General
Agreement between the Utility Workers Union of America, International Chemical
Worker’s Union and the Southern California Gas Company
2005
(Proof
Set for Printing)
Article
I
Labor/Management
Peace Principles
1.1
– SoCalGas and the Union agree that it is in their mutual interest to work
in an environment where there is labor/management peace and cooperation in
order to meet competitive challenges, secure economic security for the
employees and better serve SoCalGas customers.
1.2
– SoCalGas and the Union recognize that the business success of the Company
is necessary to provide employees economic security.
1.3
– SoCalGas and the Union will attempt to settle matters of mutual concern
such as environmental concerns, individual safety concerns, and administrative
matters in the spirit of the partnership in lieu of resorting to
administrative, environmental, safety, NLRB, etc., type of complaints.
1.4
– SoCalGas will ensure that its management team adheres to the principles
and spirit governing this partnership.
1.5
– The Union National/Local elected leadership will officially communicate to
its membership and appointed leaders (i.e., shop stewards, etc.) that they
must adhere to the principles and spirit governing this partnership and will
proactively intervene if lack of adherence occurs.
1.6
– The Union agrees not to intervene in local, state or federal regulatory or
administrative hearings, proceedings or investigations, or with financial
institutions for purposes of opposing SoCalGas or undermining its business
interest. Both parties recognize,
however, that from time to time the Union and SoCalGas may be on opposing
sides of issues and agree that in such circumstances full discussion of such
differences will take place before such differences appear in a public forum.
1.7
– The Union will discontinue their sponsorship of any and all campaigns
against SoCalGas, its products, and/or management.
1.8
– SoCalGas and the Union agree that in order to work in a true partnership
that embodies trust, it is necessary for each to share information about
business issues, including, on occasion, sensitive information and operating
information. In order to
accomplish this, SoCalGas and the Union will meet at mutually agreed times to
discuss the information and these issues and other matters of general concern
that are important to the maintenance of the partnership.
1.9
– SoCalGas supports employees’ rights to gain economic security through
collective bargaining in their Unions.
1.10
– SoCalGas will remain neutral in all organizing drives conducted by the
Union for bargaining unit work, as defined by this Agreement, performed by
SoCalGas or subsidiaries of SoCalGas, which operate or come to operate in the
territory currently served by SoCalGas (service territory as of 8-8-96).
If the Union secures a simple majority of authorization cards, subject
to a mutually agreed upon verification and validation process, in an
organizing drive as described above, for an appropriate bargaining unit, then
the Company shall recognize the Union as representative for bargaining
purposes for that unit without a secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB.
The authorization card shall read, “I___________, wish to have the
UWUA/ICWUC represent me as my exclusive bargaining representative for wages,
hours, and other terms and conditions of employment”, and all
representations by the Union will be consistent with this language.
The above shall not be applicable to any situation in which SoCalGas
acquires in any fashion an existing business or company performing work
relating to existing bargaining unit work.
1.11
– SoCalGas will remain neutral in all organizing drives conducted by the
Union at SoCalGas.Article
II
Management/Union
Rights, Relationships, Responsibilities
2.1
– Management Rights
(A)
General Statement:
The
Company has and will retain the unquestionable
and exclusive right and power to manage its business and direct the
working forces, including the right to hire, classify, grade, suspend,
discharge, promote, demote or transfer its employees, provided it does not
conflict with the provisions of this Agreement.
Nothing in this Agreement is intended to or is to be construed in any
way to interfere with the recognized prerogative of the Company to manage and
control the business.
(B)
Contracting Out:
(1)
Except as otherwise specified in this Agreement, the Company shall not
contract out work performed by the following classifications (hereinafter
called “fenced-in classifications”).(2)
Routine Work: The
Company retains its right to determine the best course to follow with regard
to expanding or contracting the regular working force.
The
Company retains the right to contract out in the following situations:
fluctuating or seasonal work loads where the employment of additional
regular employees could reasonably be expected to result in periodic shortages
of work for such regular employees; to avoid payment of overtime rates; to
conduct pilot programs; when contractors have specialized skills or equipment
which make it more efficient for the Company to utilize them.
No
layoff of regular employees shall occur as a result of contracting out under
the provisions of this section.
(3)
Special Projects:
The
Company will continue, as in the past, to employ architects and contractors,
as occasion and fair outside business relations may require, for construction
and building operations and for special maintenance projects not regularly a
part of its activities in producing and distributing natural gas.
The Company will not undertake to regulate the conditions of employment
which may prevail under outside contracts or subcontracts covering such
construction, building or maintenance.
2.2
– Union Rights
(A)
Recognition:
The
Company recognizes the Union for those units where the Union, through National
Labor Relations Board certification, has been designated as the exclusive
bargaining agency for employees of the Company covered by this Agreement,
i.e., employees represented by Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, and
International Chemical Workers Union Council of the UFCW, AFL-CIO jointly, as
certified by the NLRB in Case No. 21-RC-11756; and employees represented by
Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, as certified by the NLRB in Case
Nos. 31-RC-1072 and 31-RM-164 and in Case No. 21-AC-41.
The
Company shall notify the Union when it creates an entirely new nonmanagement
job classification or work location. This
notification shall include pertinent facts including, but not limited to:
classification, department, and the work location where the
classification is proposed to be placed.
Southern
California Gas Company agrees that this Agreement shall apply in the event
that it decides, in its sole judgment, to create a new subsidiary to perform
bargaining unit work within its current service territory.
Whenever the Company or a subsidiary of the Company creates a job
classification within its current service territory (as of August 8, 1996)
which performs production, maintenance, technical or clerical work with job
duties consistent with bargaining unit work, such classifications shall also
be included in the Agreement.
The
Company further agrees that, effective the date of the Agreement, general and
accounting clerical positions shall be included in the bargaining unit.
The Union hereby agrees the incumbents defined above shall have
bargaining unit seniority based upon their hire date.
