Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen

M. H. Siegele                                                                             August 27, 2004
VP/BNSF                                                                                  File: Jury Duty
2600 Lou Menk Drive
 P. 0. Box 961030
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0030

Dear Mr. Siegele,

This letter is in reference to Division General Notice Number 94, dated August 2, 2004, TY&E Instructions, section Jury Duty Instructions. 

We note that the Carrier has taken this language virtually verbatim from the 1997 Engineers’ Temporary Transfer Agreement Side Letter No. 1, which refers to Article XII-Jury Duty. However, we wish to point out that the sentence in the first paragraph which reads “This compensation will only be allowed for days which employee receives actual pay from the court for jury service”, is incorrect, and is in direct conflict with the aforementioned Agreement. The aforementioned agreement does not require an Engineer to be paid by the court in order to receive compensation from the BNSF Railway. 

As you are probably aware, when an employee is summoned for jury duty, they are placed in a jury pool and used as needed, and are required to check in, by law, on a daily basis, to see if they are needed by the court for that day. Those employees may or may not receive compensation from the Court on these days. If not needed, then they repeat the procedure until their commitment is fulfilled, and the court releases them. In many cases an Engineer who is performing jury duty, and who clearly comes under the payment provisions of the Agreement, may not be receiving any compensation from the Court. 

Accordingly, we request that you immediately remove the above mentioned verbiage that has been inserted into the agreement language, “This compensation will only be allowed for days which employee receives actual pay from the court for jury services” and replace it with the language that actually appears in the Agreement, “for each such day, excepting allowances paid by the court for meals, lodging and transportation, subject to the following qualification requirements and limitations”. The notice will then be in compliance with Agreement language, allowing Engineers who are performing jury duty to then be properly compensated as outlined in the Agreement.

 You will find the said Agreement attached to this letter.

 Please advise this office when this correction has been made.

Sincerely,

 /s/ Dennis R. Pierce
General Chairman

SJB

 cc: All LC’s
Pat Williams former ATSF GCA
Rick Gibbons former SLSF GCA
Austin Morrison former CS/FWD/JTD GCA

 Attachment

M. H. Siegele                                                                              2600 Lou Menk Drive
Asst. Vice President-Labor Relations                                           P. 0. Box 961030
Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company                    Ft. Worth, TX 76161-0030

1997 ENGINEERS' TEMPORARY TRANSFER AGREEMENT

SIDE LETTER NO. 1

Gentlemen:

This is to confirm our understanding in connection with jury duty for engineers.

ARTICLE XII- Jury Duty 

(a)        When an engineer is summoned for jury duty and is required to lose time from his assignment as a result thereof; he will be paid for actual time lost with a minimum of a basic day’s pay at the straight time rate of his position for each calendar day lost, less the amount allowed him for jury service for each such day, excepting allowances paid by the court for meals, lodging and transportation, subject to the following qualification requirements and limitations: 

(1)   An engineer must furnish the BNSF with a statement form the court of jury allowances paid and the days on which jury duty was performed. 

(2)   The number of days for which jury duty pay will be paid is limited to a maximum of 60 days in any calendar year. 

(3)   No jury duty pay will be allowed for any day on which the engineer is entitled to vacation or holiday pay. 

(b)        The provisions of this agreement do not limit or restrict jury duty payments made under the provision of state or local statutes.
 

Sincerely,                                                           I CONCUR

M. H. Siegele                                                     _/s/ DL McPherson_______________
Assistant Vice President                                      D. L. McPherson
Labor Relations                                                  General Chairman

                                                                          _/s/ TR Murphy__________________
                                                                          T.R.Murphy 
                                                                          General Chairman

                                                                         _/s/ AG Morrison__________________
                                                                        A. G. Morrison
                                                                        General Chairman