PARTIES Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes
 TO
 DISPUTE : and
 The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
 STATEMENT Carrier violated Rule 12(e) when it failed to -allow
 OF Carpenter R. E. McGinnis to exercise his seniority
 to Class "A" Operator on January 2, 1979. He
 should be granted the said seniority rights on
 Buffalo Division--South End, effective October 5,
 1977.
 FINDINGS : Claimant was off sick from August 25, 1977 until
 January 2, 1979. In his absence, a Class "A" Oper
 ator-Shield Bantan Crane position was advertised
 on October 5, 1977 and awarded to Carpenter Helper
 Bortmes on October 18, 1977.
 When he returned to duty, claimant attempted to -
 displace Bortmes. Since he had no machine operator seniority,
 however, his application was rejected. In Petitioner's view,
 claimant should have been permitted to exercise seniority under
 Rule 12(e) which reads as follows:



"(e) An employee returning after leave of absence or absence due to sickness may return to his former position or, may, upon return or within ten (10) days thereafter, exercise displacement rights on any position bulletined during his absence. If his former position has been abolished, or if it has been permanently filed by a senior employee, the returning employee may displace any junior employee in his own or lower rank, provided such right is asserted within ten (10) days after his return. An employee furloughed while absent on vacation will have the same displacement rights within ten (10) days after his return." Under the provision of the rule just quoted, claimant was entitled to exercise his seniority to any carpenter position bulletined during his absence or to his former position. It was not his right, however, to displace incumbents of positions in classifications in which claimant held no seniority. His seniority was in the Bridge and Building Forces classification, not in the Equipment Operator classification. Rule 12(e) is limited by Rules 2 and 4 which provide as follows: "Rule 2 Seniority

              "(a) Seniority in the class in which

              employed and in all lower classes be

              gins on the date the employee last en

              tered the service of the Maintenance

              of Way Department, except that employ

              ees who take temporary employment in some

              other department or outside concern dur

              ing period of furlough will not break the

              continuity of their seniority, provided

              they comply with the requirements of

              Rule 44.

                                        PLB No. 2778 AWARD No. 33 Case No. 25


              "(b) Employees who are promoted from

              a lower to a higher rank in a class

              will establish seniority in such higher

              rank as of the date they are awarded

              bulletined temporary or permanent posi

              tions, except an employee awarded a posi

              tion he has been filling on a temporary

              basis before or pending bulletin will es

              tablish seniority from the date he started

              to fill the position..."


              "Rule 4 Limits of Seniority


              "Seniority rights of all employees are confined to the subdepartment in which employed."


              Claimant did not have the right to displace a


Class "A" Operator and his claim must be denied.

 AWARD: Claim denied.
              Adopted at Baltimore, Md. /d~ 1984.

              - ~1

                            1<7

    Ha d M. Weston, Chairman

    Carrier Member Employeember