However, positions traditionally excluded by the Company due to
performance of confidential work (including, but not limited to Human
Resources personnel or personnel performing Human Resources functions,
secretaries [Associates/Assistants] of all levels, department heads and
above), classifications which the Union has previously relinquished their
representational rights to (including, but not limited to Marketing), and
positions historically regarded by the Company as management are also
excluded.
Recognition
described above shall not be applicable to any situation in which the Gas
Company acquires in any fashion an existing business or company performing
work relating to existing bargaining unit work.
Their inclusion shall only be determined in connection with appropriate
proceedings before the NLRB or by specific agreement between the parties.
(B)
Union Leave of Absence:
(1)
Regular employees selected by the Union to do work for the Union which takes
them from their employment with the Company, shall upon written request of the
Union be authorized to absent themselves from their work with the Company for
the period of their services for the Union; provided, however, that the number
of employees on leave under the provisions of this Section shall not at any
one time exceed five employees who are members of the ICWUC or eight employees
who are members of the UWUA.
During
such Leave of Absence to do work for the Union, such employee shall
have the same bid priority upon return to the Company as those provided
in Section 5.10.(B).1 (Disability Bid) hereof, except that such
employee shall have the right to return at any time to the same classification
and kind of work in which such employee was last engaged prior to entering the
service of the Union under the provisions of this Section; and, further, that
such employee shall accumulate seniority during the full term of such service
for the Union.
(2)
In addition, upon written request from the Union, the Company will authorize
regular employees to be absent from their jobs without (per Bret on
3/31/05, this section will be edited to include information about the new
Union pay code) pay for the purpose of attending Union meetings,
Union-sponsored schools and Union conventions, providing the following
conditions are met:
(a)
Employees selected by the Union as
delegates to state, regional, or national conferences or conventions shall,
upon written request of the President of any Local Union, be granted
permission to be absent from the Company for short periods of time whenever
such absence does not interfere with the conduct of Company business.
Such employees may apply unused vacation allowance to cover the time
required for official duties and travel time by air in connection with
such activities. Additional
vacation may be scheduled only if the employee’s regular seniority
preference entitles him or her to it.
(b)
Where operating necessity permits, officers of the Union who may be on shift
will be allowed time off the job in order to attend meetings of the Local
Union.
(c)
Where operating necessity permits and where the written request has been
received by Labor Relations at least 24 hours prior to the time of the
beginning of the requested absence, members of the Union will be allowed
specific periods of time up to ten working days in order to do Union
administrative work. The written
request must be received by Labor Relations during the normal course of
business hours, excluding weekends and Company-observed holidays.
(d)
The Union agrees to make a reasonable effort to minimize the number of
customer service personnel on leave under (2) of this section during the
seasonal light period, and will attempt to rotate leave requests so as not to
unduly burden a given operation or location.
(C)
Union Security:
(1)
Each employee who is working in a bargaining unit classification on or before
the effective date of this Agreement shall be required as a condition of
employment to meet their financial obligation by making monthly union
membership dues to either the Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, or to
the International Chemical Workers Union Council, UFCW, AFL-CIO.
Such employees who fail to meet their dues obligations to the Union
will be subject to termination.
Newly
hired prospective regular employees shall be required as a condition of
employment to pay the amount of monthly dues effective with the month
following completion of 30 days of service; except that an employee
with less than 30 days of service who submits two authorizations for
payroll deduction of dues, one to each union, will be notified as promptly as
practicable that he or she must choose one union or the other for payroll
deduction purposes. Deduction of
dues in such case shall commence following notification to the Human Resources
Department, of the employee’s final choice, in accordance with the
provisions of paragraph (2) of this Section.
In
addition, any employee who comes from outside the bargaining unit into a job
classification represented by the Union shall similarly be required to pay
Union dues effective with the month following completion of 30 days
service within the bargaining unit. An
employee’s obligation to pay Union dues in accordance with these
requirements can be met by keeping in effect a valid authorization for payroll
deduction of such dues, as provided under paragraph (2) following.
Except when he or she transfers from one unit to another, as defined in
Section 2.2 (Recognition), an employee’s obligation to pay dues may not be
transferred from one of the unions that is party to this Agreement to the
other.
(2)
An employee may join or may authorize that monthly dues deductions be paid to,
either the Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, or the International
Chemical Workers Union Council, UFCW, AFL-CIO.
Upon individual authorization in writing on a form acceptable to the
Company, the Company will, on the first and second payday of each month,
deduct from any employee’s wages for the related pay periods the amounts
required to equal the total monthly Union membership dues for the current
calendar month. The Union agrees
that the monthly dues shall be constructed in dollar amounts evenly divisible
by two. Such authorization shall
be effective as of the first of the month following that in which the
authorization is received by the Company.
For regular employees such deduction will be made only if the employee
has earnings of 20 or more regular straight-time hours in such related pay
period (including the final pay period of employees who terminate or transfer
between companies). An employee
with a Union dues deduction authorization in effect who transfers from one
unit to another, as defined in Section 2.2 (Recognition), shall be required to
submit a new authorization within 30 calendar days following the effective
date of the employee’s transfer.
(3)
The Company will remit to the Financial Secretary or Treasurer for the Local
Union, not later than twelve calendar days following the end of
said related pay periods, the full amount of such deduction for dues
made during the pay period. Except
in the bargaining units within the Transmission Regions and the Professional
and Technical units, the Union may notify the Company to transfer remittance
of dues from one local Union to another of the Utility Workers Union of
America, AFL-CIO, or from one Local Union to another of the International
Chemical Workers Union Council, UFCW, AFL-CIO, such transfer to be effected as
of the first of the months following receipt of notification.
(4)
It is agreed that the Union shall indemnify and save the Company harmless from
any claims, suits, or any other form of liability as the result of making
payroll deductions for membership dues in accordance with the terms of any
previously agreed upon or current payroll deduction form.
In addition, it is agreed that it is the Union and not the Company that
is responsible for the collection of unpaid dues when a dues deduction is not
made for any reason. It is
further agreed that the Company is not liable to the Union for any failure to
deduct dues but that the Union’s sole remedy is to collect unpaid dues
directly from the employee.
