C AWARD N0.
6
0 CASE N0.
6
P
Y SPECIAL BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT N0. 171
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY AND STEAMSHIP CLERICS,
FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND STATION F14PLOYEES
vs
GREAT NORTHERN RAMUTAY COMPANY
"Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship
Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes that the Carrier violated the rules of the current agreement, affective September 1,
1950.
'tl.
When on August 12,
1954
the Carrier abolished three roundhouse positions
at Kelly Lake and the work in its entirety sass turned over to and performed
by roundhouse foremen.
R2.
That the Carrier aoiq -be required to compensate Margaret Busha, an
employs whose position was abolished working
3
P2-i to 11 P2d, Donald Forrest
working 11
PM to 7 AM and Mabel Johnson whose relief position was abolished
working four days per week
3
PM to 11 P'rI and 11 PM to 7 AM covering the
relief days of the two positions referred to above, for eight hours at the
straight time rate of the positions for August 12,
1954
and each and every
day thereafter as long as this violation continues.
P'3. That all other employee adversely affected by reason of this violation
be compensated for wage loss suffered.R
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.
volved herein.
This Special Board of Adjustment has jurisdiction over the dispute in-
The Employees state that on August 12,
1954,
the Carrier abolished three
roundhouse positions at Kelly Lake, Minnesota, and the work in its entirety was
turned over
to
and performed by roundhouse foremen.
The positions which were abolished were for a claimant who was assigned
as roundhouse clerk at Kelly Lake with assigned hours of 3:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.i,Lg
for a clerk at Kelly Lake with assigned hours from 11:00 P.M.
to
7:00 A.M,, and
for a relief clerk with assigned hours from 3:00 P.M, to ll:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M.
to 7:00 A.M. The Employees state that all the work that was performed by these
claimants was clerical work which was turned over to foremen and that the foremen
had no right under the clerksQ agreement, and that for 30 years the work performed
by the claimants has bean assigned each and every year for the duration of the ors
Y
r~
Award No. 6
season and they have performed the duties of answering phones, marking up daily
ore sheets, accepting and answering all messages, marking up the engineers? and
firemenqs board, lining up crews and relaying crews to be called by callers.
The Carrier states that it has the prerogative of reducing forces when
the volume of work so warrants and that it is not required to maintain positions
for which there is little or no work. That in May,
1942,
the three positions of
the claimants were put on at Kelly Lake roundhouse and were continued until
August
12, 1954.
That prior to gay,
1942,
the second
and third
shift roundhouse
foremen were answering their telephones, marking up the boards and performing the
work that was later to be performed by these claimants. That business and work
loads allowed the foremen to remain in their offices and to perform these duties
which roundhouse foremen have always performed in the past, but later due to heavy
increase in business and an increase in the mechanical forces, these roundhouse
foremen were, of necessity, required to be outside their offices and supervising
activities where the mechanical force was working, and in order to facilitate
matters and to provide a more ef.cient operation of the roundhouse, it was decided
to put a clerk on each of the second and third tricks and in addition a relief
clerk to answer the telephones, mark up the board, and call the crew caller to
line up train and engine crews. That in
1954
the Mesabi Range was completely
dieselized and when the Carrier ceased to use steam locomotives, the mechanical
forces at Kelly Lake roundhouse were radically reduced. As the result of this
changeover in motive power, the roundhouse forements supervising activities outside
their offices were very visibly reduced.
From evidence submitted the Hoard finds that the clerical work performed
by these claimants had previous to
1942
been performed by foremen and that when the
foremen's duties increased they needed assistance and clerical ,jobs were put oi.to
assist them in some of their work.
After August
12, 1954,
the foremen's work load decreased and they no
longer needed the assistance of these claimants. Therefore, they could perform
the clerical work which was incidental to their foremenoa work without the assistance of these claimants and this work ebbed back to them, and when the foremen
performed such work by the direction of the Carrier, they did so without violating
the Clerks9 Agreement.
Therefore, this claim must be denied.
A I3 A R D
Claim denied.
ls/ Thomas C. Begley
Thomas C. Begley, Chairman
/s/ C. A. Person
C. A. Pearson, Carrier Member
Signed at St. Paul, Minnesota, this /s/ F.- A. Emma
10th day of April,
1957.
F. A. Emme, Employee Member