PARTIES ) Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union
 TO ) and
 DISPUTE ) Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company
 QUESTION
 AT ISSUE: The question at issue is where a protected employee is unavailable
 for service within the meaning of the Agreement, can a Carrier,
 pursuant to Article IV, Section 2, deduct from the employee's
 guaranteed compensation an amount in excess of the actual time
 lost because of his unavailability?
 OPINION
 OF BOARD: Claimant, a protected employe, was employed as a waiter. His guaranteed
 monthly compensation is $486.71. On March 7, 1966, he advised Carrier
 that he would not be available to work for a brief period due to a death
 in the family. On March 12, 1966, Claimant called Carrier and advised
 of his availability.
 Because of his unavailability Claimant missed a call to be assigned as a
 waiter on Train No. 3 out of Chicago. Carrier deducted $162.16 from
 Claimant's monthly compensation contending that this was the amount he
 would have earned had he been available for service. The OrgsnIzation
 asserts that under the provisions of Article IV, Section 2 it is not the
 compensation that could have been earned but rather the period of time
 (in this case, four days) that should be used in computing the deduction.
 The pertinent parts of Article IV, Section 2 read:
 "If his compensation in his current employment is
 less . . . than his average base period compensation . . .
 he shall be paid the difference less compensation for any
 time lost on account of voluntary absences to the extent
 he is not available for service equivalent to his average
 time paid for during the base period, . . ." (Underscoring
 added.)
 It is clear from the foregoing that the amount to be deducted is not based
 on compensation Claimant would have earned, but rather a deduction (for
 voluntary absences) "equivalent to his average time paid for." This
 necessarily is computed on the period of time during which Claimant was
 not available.
 AWARD