BLET  Educational Memo 13-06

Used on other than own assignment/claiming lost time

One of the more confusing claims you may run across is a claim involving you being utilized on other than the assignment you own, or not being able to cover your assignment due to Hours of Service issues (HOS).

As you know there are times when CMC runs out of employees to cover extra  list work and will resort to “running the roster”. If they get to you and you take the call, you are essentially filling the shoes of an extra man, and take the terms and conditions for that particular assignment. If you lose time from your regular assignment you are due the difference in earnings for each day so used.

Similarly if you are not rested for your assignment, and the Carrier uses another employee to fill your position, you are due the earnings of the Assignment under TSSA Article 41 Q&A #1 which reads as follows:

Questions and Answers

Q-1: If a regular assigned Engineer (Road or Yard) is not rested under Federal law for his

assignment and CSXT does not hold the assignment until the Engineer is rested and uses

another Engineer, what will the Engineer be allowed?

A-1: The Engineer will be allowed the earnings he would have earned had he worked the

assignment.

Claims of this sort are currently in the Dispute Resolution Process (DRC) between Organization and Carrier, so there will be more input on these in the near future.

We’ll list several scenarios for you, and give you an idea of what you should claim in each scenario.

1. My job was annulled, what am I due?           Engineers, under the TSSA are entitled to the earnings of the assignment. This would include EC payments (12/1/10 letter of understanding attached). If you missed an entire trip/return trip enter in a claim for each date, with the needed information such as if someone else covered your assigned train etc..

1. I stepped up in the same pool, I went out on Monday, came back Tuesday. The pool I was   regularly assigned  to (and pulled off of) worked Tuesday, and returned Wednesday , am I due any make whole?       The short answer is YES, while the Carrier will tell you no. The organization takes the stance that make whole is paid on a daily basis, so in the scenario above, you worked Mon, you were earnings neutral on Tuesday because you worked the same pool, and so did your “regular assigned pool”, the claim you’d make would be for the Wed. when your pool was returning and you were waiting for it. See TSSA Article 40 Interpretation 3:

3. If an Engineer is used off his assignment/turn to fill a temporary vacancy on

another assignment/turn (e.g., yard, road switcher/mine run/locals/assigned switchers, assigned freights or trains in other unassigned pools), upon completion of the emergency work the Engineer will be marked back to his assignment/turn if it has returned to the terminal or will be placed in “waiting status” until his assignment/turn returns to the terminal and will not be subject to call while in “waiting status”. Under these circumstances, the Engineer is entitled to difference in pay, if any, for having been used off his assignment/turn to fill a vacancy other than his own assignment/turn.

Note: CSXT will allow General Committee Officers, Local Chairmen and Vice

Local Chairmen to mark off under union business (UBU) to perform elected

duties such as: representing members in investigations, holding claims

conferences, or attending Labor/Management meetings, etc. Presidents,

Secretary-Treasurers, and Legislative Representatives officers will be permitted to

mark off under union business (UBU) to attend monthly meetings as needs of

service permit. If a dispute arises under this note, it will be resolved by the

General Chairman of jurisdiction and CSXT Highest Designated Officer.

A sidebar discussion here would be if you owned an assignment in say the Dewitt Pool, and got used off that pool to work long to Selkirk under the same scenario there’d be no difference in earnings, but you should put in for the day where you’re sitting at home waiting for your pool to return.  In short, if your position worked on a date that you made no earnings, claim lost earnings.

1. I was not rested under the Hours of Service for my assignment, am I due anything under Make  whole?  The short answer is yes. As mentioned above the entire HOS issue is under discussion at the DRC process. You should enter in a claim for what you would have earned for the date(s) in question. While there are an infinite number of scenarios in this vein the provisions of the contract are specific with relation to payment to an employee who cannot work because of Federal Rest.  The argument here is simple, first the contract language is explicit , second , the framers of the language in the Hours of service law never intended the employee to be put at a disadvantage monetarily because of the changes in the law, especially since many of these claims have to do with “6 day” provisions of the law,  or in the case of the TSSA the EBS system which is restrictive in what employees can work/use of seniority

As said above, there are a infinite number of scenarios and all can’t be listed here, but as always if you have questions, ask!  Remember it is up to you to uphold your contract provisions, because without U, there is no Union. Together we stand, divided we fall.

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