(5)
The Union agrees that neither it nor any of its officers or members will
intimidate or coerce employees into membership in the Union.
The Company agrees that neither it nor any of its officers or
supervisory employees will intimidate or coerce employees to refrain from
joining the Union.
(D)
Union Activity:
The
Company will not discriminate against any employee for engaging in Union
activity. Union activity shall
not take place on the job in such a way that it interferes with the work.
However, the Company will permit access to Company property by Union
representatives to expedite the handling of grievances, to contact members of
the Union, or to visit Union Bulletin Boards, under the following
circumstances:
When
more than one employee is to be contacted, such visitations shall normally be
limited to the lunch period or immediately prior to the beginning of or after
the end of a shift. When only one
employee is to be contacted, or when a grievance investigation is involved, or
when a Union bulletin board is to be visited, such visitations may be made at
any convenient time during working hours.
The Union representative shall request permission in advance by no
later than 2 p.m. on the business day preceding the day of the visit from
the Director, Labor Relations, other Headquarters Directors or Region Directors
and shall limit his or her visitation to a reasonable length of time.
Where
practicable the supervisor will provide an appropriate place for the Union
representative to confer with the employee or employees.
It is understood and agreed that such discussions will be limited to
particular problems arising under this Agreement and will exclude discussions
of general Union administrative procedures.
It is further agreed that such visitations will not be used for
purposes of organizing employees, official union meetings, recruiting
new members, or collecting dues.
(E)
No-Strike Clause:
There
shall be no picketing, strikes, concerted failure to report for work,
slowdowns or stoppages of work, nor any lock-outs, during the term of this
Agreement.
The
Company agrees that neither the Union, its officers or official
representatives, shall be liable for damages for unauthorized picketing,
strikes, concerted failure to report for work, slowdowns or stoppages of work,
if:
(1)
The Union gives written notice to the Company and the employees involved,
within 24 hours after being informed by the Company of such action, that it
has not authorized the stoppage, strike, slowdown or suspension of work, and
such written notice directs the employees involved to return promptly to their
jobs and cease any further violation of this Agreement, and if:
(2)
The Union at the same time authorizes the Company to give such further
publication of such notice as in the sole judgment of the Company appears
desirable.
It
is recognized that the Company has the right to take disciplinary action,
including discharge, against any employee who is responsible for or
participates in a breach of a provision in the first paragraph of this
Section, whether or not the Union gives the notice provided in this paragraph.
It is agreed that such action on the part of the Company shall be final
and binding upon the Union and shall in no case be construed as a violation by
the Company of any provision of this Agreement.
However, an issue of fact as to whether or not any particular employee
has engaged in, participated in, or encouraged any such violation, may be
subject to the grievance procedure and or arbitration.
(F)
Picket Lines:
Recognizing
the obligation of the Company and of its employees to render service to the
public under the provisions of the California Public Utilities Act and the
franchises granted to the Company thereunder, the
Union and the Company agree that the presence of a picket or of a picket line
on or adjacent to the premises of any customer or potential customer of the
Company shall not, of itself, remove the obligation to render such service as
has been regularly applied for or otherwise properly requested by such
customer, or such service as is necessary in the interest of public health and
safety or in the normal routine of Company operations.
It
is further agreed, however, that employees are not required to cross a picket
line if in the employee’s best judgment it appears to the employee that such
entry may result in physical violence or injury to him or her.
In such event the employee shall specifically explain to the person in
charge of such picket line the obligation of the Company and of its employees
to render service and inquire as to whether or not such entry will be
physically resisted. Where such
inquiry has been made and the employee is advised by the person in charge of
the picket line that his or her entry will be so resisted, or in case violence
actually in progress precludes such inquiry, the employee shall forthwith
notify his or her supervisor. In
no case will the employee be required to enter the customer’s premises under
the circumstances hereinabove described until any such threat of resistance to
such entry shall have been removed. Failure
to gain entry to the customer’s premises under the circumstances hereinabove
described shall not, in and of itself, be deemed a violation of the terms of
the Agreement, nor shall it result in the loss of seniority or pay to the
employee involved.
(G)
Seniority List:
The
Company agrees to furnish the
Union the seniority lists of all regular and probationary employees in work
locations covered by the terms of this Agreement.
The seniority list shall be by Region and by classification, and shall
be corrected and brought up to date every three months.
(H)
Union Officers: Seven
(7) officers
from all locals of the UWUA and
Five (5) officers from all locals of the ICWUC, for a total of not more than
Twelve (12) representatives may elect to be excluded from off-hour shifts or
details during the period that he or she holds office, provided that the
employee is in a working group that rotates through such assignments and that
is large enough for his or her exclusion to meet operating convenience.
It is understood that dispatch office working groups are not ordinarily
considered large enough to qualify hereunder.
In
the event of layoffs for lack of work as provided in Article VII (Shortage of
Work) the members of the Steering Committee of the Joint Labor Committee (not
to exceed eight employees), the President of Local 483 of the UWUA, and the
President of Local 522 of the UWUA, if assigned during their respective terms
of office to progressions in which layoffs occur, shall in face of such
layoffs, be placed at the top of the seniority list of the respective job progressions
in which such layoffs occur. Upon
termination of their respective terms of office, such officers shall
automatically revert to their appropriate positions on the seniority lists of
the job progressions to which they are respectively assigned.
The Union agrees to notify the Company of the names of such officers
and of their term of office at the time of their election.
The special seniority accorded hereunder will not apply unless such
notification is received by the Company in writing at the time of the signing
of this Agreement or within 30 calendar days after the election of such
officers.
(I)
Bulletin Boards:
In
plants or units covered by this Agreement the Company will erect and maintain
bulletin boards in suitable places mutually agreed upon, to be used solely by
the Union for the posting of notices of the following type only, except that
additional notices may be posted upon approval by local management or by the
Director, Labor Relations:
(1)
Notices of Union recreational and social affairs.
