SPECIAL BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT N0. 605
PARTIES ) Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks,
TO ) Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees
DISPUTE ) and
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company
QUESTIONS
AT ISSUE: (1)Did the February 7, 1965 Agreement supersede and
abrogate the provisions of the Memorandum of Agree
ment dated April 19, 1960 known as the 'One-man
Station Agreement'?
(2) Did those certain changes made by the Carrier at
Ortonville, Minnesota effective on March 15, 1966
constitute technological, operational and/or
organizational changes under the provisions of
Article III of the February 7, 1965 Agreement?
(3) Did the Carrier violate Article III and VI of the
February 7, 1965 Agreement when in instituting
certain changes' at Ortonville, Minnesota it trans
ferred the station clerical work to an employee
of
another craft, represented by another labor
organization?
(4) Shall the Carrier be required to return the station
clerical work .at Ortonville, Minnesota to employees
within the scope and application of the Clerks'
Agreement?
(5) Shall the Carrier be required to compensate employee
D. A. Witte, for wage losses suffered on and after
March 15, 1966 and afford him full allowance and
benefits of the February 7, 1965 Agreement because
of the changes instituted at Ortonville, Minnesota?
OPINION
OF BOARD: Effective March 15, 1966, Clerk Position No. 6716, at
Ortonville, Minnesota, was abolished and the work was
transferred to the Agent, an employee of another craft.
The Carrier declined the Organization's claim on the ground
that its action was supported by the "One Man Station Agreement", which,
in effect, was not abolished by Article VI, Section 1, of the February 7,
1965 National Agreement. It is the Carrier's-contention that the "One
Man Station Agreement" of April 19, 1960, does not constitute a "job
protection or employment Security agreement" of the type
referred to in
Award
110.
120
-2- Case No. CL-44-W
Section 1 of Article VI. It, further, insists that such "One Man Station
Agreement" continues in effect and will continue until cancelled. The
organization, on the other hand, argues that the "One I-Lan Station Agreement" is a job protection and employment security agreement which pursuant
to Article VI, Section 1, could have been preserved by notifying the
Carrier within sixty days of the execution of the National Agreement.
However, such preservation notice was never served on the Carrier and, -
therefore, it was abrogated and superseded by the National Agreement.
The Carrier's basis for its contention that the National
Agreement did not supersede the local agreement rests on two grounds.
Pursuant to Article VI, Section 1, the first condition contemplates a job
protection or employment security agreement which by its terms is of
general system-wide and continuing application. In this regard, the local
agreement is not a system-wide agreement, inasmuch as it has applicability
only on Carrier's Lines East. The second condition stated therein, provides that if it does not have general system-wide application, is one
which by
its terms would apply in the future. Apropos this contention,
the Carrier disputes the fact that the local agreement can be construed as
applicable in the future since it is subject to a thirty days written
cancellation notice.
We are not entirely convinced whether the latter argument
was premised as a jest or predicated on naivete. If the Carrier's defense
is to be taken seriously, then only eagreements which are executed in perpetuity would conform to this requirement. Under the Carrier's interpretation,
any future agreement, if it contained a cancellation clause, would not-conform to the requirement spelled out in Article VI, Section 1. We do not
believe it necessary to belabor this point any further.
Is a "One Man Station Agreement" a job protection or employment security agreement? Without.a scintilla of doubt: Does the instant
"One Man Station Agreement" apply in the future, despite the proviso
for a thirty day cancellation clause? Of course: Did the organization
representative preserve the local agreement by notifying the Carrier
within sixty days? Unquestionably not: Hence, did the February 7, 1965
National Agreement supersede the "One Man Station Agreement"? The answer
is a simple yes. In this regard, we would also incorporate by reference
our analysis in Award No. 21.
Award
Answer to questions (1) , (2) , (3) , (4) and (5) is in the
affirmative.
::GCll~t
Murr y M. Rohman
N tra1 Member
Dated: Washington, D.C.
August 7, 1969