C Award No. 30
0 Case No. 30
P
Y
BROTHERHOOD OF RAIIITAY AND STEAPZSHIP CLERKS,
FREIGHT HANDIERS, EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYES
vs
GREAT NORTHERN RAIU'IAY COMPANY
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
~7Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship
Clerks. Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes that the Carrier violated the current agreement.
Cpl.
When on May 14, 1956 the Carrier blanked two positions which had been
bulletined as seven day positions under the schedule agreement, and continued
to blank on days following the date of May 14, 1956 with the variation of
from one to five positions per day.
412.
That the Carrier now be required to compensate C. C. Denewith, B.
Larson, P. Ozaer, H. Mormon and R. Kastern for each and every day that these
positions were blanked in the order outlined in our Exhibit "AR which is
made a part of this submission, up to and including July 1, 1956 and any
continuing days thereafter that might have been blanked since that date.st
FINDINGS: This Special Board of Adjustment upon the whole record and all the
evidence, finds that:
The carrier and the employee or employees in this dispute are respectively carrier and employees within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as
approved June 21, 1934.
This Special Board of Adjustment has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein.
The organization and the carrier entered into the 40-hour work week
agreement effective September 1, 1949. This agreement contained the work week
rule which was agreed upon nationally. However, on May 7, 1951 this carrier and
organization amended Rule No. 3(d) by adding to it the wording "seven-day
positions will be filled seven days a weeks'
This claim is based upon the interpretation of the added words to Rule
3(d). The organization states that these words mean that the carrier will fill
seven-day positions seven days a week arid that, therefore, the carrier cannot
blank these positions for any reason whatsoever. The carrier states that for
certain reasons, employees at the ore docks at Allouez absent themselves from
work due to sickness, vacation or leave of absence. The employees state that
due to this rule the carrier is obliged to fill the positions when the employee
Award No. 30
Case No. 30
is off by calling extra employees or furloughed employees, and if there are no
extra or furloughed employees available, that regular employees must be called
to double, and when they are called they must be,paid the punitive rate. The
employees state that up to the first part of May, 1956 they had no trouble with
the carrier in filling these positions but that after that time the employerps
representative took the position that these positions could be blanked,
The addition of the words "seven-day positions will be filled seven days
per week" to Rule 3(d) does not appear in any other agreement, and from a strict
interpretation of this wording it can only mean that seven-day positions will be
filled seven days a week and, therefore, the carrier may not blank these positions
but must fill them by calling employees from the extra board, or furloughed
employees, or by using regular employees by doubling them and paying them the
punitive rate. Therefore, this claim must be allowed.
A 6d A R D
Claim allowed.
/sL
Thomas C. Ben_ley
Thomas C. Begley$ Chairman
s/ C. A. Pearson
C. A. Pearson, Carrier Member
GsL
F. A. Emme
F. A. Emme, Employee Member
Signed at St. Paul, Minnesota this 11th day of September, 1957.