SPECIAL BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT N0. 170


BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY AND~STEAMSHIP CLERKS,

FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND, STATION EMPLOYES

versus

ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY


STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that --

 (a) Carrier violated the Clerks' Agreement at Holly Springs, Mississippi, when pn March 1, 1955, it failed and refused to assign a clerical employe to a position created in the freight station.

 (b) All clerical employes adversely affected will be compensated for wage loss suffered representing a days pay for each day of the work week, Monday through Friday, retroactive to March 1, 1955, and forward to December 12, 1955.

 OPINION: This dispute arises out of the claim that the Carrier violated the
 Clerks' Agreement when on March 1, 1955, it failed and refused to as
 sign a clerical employe to a position created in the freight station. The es
 sential facts necessary to decision are as follows: Holly Springs, Mississippi,
 has a population of approximately 3,500 and is located on the Jackson District
 of the Mississippi Division, where Carriers line crosses the line of the St.
 Louis and San Francisco Railroad where both lines maintain a freight interchange.
 Each Carrier maintains separate agencies for the handling of its business, the
 stations being located approximately two blocks apart. The Carrier provides
 local freight train service only over its Jackson District each day Monday through
 Saturday. The southbound local generally passes Holly Springs between 10:00 a.m.
 and 1:00 p.m., and the northbound local passes between midnight and 3=00 a.m.

 Prior to August 31, 1949, the following named positions existed at Holly Springs:

        Agent J. H. Pinston 8 a.m.-5 P.m. Mon.-Sat.

        Telegrapher G. W. Smith 7 a.m.-3 P.M. Mon.-Sat.

        Clerk C. N. Sharp 8 a.m.-4 P.M. Mon.-Sat.

        Trucker Levi Green 8 a.m.-5 P.m. Mon.-Sat.


At the inception of the forty-hour week on September,I, 1949, the clerical position assigned to Sharp was abolished, and the remaining clerical work to be performed was assigned to the agent and telegrapher. The tracker position occupied by Green was abolished on or about July 1, 1954. Subsequent to August 31, 1949, the telegrapher position had been abolished and reinstated several times in order to meet the demands of the service due to fluctuating seasonal r6quirements. on the date of the instant claim, the force of employes at Holly Springs were as followst
    J


R

                                          (Amended)

                                          Award No..29

                                          Docket No, CL-8724


          Agent A. L; Vaughn 8 a.m.- 5 p,m. Mon.-Sat.

          Telegrapher W. B. Branch 7 a'.m.-4 p.m. Moh,-Fri.


    The occupant of the agent position is required to perform service on the position six days per week Monday through Saturday. Compelpatpn therefor is allowed at the.pro rata rate due to the fact that the posit ~on bears ,a monthly rate predicated on the premise that the agents services arl required.six. days'per week. The occupant of the telegrapher position .is coAlpensat~d ~t,an hourly rate, based on eight hourst service per day, Monday thr00-TrPay.


    It is the position of the Employes that the Carrier viol=te¢ rules of the Agreement when it assigned a telegrapher to' a position consisttngkof eight hours of clerical work, when the telegrapher is needed to perform T3 Minutes oftelegraphic and train order work each day Monday through Friday, when the agent; is on duty during the time the telegraphic and train order work is-~erfqrmed;end. wbo performs the work exclusively on Saturday.


    It is the position of the Carrier that the submission of this claim being filed by the Organization after April 27, 1956, is untimely uu;der.Artiele V, Section 2, of the August 21, 1954, Agreement.


    It appears that the Organization filed notice of inte~t;qn tp file submission preceding the expiration of the time limit, nine months frpqi date the claim was declined on July 27, 1955. '


    We note that Section C of Article I of the Agreement provTdep. in part as follows: . '


      "*s* A11 claims or grievances involved in a decision by the higheat.designated officer shall be barred unless within 9 months from the date of said officers decision proceedings are instituted by the employee or his duly authorized representative before the' appropriate.division of the National Railroad Adjustment Board or a system, group or regional board of adjustment that has blen agrqed to by the parties hereto as provided in Section 3 Second oF,the Railway Labor Act." ,


    We are of the opinion that when notice was given on April 7.1,1956, to the Board of intent to file an ex parte submission within thirty c)sys thereafter it set in motion the machinery necessary to bring the dispute,before the Board and sufficiently complies with the Agreement.


    Additional facts helpful in determining the issue involved are as follows. The clerical position was abolished, but the Carrier retained both the agent and telegrapher position, both working the same shift with the agpnt absorbing the work formerly performed by the clerk. It also appears ttat the

r r t

                                            (Amended)

                                            Award Vo..29,

                                            Docket NO. , CCL-8.724


    clerical position required eight hours of work on the premises, and; that the telegrapher is required to perform approximately fifteen minutes of telegraphic work during an eight-hour :shift.


    Kany awards have held that in the interest of economy.thi Carrier may abolish a' clerical position and assign the remaining work to a telegrapher,, but this rule should not be extended to the point where a full-time clerical position can be abolished and his work assigned to a telegrapher, where. in the same' office the telegrapher or agent can render such telegraphic duties as the Carrier may require. It follows that paragraph (a) of the claim is sustained, Vhile paragraph (b) is denied. . .


    FLNDINOSt The Special Board of Adjustment No. 170 after giving to the parties'

    to this dispute due notice of hearing thereon, and upon the whole

    re;ord.and all the evidence, finds and holds:


    That the Carrier and Employes involved in this dispute are respectively Carrier and Employes within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act;


    That the Special Board of Adjustment Ho. 170 has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein; and


          That the Agree*ent was violated.


    AWkbf Claim sustained in part and denied in part.


                  SPECIAL BOARD OF ADILTSTNO, 170


                      /s/ Edward M. Sharpe

                      Edward M. Sharpe -- Chairmen


    /s/ R. w. Copeland /s/ E. H. Hallmann

    R. W. Copeland - Employe Member 8. H. Hellmann -- Perrier Member


    Chicago, Illinois


    dune 17, 1958