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BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY AND STEAM$AIP CLERKS,

FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND STATION E.JIPLOYES

versus

ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY .


      STATEMENT OF CLAIMS Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that ·-


    (a) Carrier violated rules of the Clerks) Agreement at Martin, Tennessee,, when on October 1, 1954, it unilaterally Assigned clerical work theretofore attached to clerical positions to be performed by employes of Carrier occupying positions that are not included within the Scope Rule of its Agreement with the Brotherhood, revised as of February 1, 1954.


    (b) F. M. Birchett, W. E. gornbeak and W. T. Gray, the respective assignees to positions Nos, 86, 88 and the Relief Position which were abolished effective October 1, 1954, and all other clerical employes adversely affected as a result of Carrier assigning clerical work,normally attaching to positions Nos, 84,. 86 and 87 to outsiders and other employes, be compensated for wage loss sustained retroactive to October 1, 1954, and forward to date the Rules violation is corrected.


    (c) That positions No. 86, Rate Clerk; position No. 88, Yard' Clerk and the Relief Position be re=established and bulletined to the clerical employes having seniority rights on the Mississippi Division Seniority District.


                NOTE: Reparation to be. determined by joint check of Carrier s payroll and' other records.


    OPINION! Carrier maintains-at Martin, Tennessee, joint facilities for handling

    both Illinois Central and Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis freight,

    passenger and interchange business. The passenger station is located at the in.

    tersdetion of both Carriers approximately three hundred yards, nbrth of the freight

    station,


    Prior to October 1, 1954, the Agent and all clerical employes worked at the freight station, and the telegraphers worked at the passenger station: Prior to the above date, Pi M. Birshett; a rate clerk, worked 8500 a.m, to 500 p.m.,, Monday through Friday, W. E. Rornbeak, a yard clerk, worked 7t3O am. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. W. 11. Gray, a relief clerk, worked Thursday and Friday. The duties assigned to Birchett were as followat


          1) Check freight handled by Carrier's over=the-road trucks,

          2) Make manifest for freight handled by Carriers tracks.

          3) Check freight moved in merchandise cars,

          4) Make record of all LCL.freight loaded in cars and

          Carrier's trucks.

                                        Award No. 30

                                        Docket No: CL-8759


        5) Make record of LCL tonnage handled.

            6) Check rates and apply charges to all inbound and outbound shipments.

        7) Make freight bills for all freight received, .

        8) Maintain tariff file.

        9) Make LC, abstracts. _

        10) Make 0,3, Tc D. Report.

            11) Make report of revenue on all shipments delivered to N.C. & St. L.

        12) Make monthly report to traffic offices.


        The duties assigned to Horabeak were as follows:


            1) Cheek Yard for 33 Report (approximately fivemiles of track).

            2) Make list of. cars in yard for movement,Make N :C> &.St: L. daily ear report.

        4) Post all car movements.

            5) Make home route cards on ears delivered to N.Ci &.St, L. and pin them in waybills,

            6) Classify type of equipment interchanged (gondola` box, flat, refrigerator, etc.)


            7) Take over duties of Position No. $4 between 2t00 and 4t00 p,m.

        8) Cheek house and team tracks after 4:00 p.m.


The duties assigned to Gray were to substitute for W, Harrison, a train clerk. Effective October-1, 1954, the positions of Birehett and Hornbeak were abolished; and Train Clerks.Harrison and Ladd were moved from.the freight office t,0 the ticket office. The checking of the yard and the compiling Of a certain report formerly assigned to Hornbeak,were reassigned to Harrison, The Duties involved in cutting the teletype tape were reassigned to telegraphers in the Ticket Office.

        It,is the position of the Employes.that the Carrier violated the rules

of the Agreement when it assigned,a~parb'of.the duties previously rendered by
Harrison# a train clerk, Birehett, a rate,olerk, and.Ladd, a train clerk, to
telegraphers; that there was no abollshment.of work as work fbshnerly assigned
to clerks is now being done by telegraphers.

It is the position of the Carrier that the Scope Rule of the Clerks Agreement does not reserve exclusively to them the performance of clerical work, and nothing in either the Clerks or Telegraphers) Agreement prohibits the assignment of clerical work to telegraphers.

It appears that effective December 1, 1955, as a result of the intro. duetion of new.type office machines, two oletical positions at Martin,_Tennessee, ocoupiedby Harrison and Ladd were abolished, and the remaining work was assigned

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                                        Award No, 30

                                        Docket No.-CL-8759


to an operator-ticket agent and'operator clerk which.positions are within the Scope of the Telegraphers'. Schedule.

In Third Division Award No. 615, Clerks v. Southern Pacific, Referee Swaeker stated:

    "It~·~s~l~; :.~.~ proved beat Is a matter of common knowledge that for many years even before the Clerkst Organization had national recognition and perhaps from the inception of the in.. dustry--certainly since the,begl53ning of the Telegrapherso agree- . . ments, telegraphers have been. required and have had the right to perform.¢lerical duties."


        See, also, Award No. 7, Special Board.of Adjustment No. 169.-


It also appears that the woalk involved in the dispute herein has heretofore been performed by both telegraphers and clerkS and has not been ezelusive to either craft.

In Third Division Award 7031 involving a dispute over the allocation of work to different crafts, the Board stated:

    ". . . Nor is the fact that work at one point is assigned to one craft for a long period of bane of controlling importance when it appears that sreh work vat assigned to different crafts at different points within the scope-®f the agreement.. We conclude that the work here in question was not the exclusive work of Clerks on this Carrier."


Rmployes urge ;:hat the Carrier violated.the Agreement. in that the clerical positions of Harrison and Ledd were moved to the passenger station as this was to "bring work to the telegraphers." We note that both stations, freight and passenger, are the direct supervision of, one Carrier representative. . In our opinion the consolidating of clerical work in one station was and is the prerogative of the management. See Third Division Award No. 7322.

        In Award ado. 7322 it was said:


    "it (ole>Aical work) is subject to the rule, however, that where the services of a telegrapher are required the latter may perform clerical work to the extent necessary to fill out his time. This has been the rile on this Gavrier (the IC) . . : . This rule has become so embedded in the holdings of this.Board that a departure from it would peoduee a chaotic condition in the work of this Board."


        In view of the above authoy·ity we hold that the Agreement was not vio-

lated when the Carrier abolished two clerical positions and assigned the remaining

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                                        Award No. 30

                                        Docket No. CL-87`59


work to telegraphers.

FINDINGS: The Special Board of Adjustment No. 170 after giving to the parties
to this dispute due notice of hearing thereon, and upon the whole
record 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 No. 170 has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein; and

        That the Agreement was not violated.


AWARD: Claim denied.

                SPECIAL BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT N0. 170


                -/s/ Edw. M. LEE'e

                Edward M harpe

                              - Chairman

                              /s/ E. H. Hallmann

A. B. Simmons -- Employe Member E. H. Hallmann -- Carrier Member

Chicago, Illinois
January 17, 1958

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