(2)
Notices of Union elections, appointments, and result of Union elections.
(3)
Notices of Union meetings.
(4)
Minutes of Shop Committee meetings.
Notices
that have been approved by local management will be identified by an asterisk
or star placed in the upper left-hand corner.
Notices that have been approved for posting by the Director, Labor
Relations will be identified by two such asterisks or stars in the upper
left-hand corner.
It
is mutually agreed that the bulletin boards shall not be used for posting or
distributing pamphlets or political matter of any kind, nor for the posting or
distributing of matter derogatory to supervisors, management or the Company,
or for advertising.
As
a service to the Union, the Company will arrange to have any of the following
items posted, when issued, on the General Bulletin Boards in each District and
Region headquarters office, and in each major plant and operating base:
This
Agreement
The
Job Profile Index
The
appropriate area seniority list provided in paragraph (G) herein
Notices
of Prequalifying Test Sessions
(J)
Notification of New Employees:
Newly
hired employees who are subject to this Agreement shall be so notified by the
Company at the time of their employment in the manner agreed upon at the time
of the execution of this Agreement.
2.3
– Nondiscrimination
The
Company and the Union agree that neither will discriminate because of age,
sex, handicap, medical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, race,
religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, or otherwise in accordance
with federal and/or state law.
2.4
– Conclusion of Bargaining & Term of Agreement
(A)
Term:
This
Agreement shall be effective from January
1, 2005,
to and including
September 30, 2008.
(B)
Good Faith:
The
Company and the Union expressly stipulate that the provisions of this
Agreement, irrespective of the give and take entering into negotiations
thereof, and without prejudice to future negotiations, are essentially fair
and equitable, and each party further stipulates that this Agreement is
entered into without mental reservations, unexpressed lack of agreement or
other failure to agree with the provisions hereof, it being the express intent
of both parties to conclude this Agreement and to observe the covenants herein
set forth in complete good faith.
(C)
Zipper Clause:
It
is agreed that during negotiations which resulted in this Agreement each party
had the unlimited right and opportunity to make demands and proposals with
respect to any subject or matter not removed by law or by agreement through a
valid and existing contract from the area of collective bargaining and that
the understanding and agreements arrived at by the parties after the exercise
of that right are set forth in this Agreement.
Therefore, the Company and the Union for the life of this Agreement
each voluntarily and without qualification waives the right and each agrees
that the other shall not be obligated to bargain collectively with respect to
any subject or matter referred to or covered in this Agreement, or with
respect to any subject or matter not specifically referred to or covered in
this Agreement even though such subject or matter may not have been within the
knowledge or contemplation of either or both of the parties at the time they
negotiated or signed this Agreement.
(D)
Governmental Approval:
It
is agreed that the provisions of this Agreement relating to expenditures which
may be subject to Governmental approval will be submitted to the appropriate
Governmental agencies and are subject to such approval.
(E)
Printing of Agreement:
The
Company agrees to
use the services of a Union recognized printer
to print copies of this Agreement and to distribute to all bargaining unit
employees a copy of the printed Agreement.
In addition, the Company agrees to provide each local with Agreements
equal in number to 10% of their respective memberships.
2.5
– Labor-Management Activities
(A)
Notices:
Notices
required to be served under the terms of this Agreement shall be sufficiently
served for all purposes herein when mailed, postage prepaid, certified mail,
return receipt requested, to Southern California Gas Company, attention —
Labor Relations, Manager of Labor Relations, 555 West Fifth Street, Los
Angeles 90003-1022, for service upon the Company and when similarly mailed to
Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, 7200
Greenleaf Avenue, Suite 380, Whittier, CA 90601 (Area Code 562-696-0142,
Company Mail Location #702J), and/or to International Chemical Workers Union
Council, UFCW, AFL-CIO, 8530 Stanton Avenue, Suite 2-C, Buena Park, 90620
(Area Code 714-816-1922), Company Mail Location #702F), for service upon the
Union, and the date of delivery of such notice shall be the controlling date
for all purposes hereunder.
(B)
Interim Meetings:
In
order to effectuate this Agreement, the Union and the Company mutually agree
to have their respective committees meet to discuss the administration of the
Agreement and any problems that arise thereunder.
The committee shall consist of the representatives who negotiated this
agreement or their successors. A
review of industrial accidents and suggestions on safety matters that are
considered to be more than local in scope may be part of the agenda.
Such meetings shall be scheduled any time during the term of this
Agreement, within
24
to 48 hours
following the receipt by the Company of the Union’s agenda.
(C)
Safety – Company/Union Policy:
The
Union and the Company agree to cooperate in maintaining safe working
conditions. No employee shall be
required to work under conditions or operate equipment which does not meet the
requirements of the lawful orders of the State of California pertaining to
employee safety, and refusal to work under such conditions or operate such
equipment shall not in and of itself be deemed in violation of paragraph (B)
of Section 6.3 (Causes for Disciplinary Action), nor of Section 2.2(E)
(No-Strike Clause).
(D)
Safety Committees:
It
is agreed that upon execution of the present Agreement, Safety Committees may
be established.
(1) Region and Headquarters Department Safety
Committees
Safety
Committees established within the Joint Certification shall be composed of
three representatives designated by the Union, two from the majority Union and
one from the minority Union. (These
numbers shall be increased to three and two for the Inland Empire Region,
Redlands Committee and for the Northern Region, Chatsworth Committee).
Safety Committees established outside the Joint Certification shall be
composed of two representatives designated by the Union.
Two
representatives will be designated by the Company plus a representative of
Safety Management’s Staff. By
mutual agreement a greater number of regular representatives, not to exceed
the number necessary to represent affected work groups, may be established.
The Union representatives shall be selected from the employees of the
departments or Region represented by the committee on which they are to serve.
The Company representatives shall be members of, or have jurisdiction
over, departments represented by the committee on which they are to serve.
Whenever practicable, other Company employees who are knowledgeable
about particular topics may attend committee meetings.
