SPECIAL BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT 1110
Award No. 135
Case No. 135
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees
and
CSX Transportation, Inc.
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:
1. The Carrier violated Article VIII of the
September 26, 1996 Mediation Agreement when
it failed and refused to allow Claimant E. E.
Coomer to take a vacation day on February 16,
1999 [System File D0250602899/12(99-0547)
CSX].
2. As a consequence of the violation
referred to in Part (1) above, the Carrier
shall allow the Claimant one (1) day of
vacation credited to February 16, 1999.
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:
Article VIII (Vacations) of the September 26, 1996 Mediation
Agreement provides:
Effective January 1, 1997, employees
shall be permitted to take one week of their
vacation allowance per year in less than 40
hours increments, provided that such vacation
days will be scheduled in accordance with
existing rules on the Carrier applicable to
the scheduling of personal leave days.
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5$A IM)
A careful review of the record indicates that Article VIII fails
to specify whether a furloughed employee, such as the Claimant,
may take the employee's vacation allowance in less than 40 hours
increments while on furlough. The record omits any credible
evidence that the parties addressed this lack of clarity by
developing any rule on the property to resolve this issue. The
unrebutted description of the practice on the property concerning
the scheduling of personal leave days reflects that only active
employees may schedule personal leave days.
In the absence of any greater degree of certainty about this
important issue concerning the scheduling aspect of taking an
employee's vacation allowance, the Organization failed to prove
that the Carrier had violated Article VIII of the September 26,
1996 Mediation Agreement under these special circumstances. Any
change to the present arrangement for furloughed employees is a
matter for collective bargaining on the property, not
arbitration.
AWARD:
The Claim is denied.
Robert L. Dou as
Chairman and Neutral Member
D.
% //7-x
jz-~Iel
Bartho~ Mark D. Selbert
Empl ee member Carrier Member
Dated:
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