Heard at Montreal, Tuesday, March 9, 1976

Concerning

and

SDM level to apply to four (4) temporary positions of Clerk established at Angus Shops to process Job Security Forms.

On September 19, 1975 the Company advertised for four (4) temporary Clerks to process Job Security forms at a rate of $199.84 per week (SDM level 1-2).

The Brotherhood disagreed with the rate applied to these positions and proposed a rate of $221.34 per week (SDM level L-1).

The parties have been unable to reach agreement as to the SDM level for these positions.

There appeared on behalf of the Company:

D. Cardi – Labour Relations Officer, Montreal

A. Turgeon – Office Manager, Works Manager’s Office, Montreal

J. Molnar – Assistant Supervisor of Staff Records, Montreal

R. Wheatley – Office Assistant, Montreal

C. F. R. Aubertin – Supervisor of Personnel & Labour Relations, Montreal

And on behalf of the Brotherhood:

W. T. Swain – General Chairman, Montreal

D. Hertabuk – Vice General Chairman, Montreal

The general duties of the temporary position in question were set out in the bulletin as follows:

The question to be decided is whether the rate of pay set by the Company for the job was in conformity with the rates specified for similar positions covered by the collective agreement in which the duties are relatively the same. The matter is governed by Article 7 of the collective agreement.

It is the Union’s position that the job in question involved relatively the same work as that of the Senior Clerk, located in the Superintendent’s Office, Park Avenue, Montreal, or the Timekeeper, Wharf Freight Offices, located in Montreal and in Saint John.

The duties of the Senior Clerk’s job are as follows:

1. Check job security claims (Form 3659) – verify employee exhausted seniority rights.
1. Compute credits earned – (search staff records required).
1. Issue Form 3660 to Montreal Trust authorizing payments.
1. Issue Form 3661 to Montreal Trust terminating payments.
1. Keeping records of credits expended and to be added.
1. Marking of staff record cards of employees on Job Security.
1. Maintaining files for individual employees who have received or are receiving benefits.
1. Prepare a statement of all men on Job Security for distribution to all departments.
1. Handle weekly benefit cheques received from Montreal Trust.
1. Handle telephone enquiries from all departments re Job Security matters.
1. Handle correspondence and telephone communications with Montreal Trust.
1. Contact various departments to determine whether there are any vacancies which could be filled by displaced personnel on transfer basis.
1. Bulletin and award vacancies occurring on Clerks’ Master Seniority Rosters, Montreal Terminals and Laurentian Division.
1. Handle enquiries from displaced employees on above lists as to where they could exercise seniority and qualifications required.
1. Maintain Clerks’ Master Seniority Lists – both divisions.

That job involves work relating to claims against the job security fund as well as work related to the general seniority rights of employees. It would appear to include tasks covered by the job here in question but it involves other tasks as well, of a more complex nature. In terms of diversity and complexity of work performed, there must be said to be a "significant difference" between the job of a temporary Clerk at Angus and that of a Senior Clerk at Park Avenue, Montreal. In my view, payment of a Clerk at Angus at the same level could not be justified.

The duties of a Timekeeper, Wharf Freight Offices, are to supervise and assist in the compiling of payrolls. This involves the compilation of time not only for regular wage payments, but also for vacation, holidays, insurance claims and many other matters. The work includes supervision of staff and familiarity with changing instructions and regulations. Again, the work is more diverse and complex than that of the job here in question. In my view payment of a Clerk at Angus at the same level as that of a Timekeeper, Wharf Freight Offices, could not be justified.

It is the Company’s position that when regard is had to certain other positions at Angus, the slotting of the Clerk’s job at the I-1 level may be seen to be correct. Thus, the job of the Senior Clerk (Records), slotted at the K-1 level, is described as follows:

The job of Clerk (Paymaster) is described as follows:

The job of Senior Clerk (Records) seems to me clearly to involve more varied and difficult work than that of the job in question. The work of the Clerk (Paymaster) is narrower in scope, and appears to be similar in some ways to that of Clerk. It appears to me, however, to involve a somewhat wider variety of forms and statements and to require somewhat more work in the way of computation and verification.

Reference may also be made to certain jobs classified as Clerk (Records) at Angus, slotted at SDM level I-1, just below the rate of the job in question. These employees appear to be engaged in a variety of tasks, although not of a very complex nature. It was the Company’s submission that the job in question could well have been slotted at that level. While the matter may be arguable, there are no doubt some grounds of distinction which would justify a higher rate for the job in question. It is clear to me, however, that the job cannot properly be said to be relatively the same as the higher-rated job of Senior Clerk (Records), and it would be difficult to justify the conclusion that it was relatively the same as that of Clerk (Paymaster). In my view, the position was correctly slotted at the l-2 level.

For the foregoing reasons, the grievance is dismissed.