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 Carbondale, Illinois,
when on February
24, 1955,
it failed and refused to bulletin the position of
Statistician in the office of Division Superintendent in accordance with the request of the Brotherhood.
(b) The Statistician position be bulletined and assigned in accordance with the rules of the collective agreement.
OPINION: Carriers division headquarters for the St. Louis Division are located at Carbondale, Illinois. Among the clerical positions in the Superintendent is
office is the position of Secretary to Chief Clerk. This position was fully excepted from the Agreement, effective June
23, 1922,
and so remained until placed
under partial coverage of the Agreement, effective September
13, 1953,
as a re=
sult of an-Arbitration Award dated August
14, 1953.
Prior to the Arbitration Award, the positions of Chief Clerk, Secretary to Superintendent and Secretary to Chief Clerk at Carbondale, Illinois,
were totally excepted from the rules agreement. As a result of the Arbitration
Award, the Scope Rule was revised, and as a result, the position of Secretary
to Chief Clerk was changed from a fully excepted to a partially covered position
as were the positions of Chief Clerk and Secretary to Superintendent.
It appears that the position designated as Secretary to Chief Clerk
has been in existence since
1917,
but was excepted from the rules by the
1922
Agreement. The
1953
St. Louis Division Clerical Seniority Roster No. 1, which
roster includes the names of employes working in the Superintendents Office
at Carbondale, contained the name of D. E. Ford, titled Statistician with a seniority date of June 1,
1942,
however, the Ford name contained a notation that
the position was excluded from coverage by certain rules of the Clerkst Agreement. In February,
1955,
the Employes filed a request with Manager of Personnel
Fitzpatrick to place the Statistician position under full coverage of the Agreement. This request was declined.
It is the position of the Employes that the Secretary to the Chief
Clerk performed statistical work, and that such work was exclusive to full coverage of the Agreement and should be performed on a position fully covered by the
Agreement.
It appears that the position designated as Secretary to Chief Clerk
Award No. 32
Docket No. CL-8846
has been in existence since 1917; that by the 1922 Clerkst Agreement that position was excepted from the Rules, and that during all of this period the Secretary has performed substantially the same duties. It also appears that. as a
result of the 1953 Arbitration Boards Award, the position of Secretary to Chief
Clerk was covered by Rules 1, 2, 3, 21, 22, 62 and 64 of the Agreement
and by
Rules 24, 25, 26, and 53 in case of the occupants dismissal from service. It
also appears that the duties of the position of Secretary to Chief Clerk were
not changed as a result of the Arbitration Award, but continued as had existed
prior to the Award.
Rule 7 of the Agreement provides;
"(a) New Positions or vacancies will be promptly bulletined
in agreed upon places accessible to all employes . . . ."
Under the above rule, the Carrier is required to bulletin a position
only when a new position or a vacancy occurs. It appears that there never has
been a position of Statistician in the Superintendents office. Therefore, it
follows that there is no obligation upon the part of the Carrier to bulletin a
non-existing position.
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. Sharpe
Edward M. Sharpe -- Chairman
'/s/ E. H. Hallmann
A. B. Simmons -- Employe Member E._H._,Hallmann -- Carrier, Member
Chicago, Illinois
January 17, 1958
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