The
Safety Committees shall hold meetings quarterly or upon request of either
party or according to any regular schedule mutually agreed upon by Union
representatives and local management to permit inspection, discussion, and
review of local health and safety conditions and practices.
(2)
District and Local Safety Committees
Employee
participation in safety management through local safety committees is strongly
encouraged. These guidelines are
intended to facilitate formation of safety committees in organizations that do
not currently have one and to promote consistency in committee make-up and
function.
Safety
Committees will be established at a district and department by mutual consent
of management and the Union(s). The
committee should be made up of at least three represented persons (larger
locations may have more). To
obtain the best cross section of employee representation, a person from each
work group should be on the committee (i.e. customer contact, field services,
meter reading, etc.). In
addition, a representative of Management and the Union will serve, and in
turn, will mutually agree on the method of selecting the rest of the
committee. The length of term
will be twelve (12) months on a rotating basis or end of project (not to
exceed eighteen (18) months). To
maximize education, all employees at the location should have an opportunity
to serve on the committee. Persons
selected to service on the committee should be those who support the Company
and the Union’s efforts in safety and incident prevention.
Responsibilities
The
responsibilities of the safety committee will be varied based on the needs and
requirements of each work location. Some
general duties are listed below:
1.
By consensus, the committee will agree on a meeting schedule.
2.
Assist in planning and conducting of the safety meetings.
3.
Promote the idea that a person’s safety is everyone’s responsibility.
4.
Review suggestions from employees pertaining to changes in safety programs,
safety equipment and make recommendations to appropriate personnel for
consideration.
5.
Be familiar with the contents of the Company’s Injury/Illness Prevention
Program Handbook and be prepared to make recommendations for changes to local
management or region safety supervisor.
6.
Be alert to the any hazard or hazardous conditions and report as soon as
possible to appropriate personnel designated by Safety Committee. Review
industrial injury and motor vehicle accident reports and make commendations on
methods of prevention and protection to prevent a similar recurrence.
7.
Communicate and coordinate safety/issues between work groups, all shifts, and
other safety committees.
Suggestions
and recommendations for the prevention and elimination of unhealthful and
unsafe conditions and practices shall be promptly investigated and acted upon
by the appropriate staff. Participating
representatives, insofar as practicable, shall be furnished, at least 24 hours
prior to the time of the meeting, with a written agenda of all matters to be
discussed at the meeting.
If
safety matters are not resolved to the satisfaction of Union representatives,
they may be referred to the grievance procedure under Section 6.8 (Grievance/
Arbitration Procedure) or, in the case of safety matters having system-wide
implications, to an Interim Meeting as set forth in Section 2.5 hereof.
If the matter is of sufficient urgency, the meeting may be scheduled
prior to the next otherwise planned Interim Meeting.
(E)
Shop Committees:
(1)
It is agreed that upon execution of the present Agreement, Shop Committees
shall be established in the following locations:MAJOR
SHOP COMMITTEES
Customer
Contact Centers
Customer
Service Mass Markets & Distribution Operations
South
Inland Region
Imperial
Redlands
Northern
Region
Chatsworth
Pacific
Coast Region
Anaheim
Compton
Gas
Transmission & Storage Operations
Beaumont
Blythe
Victorville/Newberry
Springs/Needles
Aliso
Canyon/Honor Rancho
Valencia/Chatsworth
Goleta/Ventura
Taft
Brea/Olympic/Saticoy
Playa
Del Rey/Montebello
SPECIAL
SHOP COMMITTEES
Business
Solutions
Fleet
Facilities
Logistics
Fabrication & Tool Repair/Meter Shop
Gas
Control
Customer
Assistance
DAP
CARE
Customer
Operations
Branch Offices
Mass Markets Billing
Mass Markets Credit & Collections
Meter Reading
Gas
Engineering
Engineering Analysis Center
Mapping Services
Customer
Remittance Processing
Data Distribution
Mail Payments
At
the Union’s request, the Company will establish additional Shop Committees
to deal with matters concerning Union represented employees not included under
the jurisdiction of any Shop Committee listed above.
(2)
Shop Committees established within the Joint Certification shall be composed
of three representatives designated by the Union, two from the majority Union
and one from the minority Union. (These
numbers shall be increased to three and two for the Inland Empire Region,
Redlands Committee and for the Northern Region, Chatsworth Committee.)
Shop Committees established outside the Joint Certification shall be
composed of two representatives designated by the Union.
The Company shall designate two representatives to each Committee.
The Committee may be increased from time to time by mutual agreement.
The Union representatives shall be selected from the employees of the
departments or Region represented by the Committee on which they are to serve.
The Company representatives shall be members of, or have jurisdiction
over, departments represented by the Committee on which they are to serve.
Whenever practicable, other supervisors who are knowledgeable about
particular topics will attend for those topics.
(3)
Major Shop Committee meetings shall be held upon request of either party, or
according to any regular schedule established mutually by the Union
representatives and local management. Special
Shop Committee meetings shall be scheduled upon request of either party.
Any given meeting may be extended, or recessed and resumed, as
necessary to complete any given item of business, upon the unanimous
concurrence of representatives of the Union and of the Company.
Participating representatives, insofar as practical, shall be
furnished, at least 24 hours prior to the time of the meeting, with written
agenda of all matters to be discussed at the meeting.
The agenda shall be prepared in sufficient detail to permit the Company
and Union representatives to make any necessary review of the matters to be
discussed. Meetings shall be
scheduled by mutual convenience, under conditions which neither disturb nor
interfere with Company work. Procedure
shall be as informal as is consistent with transaction of the business at
hand.
(4)
Shop Committees shall deal with matters which are strictly local to the
department and which do not involve changes in this Agreement or Company
policy. Interpretations of this
Agreement or of Company policy may be discussed; provided, however, that any
controversy with respect to such matters shall be referred to the grievance
procedure. Representatives of the
Union or of the Company may, by stating a motion to such effect, cause
transfer of any matter before the Committee to regular grievance procedure
under Article VI (Dispute Resolution). Minutes
of each meeting shall be prepared by the Company representatives and offered
to the Union representatives for correction and approval within 24 hours or as
soon thereafter as practicable following the conclusion of the meeting. Upon
final approval by both parties to this Agreement, such minutes may be posted
on appropriate bulletin boards by either party hereto.
