Article XII of the 1995 National Agreement (The Award of Arbitration Board 559) mandates that displacement rights must be exercised within 48 hours from the time of "proper notification under the applicable agreement or practice". If a displaced employee does not exercise seniority within that time, the National Agreement provides mandatory placement to the "extra board protecting the assignment from which displaced". A June 1, 1997 Letter of Understanding provides that if unable to hold the specified extra board, they must displace the junior employee working in the type of service (road/yard/hostler) from which they were displaced. If there is no junior employee in the same type of service, they must displace the junior employee working in that zone.
There has been some confusion as whether or not a VRU notification constitutes "proper notification" so as to start the 48-hour clock. Simply placing a notification message on the VRU without attempting to promptly notify a displaced employee by phone certainly does not constitute proper notification. On the other hand, a displaced employee cannot indefinitely prolong the beginning of the 48-hour displacement clock by simply avoiding contact with either the crew caller or the VRU. The following guidelines should resolve most of the confusion in this matter:
When an employee is displaced, the Carrier must attempt to promptly advise the employee by phone. Obviously, if the employee is contacted, then such notification would begin the 48-hour displacement clock.
If the Carrier is unable to contact an employee by phone, the employee has not been properly notified. However, the Carrier would not be liable for any subsequent lost earnings as a result of the employee's failure to respond to the notification attempt by phone. In such cases, if the displaced employee (or some other authorized person) later accesses the VRU and accepts a displacement notice, then the 48-hour clock begins at the time of such acceptance.
If the displaced employee (or some other authorized person) accesses the VRU but does not accept the notification, or if the employee does not contact either the VRU or the crew caller at all, then the 48-hour displacement clock begins when the employee's former assignment next works without him.
For an employee who is displaced while on vacation, the 48-hour clock would start when the employee reports from vacation and is notified of the displacement.
If an employee is properly notified of displacement before the start of a vacation period, and does not exercise seniority prior to beginning a vacation period that commences within the 48-hour displacement window, such employee must exercise seniority upon reporting at the end of the vacation period or be placed pursuant to Article XII.
These guidelines should resolve most questions as to proper notification of displacement and the beginning of the 48-hour displacement window.