
C R-MC
CR-MC
DTRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-PRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
OTRR
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-t!C
CR-MC
C R-MC
CR-MC
CR-MC
CR-PRR
CR-MC
oTRR
C R- HC
CR-MC
CR-MC
402-
Job
NOTEt To the extent necessary, the above Job Selection List
is,to'be carried out to Job Selection Number 100 before the
Job Selection List is, again repeated.