PARTIES TO DI
Award No. 19 Case No. 19

 Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees

 and

 CSX Transportation, Inc. (Farmer Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company)

 OF CLAIM:

 Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:

 1. The Agreement was violated when the Carrier assigned outside concern to change out rail between Mile Post OvC 283.9 and Mile Past OVC 284.0 at the Loadout Facility in Letcher County an September 26 arid 2?, 1994 System File 5(4){94}j12(95-0043) LNR].

 2. The Agreement was further violated when
 the Carrier failed to give the General

 Chairman advance written notice of its

 to contract out said work or discuss the matter in conference in good faith prier to contracting out said work as required by the May 1?, 1968 National Agreement.

 3. As a consequence of the violation
 referred to in Parts (1) and/or (2) above,
 Foreman W.C. Witt, Backhoe Operator A.F.
 Combs, Truck Driver R. Jones, Jr., Track
 Repairmen J.K. Noble and H.H. Williams,
 Welder G.R. Buckner and Welder Helper R.A.
 Meadows shall each be allowed sixteen (16)
 hours' pay at their respective straight time
 rates,

 intent

 FINDINGS:

 This Board, upon the whale record and and holds as follows:

 of the evidence, finds

 1. That the Carrier and the Employees involved in this dispute are, respectively, Carrier and Employees within the
 meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as amended,; and

 Board has jurisdiction over this dispute.

 OPINION Off' THE BOARD
The record indicates that outside forces performed the disputed work. The Carrier relied on an alleged lease as an affirmative defense to the organization's assertion that the Claimants should have received the assignment of such alleged scope covered work and that the Carrier had an obligation to furnish advance notice to the organization of the assignment.

 One of the Claimants, J.K. Noble, acknowledged in a letter, dated December 12, 1994, that the Kentucky May Coal Company had operated in the relevant area. In the absence of any persuasive evidence that the Organization had sought any additional evidence of a lease between the Carrier and the Kentucky May Coal Company, the Carrier provided sufficient evidence to sustain its affirmative defense that a lease existed for the applicable area. As a result, the Organization lacked a contractual right to hold the Carrier responsible for the performance of the disputed work or for the failure of the Carrier to provide advance written notice of the performance of such work by outside forces for the Kentucky May Coal Company.

 As a consequence, no basis exists to award compensation to the Claimants.

 The Claim is denied in accordance with the Opinion of the Board.

Robert L. Dou4ias

Chairman and Neutral Member


D nald I-w. Bartholom Patricia A.' Madden
 Employee\$mber Carrier Member