PUBLIC LAW BOARD NO. 5483 .
PARTIES UNITED TRANSPORTATTON UNION )
' ) AWARD NO. 29
TO AND ' )
CASE NO. 29
DISPUTE PADUCAH & LOUISVILLE RAILWAY, INC. )
STATEMENT OF CLAIM-
Claim of Conductor J. W. Cochran, Paducah, KY for payment of three (3)
hour's pay at the pro-rata rate of Road Switcher daily rate, on the date of
January 7, 4996, account required to perform work of another craft: _
HISTORY OF DISPUTE:. - .
On Sunday, January 7; 1996 Claimant was working as Conductor on a three-man .
road switcher crew. On this Carrier road switcher crews perform yard work. When the
crew arrived for work at the Paducah, Kentucky Yard at 7:00 a.m. the Trainmaster, who
arrived at work at the same time, directed the crew to remove snow from switches in the
yard. At that time there were no maintenance of way employees, who normally would
have performed such work, in the yard. The crew complied with the Trainmaster's
instructions removing snow from twenty-five switches in the yard between 7:00 a.m. and
9:30 a.m. Maintenance of way employees arrived in the yard at 9:30 a.m., but by that
time snow had been removed from alt switches.
The claim,in this case followed. The Carrier denied the claim. The Organization
appealed the denial to the highest officer of the Carrier designated
to
handle such
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disputes. However, the dispute remains unresolved, and it is before this Board for final
and binding determination. -
FINDINGS:
The Board upon the whole record and all the evidence finds that the employees
and the Carrier are employees and Carrier within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act,
as amended, 45 U.S.C. §§ 151, et The Board also finds it has jurisdiction to decide
the dispute in this case. The Board further finds that the parties to the dispute, including
Claimant, were given due notice of the hearing in this case.
The Organization bases this claim upon the theory that the work performed by
Claimant and his crew clearing snow from yard switches on the claim date was work
normally belonging to the maintenance of way employees who were called and reported
to service only after the Carrier's Chief Transportation Officer overruled the
Trainmaster's decision not to call such employees. The fact that the maintenance of way
employees were called, argues the Organization, plainly demonstrates that the work
belonged to those employees. Citing arbitral authority, the Organization emphasizes that
the appropriate remedy in a case such as this is a day's pay but thafthe claim in this case
seeks only three hours, the actual time consumed cleaning the switches.
The Carrier argues that Claimant and his crew did nothing more than clean
switches incidental to their yard duties. Also citing arbitral authority, the Carrier
contends that in such circumstance no additional pay is due.
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The record in this case is determinative of the claim herein. A national weather
service report gates that from midnight to 6:00 a.m. on January 6, 1996 four inches of
snow fell in the Paducah area, only a trace of new snow fell in the twenty-four hour
period between 6:00 am. January 6 and 6:00 a.m. January 7 and four inches was still on
the ground at 6:00 am. on January 7. At 7:00 a.m. on January 7 the Trainmaster
instructed Claimant and his crew to clean all switches in the yard which they would use
in connection with their work. Claimant states, without contradiction by the Carrier, that
maintenance of way employees or section men were not called to duty in the yard unfit
after 7:00 a.m. on January 7 by the Carrier's Chief Transportation Officer who essentially
overruled the Trainmaster's decision not to call such employees to work. The record also
indicates that by calling maintenance. of way employees to work in the yard on January 7,
the Carrier was obligated to pay those employees overtime which it was not obligated to
pay Claimant and his crew for performing the disputed work in this case.
Neither party to this dispute has cited any on-property arbitral authority to this
Board. However, we find the arbitral authorities cited by the Organization far more
persuasive than those cited by the Carrier.
Award No. 21 of Public Law Board No. 4857, Oct 20, 1992 (Harris, Neutral)
involved a claim similar to the one in this case. The Board noted that while the clearing
of a minor obstruction from a switch by a trainman is work incidental to his normal -
duties, ". . . where there is a substantial amount of work involved in clearing the switch,
that work has not historically been done by trainmen, but rather by track employees
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usually represented by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees." Thus, the
rule appears to be that where cleaning snow or other obstructions from switches involves
substantial rather than minor
effort, such
work belongs to maintenance of way or section
employees rather than to trainmen. There is no indication that the rule on this property is
any different.
Award No. 16 of Public Law Board No. 5437, Jul. 12, 1995 (Fisher, Neutral)
involving a Carrier whose operations are very similar to those of the Carrier in this case
addressed a claim involving virtually identical facts as the one in this case. Citing Award
No. 21 of Public Law Board No. 4857 the Board sustained the claim. We are persuaded
that the same result 'should obtain here.
We have reviewed the arbitral authorities cited by the Carrier in this case. We find
them distinguishable from the instant case on the facts as well as the rules involved.
The claim in this case seeks only three hours pay at the pro-rata rate for the work
actually performed by Claimant in clearing snow from the yard switches on the claim
date. In Award No. 16 Public Law Board No. 5437 upheld a claim for a day's pay under
facts virtually identical to the instant case. Accordingly, we believe the claim here for
three hours pay is justified.
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DATED:
AWARD
Claim sustained.
The Carrier will make this award effective within thirty days of the date hereof.
William E. Fredenberger, Jr.
Chairman and Neutral Member
B. R Wigent
Employee Member