Agreements reached by the Shop Committees shall be listed in the
minutes of the meeting and shall be considered as approved unless revoked in
writing by the Union or the Company within five working days after receipt of
the minutes as provided by Section 2.5 (A) (Notices) hereof.
In the event that neither party revokes within the ten working days,
the Shop Committee Agreement shall remain in effect for six months and will be
automatically renewed every six months unless specifically revoked in Shop
Committee by one of the parties.
Article
III
Bargaining
Unit Seniority &
Job Classifications
3.1
– General Seniority Policy
Where
ability and qualifications are sufficient the seniority of regular employees
shall be observed in re-employment and layoffs, and in promotions, as herein
provided. The date of entrance
into service will be considered the date upon which continuous employment
begins. Continuous employment, as
regards probationary employees, is that employment which is regular and
unbroken by any absence longer than ten succeeding working days or two
calendar weeks for a reason other than an on-the-job injury compensable by
workers’ compensation, jury duty or an appearance in court as a witness.
A regular employee who is rehired within ten working days after
termination shall have his or her seniority fully reinstated.
3.2
– Scope
Only
regular employees are accorded seniority rights hereunder.
Prospective regular employees and temporary employees do not have
seniority rights.
Prospective
regular employees are those who (1) are scheduled to work no less than forty
hours per week in jobs which are occasioned by continuous requirement of the
Company; and (2) are employed in jobs which, at the time of employment,
offered a likelihood of more than six months of regularly scheduled work; and
who (3) have not yet completed the customary probationary period of six months
or any agreed upon extension thereof.
Temporary
employees are those who (1) have accepted employment in jobs which, at the
time of employment, appeared to offer a prospect of less than six calendar
months of continuous work; or who (2) have accepted employment in part-time
jobs in which they are regularly scheduled to work substantially less than 40
hours per week, exclusive of work performed during the school vacation
periods. The Company will notify
each newly hired employee by mail that his or her status is either that of a
temporary employee or a prospective regular employee.
When
a prospective regular employee successfully completes the six months’
probationary period or extension thereof, his or her probationary period shall
be credited as regular employment in determining his or her official date of
entry into the service. In the
event that a prospective regular employee is terminated because of extended
absence due to sickness or injury before completion of the six months’
probationary period, and is rehired within 30 calendar days of such
termination, his or her service prior to such termination will be credited as
regular employment in determining the employee’s official date of entry into
the service.
When
the Company provides off-the-job training to qualify for a job, the
probationary period shall be extended by the period of time spent in such
training, or until nine months following entry into Company service, whichever
is the lesser.
Rather
than resort to outside hirings, the Company will
consider prospective regular employees for promotion.
Prospective regular employees shall be subject to the provisions of
paragraph (D) of Section 6.5 (Disciplinary Procedure) for an additional period
of six months, or nine months following entry into Company service, whichever
is the lesser.
Time
spent as a regular management employee shall not count when calculating
seniority for the exercise of rights under Section 5.10 (Position Opportunity
System) and Article VII (Shortage of Work) of this Agreement, and vacation
schedule and shift assignments.
3.3
– Determination of Seniority
An
employee’s seniority begins on the official date of his or her entry into
service as recorded by the Company and continues to accumulate until his or
her services as an employee are officially terminated, except as provided in
Veteran’s Seniority Credit. Absence
from work for authorized reasons such as vacation, sickness, or accident, or
with properly authorized leave of absence shall not impair or cause any break
in an employee’s seniority, except as provided in Family Care Leave and
Union Leave of Absence. However,
a regular employee who has not completed one year of service shall be
terminated after an absence of 60 calendar days because of illness or injury.
An employee so terminated may put job requests in for any open jobs he
or she is capable of performing, for a period of six months following his or
her termination. His or her job
request shall be considered before that of any employee with less seniority
and before any hiring off the street. Further,
an employee so terminated shall have the right to return to his or her former
job at any time within 90 calendar days following his or her termination on
the same basis as an employee returning from Disability.
He or she shall upon re-employment be credited with the seniority which
has accrued to him or her up to the date of such termination.
An employee who has completed one or more years of service shall be
terminated after an absence of nine months in which the employee is not
qualified for and does not receive benefits under the Disability Benefit Plan.
In
the event that the accredited seniority of two or more employees is identical,
the order of preference in all matters in which seniority is a determining
factor shall be determined as follows:
(1)
if any such employee shall have had prior temporary or regular service with
the Company, including any predecessor company, which is not related to the
present seniority determination, then the employee having had the greatest
amount of such prior temporary or regular service shall be given said
seniority preference;
(2)
in the absence of the aforesaid prior temporary or regular service, or in case
such prior temporary or regular service shall be equal, the said seniority
preference shall apply to the employee who has had the greatest amount of
service within the job progression;
(3)
in case such service within the job progression shall be equal, the said
seniority preference shall apply to the employee who holds the highest job
classification or who has the greatest amount of service in the same or
equally paid job classifications; or
(4)
All employees hired on the same day shall have their preference, if not
already established by (1), (2) & (3) above: established by the order of
random numbers assigned at the time of hire.
3.4
– Seniority in Demotion
When
an employee has been demoted for cause other than failure to perform work in
an efficient and workmanlike fashion, his or her seniority so far as
subsequent promotion is concerned shall be redated
as of the date of the demotion for cause.
Such an employee shall retain his or her original seniority rights
regarding layoff and rehiring. Further,
he or she shall have his or her original seniority rights fully restored
following three consecutive years during which his or her record has been
satisfactory.
When
an employee is demoted for failure to perform work in an efficient and
workmanlike fashion, or has elected to take a demotion in face of a written
warning prior to completion of the probationary period established with such
warning, as provided in Section 6.4 (Advance Warning of Intention to
Discipline), his or her seniority shall not be redated.
