PUBLIC LAW BOARD N0, 1$38
Parties Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees

 to

 Dispute

 Statement
 of
 Claim

 and

 Norfolk and Western


MW-WI-78-19 -

 MW-WI-78-20 -

 MW-WI-78-21 -

 MW-WI-78-22 -

 Award No. 54


Railway Company

 on behalf of:
 McGuire, Second Grade Carpenter
 Cochran, Second Grade Carpenter
 Rasnake, Carpenter Helper
 Kitts, Cook
 Cecil, Carpenter
 Lowe, Second Grade Carpenter
 Ritchie, First Grade Carpenter
 Perry, Carpenter
 Belcher, Carpenter

 Claim on behalf of:

 J. A. Wilson, Painter
 C. F. Clay, Painter
 C. Blakeley., Painter

 Claim on behalf of:

 W. A. Mitchell, Mason Cook
 J. H. Stevenson, Mason Helper
 R. A. Ball., Second Class Carpenter
 C. E. Hoops, Second Class Carpenter
 T. Daniels, Mason Helper
 G. Jessee, Jr., Mason
 S. G. Evans., Mason Foreman
 G. F. Fife, Mason Helper
 J. B. Robinette, First Class Carpenter

 Claim on behalf of:

 K. Goins, Third Rate Carpenter
 D. K. Matney, Mason

 Claim on behalf of:

 C. H. Kitts, Carpenter
 M. G. Thompson, Carpenter
 Award No. 54 -'PLB 1838
 Page 2
 Findings The Board, after hearing upon the whole record and all
 evidence, finds that the parties herein are Carrier
 and Employee within the meaning of the Railway Labor
 Act, as amended, that this Board is duly constituted
 by Agreement dated March 1, 1976, that it has jurisdiction
 of the parties and the subject matter, and that the
 parties were given due notice of the hearing held.
 The instant five disputes involve some twenty-five Claimants
 who were employed on.Carrierts Focohontas Division.
 They were members of Carpenter, Mason or Paint Gangs
 performing essentially maintenance work within their
 various work classifications. Said Claimants were furloughed
 as a result of a protracted strike in the coal industry
 occurring between December 1977 and March 1978 which
 had caused a strong decline in Carrier's business and
 a loss of approximately 104 million dollars in revenue
 to Carrier.
 Carrier's yard and terminal facility located at Williamson,
 West Virginia, was completely inundated by a major flood
 of the Tug River in April of said T977. Said flood
 caused extreme damage to the buildings and trackage
 in the area. As a result thereof it became necessary
 to replace the heating systems in most of the buildings
 in Williamson Yard. Hence, since company forces did
 not possess the skills or expertise to accomplish a
 project of this magnitude, the Mechanical Construction
 Company of Cbillicothe, Ohio, was engaged to install
 Award No. 54 - PLB 1838 Page 3 the new heating system.

 The organization, other than asserting that "holes were drilled through the roof on the river side of the roundhouse for brackets to carry pipe for the new heating system being installed", offered no indication of what precise work that they were claiming which belonged exclusively to Claimants. Further, the organization failed to stipulate what contractual provisions they were proceeding under in furtherance of their claim for three months pay for said twenty-five Claimants,

 The Board in such circumstance finds that the claims as made are too vague, indefinite and so lacking in specif icicity that they fail to state a cause of action upon which a decision could be reached. Hence, they are dismissed accordingly. See, among others, Third Division Awards 13741 (Dorsey), 19960 (Lieberman) 17740 (McCandless) 19833 (Sickles) and 20131 (Dorsey. The essence of such Awards is that the burden of establishing all of the essential elements of a claim must be met by the petitioner, that the claims must be specific and that the Carrier is under no obligation to develop the claim for the petitioner that when, as here, no data is furnished as to how Claimants were affected, nor as to what duties were performed improperly or when they were performed. The Board, in the absence of some specifics, is unable to.adjudicate the merits.

Award Claims dismissed,

 A. D. Arnett, Employee Member E. N. Jac s,Jr.Carri Member