SPECIAL BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT 1110
Award No. 109
Case No. 109
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees
and
CSX Transportation, Inc. (former Louisville and
Nashville Railroad Company)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:
1. The Agreement was violated when the Carrier assigned a
Trainmaster and Operating Department employes to perform
Maintenance of Way work (switch repair) at Mile Post 386.5
in the Boyles Yard at Birmingham, Alabama on February 2 and
3, 1998 to the exclusion of Foreman P. D. Blackwood and
Track Repairmen H. Hunter and M. L. Munn [System File
17(3)(98)/12(98-1124) LNRj.
2. As a consequence of the violation referred to in Part
(1) above, "Mr. Blackwood and Mr. Munn should be paid 2
hours and 40 minutes overtime each for February 2, 1998 at
their respective rates of pay. Mr. Blackwood and Mr. Hunter
should be paid 2 hours and 40 minutes each for February 3,
1998 at their respective rates of pay. ***"
FINDINGS:
This Board, upon the whole record and all of the evidence, finds
and holds as follows:
1. That the Carrier and the Employee involved in this
dispute are, respectively, Carrier and Employee within the
meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as amended,; and
2. That the Board has jurisdiction over this dispute.
OPINION OF THE BOARD:
This dispute involves an allegation about the performance of
scope covered work by Trainmaster and Operating Department
employees, who did not possess active seniority under the
Agreement in the Track Subdepartment.
A careful review of the record indicates that the first disputed
work occurred between 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m. on February 2,
1
S$A 1110
A Lod 109
1998 after a "run through" to a switch in a departure yard. The
parties do not dispute that a "run through" makes switches unsafe
and requires remedial action before trains may safely continue to
operate in the particular area.
The record further reveals that the second disputed work occurred
between 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m. on February 3, 1998 and
involved minor adjustments to a switch to enable the use of the
lead track without any reverse movements.
In both instances covered employees performed the proper repairs
shortly after the Trainmaster and Operating Department employees
had done the disputed work.
The Third Division addressed a similar situation between the same
parties and reasoned, in pertinent part, that:
We find that the work performed by the
Trainmaster was de minimis and incidental to
his job duties. See Third Division Awards
10703 and 2392, the latter of which reads, in
part, as follows:
The Board recognizes the necessity
of protecting the work of signalmen
as it does any other group under a
collective bargaining agreement.
but this does not mean that the
simple and ordinary work that is
somewhat incidental to any position
or job and requiring little time to
perform, cannot be performed as a
routine matter without violating
the current Agreement.
The contentions of the organization
attempt to draw too fine a line and
tend to inject too much rigidity
into railroad operation when a
reasonable amount of flexibility is
essential to the welfare of both
the employees and the carrier.
(Award No. 30968 at 2 (July 26, 1995) (Benn, Referee).)
Similar facts exist under the precise circumstances of the
present matter. In particular, the disputed work involved a
truly minimal amount of work; the performance of such work on a
temporary basis in a timely manner significantly reduced the risk
that injuries might occur to personnel employed by the Carrier;
2
Sek
ilia
the performance of such work constituted incidental work to the
work normally and customarily performed by the personnel who
performed the disputed work; and the members of the bargaining
unit performed the proper repairs within a very short period of
time after the disputed events.
Under these special and unusual circumstances, the Claim is
dismissed.
AWARD:
The Claim is dismissed.
~1A1,71
~ / ; /
~ r~
Rbbert L. Dougla's
Chairman and Neutral Member
D nald . Barthol Mark D. Selbert
Employee mber Carrier Member
Dated:
3