However, it is understood and agreed that he or she will be restricted
from promotion in the line of work from which he or she was demoted; except
that, following three consecutive years during which his or her record has
been satisfactory, he or she shall, if otherwise considered qualified, have
such restriction removed.
3.5
– Veteran’s Seniority Credit
It
is understood and agreed that any employee who was accorded Veteran’s
Seniority Credit prior to August 1, 1970, shall continue to carry such credit.
3.6
– Seniority in Shift/Schedule Assignments
As
used in this section and throughout this Agreement, the term “shift”
refers to the general shift the employee is working, i.e., day, swing, or
graveyard. The term, “schedule” refers to the hours within a shift that an
employee is assigned or the days of the week that an employee is assigned.
In
recognition of seniority, employees may select shift and schedules, on a
voluntary basis, in seniority order. Absent
mutual agreement in shop committee, unfilled shifts and schedules shall be
filled in inverse seniority order.
An
employee may request a change to his or her shift or schedule during the
months of February and August of each year, providing that the employee
wishing a change has made application in writing to the appropriate supervisor
not later than the first day of the preceding January or July, respectively.
If an employee’s request is not honored because he or she lacks
sufficient seniority, the employee may keep his or her written request active
for the next semi-annual selection by informing his or her supervisor.
In
recognition of seniority, in the
Customer Contact Center, employees may request specific
shifts/schedules during a CCC “open selection” process conducted in
August, for shifts/schedules that become effective in September.
Shifts changes may be made in March provided that the employee wishing
a change submits a written request to his or her supervisor by February 1.
In
all cases, it is understood and agreed that written request shall not be used
as a means of requesting a change in basic schedules or in type of work or job
location, and the Company shall have the right to refuse reassignment in the
event that operating conditions do not permit the change.
It is further understood that an employee on a non-rotating swing or
graveyard shift schedule who is attending school for credit will be allowed to
remain on such schedule as long as he or she maintains continuous attendance
during each school semester, other than the summer vacation period.
In
the event the Company reassigns an employee to a new shift on a regular basis,
the restriction to one change per year will be lifted for any affected
employees.
3.7
- Seniority in Rehiring
In
the event of rehiring or reclassification following layoff, the employee last
laid off or reclassified in accordance with the provisions of Section 7.1
(Seniority in Layoff) shall be offered re-employment or reclassification
first, and no new employee shall be hired until the list of employees laid off
or otherwise removed from the given payroll classification shall have been
exhausted. Such re-employment privilege, however, in the case of an employee
who leaves the Company with rehiring rights under Section 7.1 of this
Agreement, shall not continue for a period of time greater than three calendar
years. Such reclassification privilege, in the case of an employee who has
remained on the payroll, shall continue for a period of three years.
Re-employment
Following Layoff For Shortage of Work: Employees laid off under this section,
who reapply for employment and secure a regular job within 12 months of the
termination date, will have, upon re-employment, the same seniority status
they had attained at the time of their layoff. In addition, their sickness and
vacation allowances will be fully reinstated. Their status under the life
insurance, disability benefit and pension plans will be determined in each
case according to the then existing rules of these plans.
The
refusal of an offer of re-employment in the same or parallel classification in
the same work location as that held by the employee at the time of layoff
shall terminate any obligation assumed by the Company. However, the Company
will not offer re-employment in a parallel classification if the employee
lacks any specific skills that are required in the job, such as typing,
stenography, public relations skills, or the ability to lift heavy objects,
etc.
An
offer of re-employment mailed to the last known address of an employee whose
services are terminated for lack of work requiring his or her presence on the
job within twenty calendar days of the date thereof, shall terminate if
unanswered at the end of the twenty-day period, and his or her re-employment
privileges hereunder shall likewise terminate. The Company will maintain on
active file all mailing addresses furnished by the employees who have been
laid off, but assumes no obligation to notify such employees other than by
certified mail.
3.8
– Classification Policy
No
employee shall have more than one classification.
The Company assumes no obligation to maintain any specific number of
employees in any given classification. The
properly assigned duties of any job classification include any or all tasks or
duties which are within the range of skill of the classification.
Two general types of duties which fall within the range of skill are
“parallel duties” and “downhill duties”:
(1) Parallel duties are the duties normally associated with job
classifications in related lines of work which carry the same wage rate as the
job under consideration; (2) Downhill duties are duties normally associated
with job classifications carrying lower wage rates in the same or related
lines of work.
3.9
– Classification Changes
The
Company agrees not to reclassify any employee for the sole purpose of lowering
his or her salary or for the sole purpose of removing such employee from the
bargaining unit as herein defined. Reclassification
may be made, however, in connection with promotions and transfers; for any of
the causes listed in Section 6.3 (Causes for Disciplinary Action); or as the
result of a shortage of work.
Changes
in classification affect salaries in accordance with the reason for the change
and the length of the employee’s service.
A description of the various ways in which classification changes
affect salaries is contained in Section 4.1(D) (Pay Schedules).
During the term of this Agreement the Company agrees that any proposal
that establishes a new classification to perform some of the work of the
existing classifications will be negotiated with the Union.
The Company and the Union agree to a period of good faith bargaining
beginning within five working days of the request (unless this time period is
extended by mutual agreement). In
the event agreement is not reached, arbitration will be held under an
expedited process requiring a bench decision by the arbitrator.
Such arbitration shall be heard at the next scheduled hearing date
closest to but not later than 30 days after either party requests arbitration.
In the event no such hearing date is scheduled, such arbitration will
be heard at the next scheduled hearing date.
3.10
– Refusal of Duties
The
interpretation and application on the job of the Job
Profile Index
is a function of the supervisors of the Company.
An employee shall not be entitled to refuse duties assigned to him or
her during the course of his or her regular working hours based upon a
conflict of opinion as to the proper interpretation of the Job
Profile Index.
