SPECIAL BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT NO. 894
BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS
"Organization"
VS.
CONSOLIDATED RAIL CORPORATION
"Carrier"
STATEMENT OF CLAI1
Case No. 1583
Award No. 1583
Claim of Engineer T. L. Hilton dated December 24, 1990
for eight (8) hours straight time Holiday Pay as
prescribed by Article G-c-5, while Assigned to the
Sharonville Yard Engineers Extra Board.
The claim of Engineer T. L. Hilton dated January 1,
1991, for eight (8) hours straight time Holiday Pay as
prescribed by Article G-c-5, while Assigned to the
Sharonville Yard Engineers Extra Board.
BLE File No: ABC-E-80-901-91
System Docket No: CRE-14748
OPINION OF THE BOARD
Claimant was assigned to the Engineers Yard Extra Board at
carrier's Sharonville Yard from December 5, 1990 until January 2,
1991. There is also at that location a Road Engineers Extra
Board to cover road vacancies.
At 5:00 p.m. on December 23, 1990, Carrier attempted to call
claimant for service on Train CSXO-4X, a road freight train, but
was unable to contact Claimant at two telephone numbers on
record with Carrier. On December 24 and 25, 1990, Claimant was
available, but was not called for service. On January 1, 1991,
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Claimant was available on the extra list, but was not called for
service.
At 11:00 a.m. on January 2, 1991 Claimant was cut from the
Sharonville Yard Engineers' Extra List. On that date, Carrier
attempted to contact Claimant at 3:31 p.m., 3:34 p.m., 6:13 p.m.
and 6:16 p.m. at his two telephone numbers on record to notify
him of his displacement. Each of these attempts to contact
Claimant proved futile. Carrier finally contacted Claimant at
7:20 p.m. on January 2. After being notified of his
displacement, Claimant attempted to exercise seniority to yard
assignment YSMO-21, reporting on duty at 4:00 p.m. at Moraine,
Ohio, but Carrier mistakenly did not permit him to do so.
Rather, Carrier permitted Claimant to displace to a Reserve
Engine Service Employee position at Cincinnati, Ohio. At 8:21
p.m. on the following day, January 3, Claimant was finally
permitted to exercise seniority to yard assignment YSMO-21.
Claimant subsequently filed separate claims seeking holiday pay
for December 24, 1990 and January 1, 1991.
Article G-c-5 (Holidays) of the Agreement reads in relevant
part as follows:
(g) To qualify, an extra yard engineer must:
(1) perform yard service on the calendar days
immediately preceding and immediately following the
holiday, and be available for yard service the full
calendar day on the holiday, or;
(2) be available for yard service on the full calendar
days immediately preceding and immediately following
the holiday and perform yard service on such holiday,
or;
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(3) if an extra yard engineer cannot qualify under
paragraph (g) (1) or (g) (2), then in order to qualify
he must be available for yard service on the full
calendar days immediately preceding and immediately
following the holiday, or perform yard service on any
one or more of such days and be so available on the
other day or days.
Note 2: An extra yard engineer shall be deemed to be
available if he is ready for yard service and does not
lay off of his own accord, or if he is required by the
Corporation to perform other service.
Article Y-s-2 (Starting Times) states in relevant part
as follows:
(c) Where three eight hour shifts are worked in
continuous service, the time for an assignment on the
first shift to begin work shall be between 6:30 a.m.
and 8:00 a.m., the second shift, 2:30 p.m. and 4:00
p.m., and the third shift, 10:30 p.m. and 12:00
midnight.
Article Y-x-1 (Marking Up and Calling Yard Extra List)
states in relevant part as follows:
(a) Engineers on yard extra lists shall be called as
nearly as possible 2 hours before they are required to
report for duty. Where local conditions warrant, the
local Chairman or Local Chairmen and the designated
Labor Relations offider may agree to a different
calling time, subject to the approval of the General
Chairman and the highest appeals officer of the
Corporation.
The organization argues as follows: Claimant was entitled
to receive holiday pay for December 24, 1990 and January 1, 1991
pursuant to the provisions of Article G-c-5, Paragraph (f).
Claimant was available to cover any yard vacancies on December 23
3
and January 2 as required by the rules. On December 23, Claimant
was called for a road assignment, an assignment the Claimant was
not required to cover. Moreover, pursuant to Article Y-s-2,
shifts were to begin at specified times, and Claimant was always
available during the two hours prior to the time specified for
the start of each shift. In addition, Carrier's own records
establish that on January 2 Claimant was displaced at 11:00 a.m.,
yet carrier never attempted to contact him until 3:31 p.m.
Thereafter, Claimant was mistakenly denied the opportunity to
bump to the only other yard assignment his seniority entitled him
to hold. Clearly, Carrier was looking for reasons not to grant
Claimant holiday pay.
Carrier argues as follows: Claimant is not entitled to
holiday pay under the provisions of Article G-c-5(g). Carrier
records verify that at 5:00 p.m. on December 23 Claimant was not
available for service at either of his two telephone numbers of
record. Thus, Claimant was not available for service on the full
calendar day immediately preceding the December 24, 1990 holiday
as required by the Agreement. The fact that Carrier attempted to
reach Claimant to perform road freight service instead of yard
service does not mitigate the fact that he was unavailable for
service, as pursuant to Note Two of Article G-c-5 (g) Claimant
needed to be available for yard service or "other service".
Moreover, Claimant would not have qualified for holiday pay on
January 1, 1991 even if he had been permitted to exercise
seniority to yard assignment YSMO-21 at 7:20 p.m. on January 2,
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1991, as that assignment already had reported for duty at 4:00
p.m..
The Board has determined that the claim must be sustained.
The Board concludes that Claimant was "available" on
December 23 as required by Article G-c-5. The fact that Carrier
could not reach him on a single occasion on December 23 at 5:00
p.m., well past the start of second shift and long before the
start of third shift, for a road assignment does not justify
denying him holiday pay for which he was otherwise entitled as a
member of the Yard Extra Board. Moreover, while it is true that
on January 2 Claimant was cut from the Sharonville Yard
Engineer's extra list, that occurrence happened at 11:00 a.m. If
Carrier had promptly notified Claimant, rather than waiting some
four and one half hours, Claimant could have exercised seniority
to yard assignment YSMO-21, which did not report for duty until
4:00 p.m. Accordingly, based upon the totality of unique
circumstances present in this case, the claim will be sustained.
5
AWARD
The claim is sustained.
thirty (30) days.
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R. W. Godwi
Organization M er
All money owed to be paid within
Carrier Member
S. E. Buchheit,
Neutral Member