|
|
|
OFFICE OF THE UMPIRE No. E-140 JULY 21, 1947
Cancellation Of Seniority Responsibility Of An Employee Under Paragraph 74
GRIEVANCE Fisher Body-St. Louis—Case E-24 "Seniority date of 4-5-46 should be 3-1-34. Request: Due to added information furnished personnel by me and as personnel stated that when additional information was furnished, that they would reconsider my former grievance. I hereby request that my seniority date from 3-1-34, the original date."
Umpire’s Decision: The grievance is dismissed. (Entire decision should be read)
In the Matter of: United Automobile Workers of America—C.I.O.—Local 25 and General motors Corporation—Fisher Body—St. Louis—Case E-24 Employee S., the complainant in this grievance, was in the status of a laid-off employee when the Fisher Body Plant at St. Louis reopened after the war. On September 26th, 1945, a special delivery postal card was sent to him notifying him to report for work on October 1, 1945. On the latter date, the complainant telephoned to local Management, explained that he was in the employ of the Steel Workers’ Union, and asked an extension of time in which to terminate this employment. Management replied that it would allow him until October 14th, 1945. The complainant stated that he did not know whether or not he could end his employment with the Steel Workers’ Union that quickly, but stated that he would telephone the plant again in a few days. On November 14th, 1945, one month after the period within which S. was to report for work, Management noted that it had not heard from him. Nevertheless, rather than terminate his seniority at once, Management sent a registered letter to his address as listed on the plant records (the same address as that to which the post card had been mailed). In this letter, Management stated that if he did not report for work in three days, his seniority would be cancelled. This letter was returned marked "Unclaimed." The complainant’s seniority was accordingly cancelled as of November 17th, 1945. Management did not hear from the complainant again until April 5th, 1946, after the termination of the General Motors strike, when he reported at the plant and requested employment. At that time he was informed that his seniority had been broken but that he would be offered work as a new employee. He accepted the job offered, but on April 15th, 1946, filed the present grievance claiming that his seniority had been terminated improperly and asking its restoration. In support of his request, the complainant explains that during the month of October, 1945, he was sent to Illinois by the United Steel Workers of America to aid in preventing strikes which threatened in several plants. While in Illinois, he stayed from time to time at the Y.M.C.A. in Granite City. He used this address, however, only as his headquarters, and was frequently away from it for days at a time. Because he knew he would be moving from place to place, he states, he did not notify the Fisher Body Plant of his change of address, but merely requested a neighbor to forward his mail to him at Granite City. The registered letter of November 14th, 1945, however, was not left in his mail box, and hence was never forwarded. These facts, the complainant urges, constitute a reasonable excuse for his failure to contact Management or report for work by November 17th, 1945. The difficulty with this contention is that though a "reasonable excuse" of this nature may have value in an appeal to Management’s discretion, it has no contractual significance in an Umpire Appeal. Paragraph 74 of the National Agreement places the responsibility of keeping local Management informed of his proper home address squarely upon the individual employee. If he fails to report for work within the three day time limit set by Paragraph 64 (d), he can avoid the breaking of his seniority only if he can give a "satisfactory reason." And a failure to receive the notice to report for work is a "satisfactory reason" only if he has complied with his obligation under Paragraph 74 and kept local Management informed as to the address at which he can be reached. This the complainant failed to do. He had already placed his seniority in jeopardy by allowing the October 14th deadline to pass without reporting for work. Elementary caution should have led him to communicate with Management before he left the address listed on the plant records. If, as he argues, he did not plan to be in any one place long enough to justify a change of address, he should at least have informed Management of this fact so that some satisfactory and certain method of communication might have been arranged if Management consented to give him a further extension of time. The complainant has a good record as an employee and it is unfortunate that the seniority he had accumulated prior to the General Motors strike has been lost. For its loss, however, he has only himself to blame. On no contractual grounds can the Umpire order its restoration. The grievance must be dismissed.
Decision: The grievance is dismissed.
Signed, Ralph T. Seward UMPIRE July 21, 1947. |