PUBLIC LAW BOARD NO. 6531

PARTIES TO DISPUTE;

UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION                                        Case No. 1
(EASTERN DISTRICT)                                                 Award No. 1

VS

UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD CO.

STATEMENT OF CLAIM:

Claim of Denver Conductor K. B. Decker for an additional 26 miles account being transported to the lodging facility from Bond to Yampa, Colorado, on November 21,2001.

FINDINGS:

This Board, upon the whole record and all of the evidence, finds that the Employees and Carrier involved in this dispute are respectively Employees and Carrier within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act as amended and that the Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein.

OPINION OF THE BOARD:

Claimant, K.B. Decker, is assigned as a Conductor in the combined multiple away-from-home terminal Denver - Bond/Phippsburg RC03 pool. Claimant was called on November 21, 2001 at his home terminal, Denver North Yard, for an on- duty time of 1:30 p.m. to work the MDVRO to his final terminal Bond, Colorado where he was relived from duty and tied up at 11:40 p.m. The MDVRO train continues onto Grand Junction from Bond with another crew. Conductor Decker's actual on-duty, working time, from Denver to Bond was 10'10". After Claimant tied up at Bond he was transported to Yampa, Colorado by Company-provided transportation to the lodging facility. From Bond to Yampa it is 26 highway miles.

Claimant was compensated a basic day (130 miles) from Denver to Bond ($139.97) and two (2) hours and ten (10) minutes overtime ($56.86), plus a $1.50 meal en route. The actual mileage between Denver North yard and Bond is 126 miles. The claim is for mileage from the tie-up point and lodging facility.

It is also relevant to note that the assignment in question is operated pursuant to the UTU and BLE Denver Hub UP/SP Merger Agreement on July 1, 1997 and the Denver Hub Implementing Document approved by Arbitrator James E. Yost in connection with Surface Transportation Board Finance Docket 32760, New York Dock arbitration, effective April 14, 1997.

Immediately following the arbitration decision and related agreements the Carrier was in the process of reviewing plans and its options to update the terminal yard office facilities at Bond, Colorado, in addition to securing improved and closer lodging accommodations for pool crews operating into Bond. During this period, the Carrier required crews to report for and go off duty at a hotel, initially at Minturn and then at Phippsburg, Colorado. The Carrier, temporarily, allowed the crews the miles to/from the hotel until on or about November 1, 2001 and the Organization was notified numerous times, once the terminal yard office at Bond was properly equipped and a new lodging facility secured (Yampa, Colorado), the crews would no longer receive the additional miles. The instant claim shortly followed.

The basic issue before the Board has been resolved on this property before the Denver Hug Agreement was negotiated. The various agreements between the parties have been interpreted by various arbitrators not to provide for mileage/pay for transportation to and from lodging facilities after tie-up. Such travel is not time worked or a deadhead.

The Board sees nothing in the Denver Hub Agreement and/or the related arbitration Award which provides for the requested compensation. Even if there was language that limited lodging transportation to "reasonable" distance as the Organization suggests, the distance involved is not unreasonable given the remoteness of the area.

AWARD

The claim is denied.

Gil Vernon, Neutral Member

Dean Hazlett                                                        Frank Tamisiea
Union Member                                                        Company Member

Dated this 16th day of September, 2004.