PARTIES Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees
 TO
 DISPUTE : and
 Seaboard System Railroad <L & to tut)
 STATEMENT Dismissal of Trackman V. W. Mason was without
 OF
 CLAIM : just cause and is excessive. He is entitled to
 reinstatement with seniority and all other rights
 unimpaired and to back pay.
 FINDINGS : Claimant was absent from work April 26, 27, 28,
 29 and 30, 1982. On May 3 he presented his fore
 ` man with a doctor's statement stating that he
 had been treated on April 26 and "should be able
 to return to work 4/27/82 with medication."
 His absences after April 26 support Carrier's
 conclusion that discipline is warranted in this case. It is an
 important obligation of every employee to provide steady service.
 Claimant's excuses for his absences and failure to notify the proper
 authority are unpersuasive.
 In determining the measure of discipline, it was not inappropriate for Carrier to take claimant's prior record into consideration. That record shows that clai4nant had been given
-3~3-$wp `1 b
    repeated formal warnings and disciplined as the result of his excessive absences in 1977, 1978 and 1981.

    In this setting, no valid ground is perceived for reversing Carrier's decision to dismiss claimant.


    AWARD: Claim denied.


                  Adopted at Jacksonville, Florida, A_ftc)4A~- h~ 1984.


                  Harol M: Weston`,_~ Chairman


Employe Me ber

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