Returning to senority question

Lets say your #30 on the roster and you take a management, engineer or whatever position for some time. As time goes on, lets say 5 people move off the roster. Had you stayed, you would now be #25.

If are able to return to your previous craft, would you be back at #30, or #25?

You would be at #25, going to Managment will keep you in original position on roster.

Actually, it depends on the governing Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Once a person leaves a craft (union position) and takes a management job, many companies cease to deduct union dues from that person. By doing so, that person's seniority becomes "frozen"; meaning they're in default by not paying dues. So, if a person had 7 years, 3 months, and 21 days in a craft and went management and stopped paying dues, and subsequently returned to their craft 10 years later, they'd come back with 7 years, 3 months, and 21 days and rank accordingly on the seniority roster; as if they "disappeared" for those 10 years.

However, every railroad/union C.B.A. has provisions were managers may continue to pay union dues (or portion thereof) in order to accumulate seniority while in management, and in the event they return to their craft, they'll come back with full "year to date" seniority.

Any person considering a management position should review their C.B.A. to ensure they comply with the "non-agreement personelle" provisions.

We called it "paying an 'Agency Fee'" on NS. Leaving management was called "going back on one's tools" (particularly for shop crafts).


Gadfly

can you guys buy your time back in this instance?

Steve F45 wrote:can you guys buy your time back in this instance?

If you're asking "Can a supervisor who didn't pay dues for ten years write a check and get his ten years seniority unfrozen?", then the answer is NO. No one can "retroactively" buy back their seniority. Employees must comply with the C.B.A. in order to accumulate day-for-day seniority.

The only time seniority is lost then later restored is when a law board (PLB, SBA, NRAB) issues a ruling that reinstates a dismissed/suspended employee and is given his/her original seniority as if they were never off the roster to begin with...

On the BNSF you keep your date and your number changes accordingly.

As SLR stated, the BLET By-Laws call for continued dues maintenance to be paid, to the ND, "unless the CBA calls for modification of this". The property here has seniority continuing to accrue, even though dues are not paid when you accept an "official position" with this carrier. It's strictly defined, in each property's CBA. There's no provision to pay "back dues", unless there's been a "dues check-off", and a Member is allowed to get straight, with a 30 day back dues bill being paid, but this doesn't/wouldn't apply, in this situation.

Years ago the BLE only required the national legislative and one other
item on the receipt to be paid by members holding official positions. I
think it came to about one dollar a month. This applied to people on
Penn Central and Conrail. I do not know just what the situation is today
but I doubt if it has changed very much.
Noel Weaver