BLE&T Alameda Division #20
www.BLET20.org

Question: May an "approved" single day vacation later be denied by management?

Answer: Vacation time Is subject to the needs of the service and may be modified If service requirements dictate. This is has gone to arbitration and the Board has been very dear that the Corporation has the right to run trains. In the extreme, an employee has the "demand right" to be paid vacation earnings In lieu of time off.

It Is the Organization's position that once an employee has been scheduled/authorized for a single day (or full week of vacation) management cannot withhold the vacation If they have a Qualified person who can protect the assignment.

In establishing single day vacations the parties contemplated It would be handled the same as the personal holiday. Obviously, this Invites the potential for conflict between (1) the need to protect service by taking back the single day already authorized, or (2) a junior employee who requested well in advance but faces losing his slot to a senior employee who waited until the last minute to request a single day,

If the single day is scheduled through the designated BLE Vacation Coordinator sufficiently In advance for It to be submitted along with the weekly list to CMS of regular vacations then the time will be protected.