PUBLIC LAW BOARD N0. 4138
, Award .No. : 2
5~
PARTIES TO DISPUTE
STATEMENT OF CLAII
Case No.: 25
BROTHERHOOD OF MAINTENANCE OF WAY EMPLOYES
And
CSX TRANSPORTATION,,INC.
First: The Carrier violated the Agreement by calling junior
employe Jeff Leighton instead of claimant,, Swann, the senior
employe.
Second: Claimant Swann be paid 16 hours overtime and 46 hours
double time from 6:00 p.m. June 27; 1986 through 8:00 a.m. June
30, 1986;
FINDINGS
On June 27,' 1686, a major derailment occurred that inflicted extensive
track.,dam3ge neaY"Vinpmont,~AlAama. The Carrier. called in all available
,employ" ~p ~ repai',r,1tFte damage ahd restore service
Rule 30(b) provides:
Employes, who desire to be considered for calls under Rule 31,
will provide the. means by which they may be contacted,by telephone
or otherwise _'and will register their telephone number with their
for is a ry officer. 'Of."tho elso regis~ered,
eman o invheaiate superv s
calls will be made in seniority order as,the need arises.
A reasonable~effort must.be'made to contact the senior'employe so
registered, before proceeding to the next emplpye on the register.
Except,for section men living~within hailing distance of either
their foreman's living 'quarters or their tool house 'or headquarters station, and for men living
in
camp cars when they are
present at the camp cars, an employe not registered a$ above,shall
not have any claim on account of not beindworked on calls.
On the date in question, Claimant was regularly assigned as a Ballast
Regulator operator on Tie Gang SN76. June 27 was one of his regular rest
days and. he was not 'on duty. There is no dispute' that Claimant was not.!, '.'i
called in to work overtime to restore the track to operating condition., The
Carrier4isserts that the reason Claimant was not called was .that Clalimantt
had not given his phone number or registered for overtime 'as required
by
Rule 30(b). Claimant alleges that his phone number was on file with Foreman Fitzgerald,'the Rdadmaster and Assistant Roadmaster at Mt. Pleasant and the'
Mt. Pleasant operator.
In the course of progressing this claim, Foreman Fitzgerald submitted a
handwritten note, dated September 30, 1986, stating that Fitzgerald did not
have Claimant's phone number at the time he was trying to contact employes
to work overtime. Foreman Fitzgerald is a contract employe. There are
also two typewritten notes with Claimant's n2me'typed on them. One, dated
December 8, 1986, states that Claimant's phone number has been registered
with the Mt,. Pleasant operator for more 'than three years. .That statement
includes a,statemen~ dated December 5, 1986, apparently from the Mt.
Pleasant operator, that "Mr. Swann does have his phone number registered
with me." ,The,other,'also typed, attached to an Organization letter dated
October 1, 1986, states that Claimant gave his phone number to Fitzgerald on
April l,'~1986.
The issue to be resolved in this dispute is whether the Carrier
violated the Agree~ent by not calling Claimant to work overtime to remedy
the derailment; and if so, what should the remedy be.
The position of the organization is that the Carrier has violated the
Agreement by not calling Claimant to work on the derailment. The Organiza-
tion contends that it has proved Claimant was registered with his foreman,
his supervisor and the operator and therefore complied with Rule 30(b).
Having done so, the Organization maintains, he should have been called to
work the overtime. The Organization also asserts that Claimant has done'
more than is required to comply with the rule because he has registered with
the operator.
The position of, the Carrier, is that it did not violate the Agreement.by
not calling Claimant to work the derailment, because Claimant had not
complied. with the, registration requirement. of Rule 30(b'). The, Carrier ,: _
contends tha,t FiC~ge`rald's statement is more 'credibl2' because it is'handwYitten (a~;'opposed"to the typed letters 'with Claimant's name typed on
them) and because Fitzgerald:is'a contract employe and therefore lacks any
motivation to act-'against a fellow;employe's interest. Finally, the
Carrier 'maintains that since this is a -dispute involving members of the same
class of employes, the claim should be dismissed.
After review ~pf,..the entire record, the Board findsnthat the Carrier did;
not violate the Agreement.
The Organization has not sustained its burden
o£
proving that, the
Carrier violated the Agreement, because it has not,established by substantial credible evidence that Claimant was registered with his foreman or
supervisor as required by Rule 30(b). The Organization may. have shpwn that
Claimant had his phone number registered with the operator, although that is _
only as of Decembet.,1986, not necessarily in June.
Since there is no requirement of written notice in the rule, this
comes down to a matter of the foreman's word against the Claimant's. In
this matter, the foreman is not particularly persuasive. His statement;
like Claimant's statements, is made substantially after the fact. The fact
i
that Claimant's statement is typed and Fitzgerald's is handwritten does not
influence credibility in this matter, because it is pot significant or
plausible that someone besides Claimant made the written statements at- ,
tributed to him. It might even be sufficient that Claimant made a statement
to someone else lind'that person typed the statement for him. Similarly,
Fitzgerald's status as a contract employe does not remove any motive for
fabrication; had he mistakenly not notified Claimant; that would supply ,
motive enough to misrepresent
as
Co Claimant's registration.
What is's ig;Iiifi~cant, howwe,r,.is that after
review
of the record, there
is' a rpugh_balance'~in~lthe evideijce: This''is'.where "the signi£icance-~of the
burden of proof becomes important. -Since there is a balance in the evi-
.,.
~ I 38=zs
dence, that means that the Organization has not sustained its burden to
prove its case. In the absence of proving the registration of the phone
number, the Organization cannot demonstrate a violation of the Agreement.'
AWARD
Claim denied.
Neutral Member
v
Carrier Member
Orga zation ember
Date: +./L4.(' j l ~~C:
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