Cases of such conflict are subject to the remedies provided in the
grievance procedure. He or she
shall not be entitled to refuse duties under any circumstances except as
provided in the following paragraph.
An
employee may refuse to perform duties assigned to him or her if he or she
reasonably believes that performance of the duties would imperil the health or
safety of the employee or other employees or create a hazard affecting Company
operations or the safety of the public contrary to the provisions of Section
2.5 (Safety – Company/Union Policy). In
such a refusal of duties an employee assumes responsibility for subsequently
supporting his or her position in the event of disciplinary action taken under
provisions of Article VI (Disciplinary Conditions and Procedures).
When
an employee who is represented by the Union is required to perform duties
which are outside the range of skill in his or her classification or of the
duties of parallel or lower level jobs in the same or related lines of work as
described in the Job
Profile Index,
except as provided in Section 5.7 (Job Assignments During Inclement Weather)
and as may be involved in going practices with respect to temporary promotion,
the Union may file a grievance. If
the grievance is sustained, the employee shall be paid for all work performed
outside the skill range of his or her classification, from and after the date
upon which the grievance is filed, at the rate called for under an appropriate
classification. If the assignment
of duties outside of the skill range of his or her classification is
continued, the employee shall be appropriately reclassified, subject to the
seniority provisions of this Agreement.
Article
IV
Total
Compensation
4.1
– Pay Structure
(A)
Base Wages:
The
Weekly Pay Rates to be in effect from January
1, 2005
through June
30, 2005,
and from July
1, 2005
through June
30, 2006
and from July 1, 2006 through June
30, 2007 and from July 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008 are as set forth
in Appendix A.
(B)
Pay Days:
It
is understood that each employee will receive payment at biweekly intervals
and that payday shall be the Friday next succeeding the end of said intervals,
unless Friday is a recognized holiday stipulated in Section 4.4(E) (Holidays),
in which case payday shall be the preceding Thursday.
In the event of a delay in the preparation or transportation of
paychecks occasioned by circumstances not within the control of the Company,
payday shall be the next day upon which the Company is regularly open for
business.
When
an employee is absent for authorized reasons on payday, he or she may request
to have his or her check mailed to the address he or she has on file with the
Company or he or she may make other arrangements in advance that are
satisfactory to the employee and his or her supervisor.
(C)
Less Than Satisfactory Employees:
Effective
with the signing of the Agreement, employees rated Less Than Satisfactory (LTS)
overall for attendance or an unsatisfactory accident record will not receive a
general wage increase and/or, if applicable, a step-in-progression increase.
The removal of the LTS rating requires one (1) year of satisfactory
performance.
Effective
with the signing of the Agreement, employees will not receive a general wage
increase and/or, if applicable, a step-in-progression increase if they are
rated LTS overall for unsatisfactory job performance.
Once an employee is rated LTS overall for job performance and then
achieves satisfactory performance, typically in 3 to 6 months, the LTS overall
rating shall be removed. The
employee must then maintain satisfactory performance for a sustained period of
180 days. Following such period
the employee will be eligible for a general wage increase and/or
step-in-progression increase.
When
one year of satisfactory performance has been met as stated in the first
paragraph
above, or 180 days following removal of the LTS rating as stated in the second
paragraph, the employee’s wages will be as follows:
(1)
An employee whose pay was at the top rate of pay shall be entitled to the top
rate in the current schedule of Appendix A.
(2)
An employee whose pay had not yet reached the top rate shall be entitled to
the employee’s step-in-progression rate in the current schedule of Appendix
A at the time in the pay grade at which pay was suspended (time towards the
next progression step will not be counted until the conditions in the first or
second paragraph are met). Subsequent
rate increases will follow the time
intervals in the schedule of Appendix A.
(D)
Pay Schedules:
The
Weekly Pay Rates Listed in Appendix A shall be applied as follows:
(a)
Upon Hiring:
The
Starting Rate is the minimum salary to be paid new employees when they enter
the Company’s service.
(b)
When Classification is Changed:
When
an employee’s classification is changed, his or her salary shall always be
based upon his or her regular classification (as distinct from temporary
upgrading), and shall be affected in accordance with the reason for the change
as follows:
(1)
In case of Promotion, Transfer, Bid or Other Move to a Higher Job
Classification: When an employee
is promoted, transfers, bids or otherwise moves to a higher job
classification, he or she shall be entitled to the lowest salary rate for the
new classification that is at least $10.00 per week higher than his or her
existing rate for his or her regular classification.
However, the employee’s rate of pay shall be no lower than any rate
previously earned within the same type of progression and for the same or a
lower classification existing in the progression in which the promotion or
transfer occurs unless subsequent lower rates of pay resulted from demotions,
transfers, bids or other moves to lower classifications or exercise of 56-day
return rights.
(2)
In Case of Transfer, Bid or Other Move to an Equivalent Job Classification:
When an employee transfers, bids or otherwise moves to an equivalent
job classification, he or she shall be entitled to his or her existing rate
for his or her regular classification.
(3)
In the Case of Transfer, Bid or Other Move to a Lower Job Classification:
When an employee transfers, bids or otherwise moves to a lower job
classification, he or she shall be entitled to the rate for the new
classification that is next below his or her existing rate for his or her
regular classification.
(c)
After Assignment in Classification: If
the employee is in pay progression in his regular classification, his or her
first increase following assignment to the new classification shall be
effective on the date of his or her next scheduled increase in his or her
former regular classification. If
the employee is at the maximum scheduled rate for his or her regular
classification, rate increases shall follow the time intervals in the schedule
of Appendix A. If an employee at
the maximum rate has accrued time in a classification that is in the same type
of progression and is parallel or higher to the new classification, the
employee shall be entitled to no less than the step and pay progression point
attained in that classification since reaching maximum.
4.2
– Overtime
(A)
Overtime Policy in General:
It
is the policy of the Company that employees who would be considered as subject
employees according to the definitions of the Fair Labor Standards Act shall
receive compensation for overtime worked.
Such employees will be referred to as “Overtime” employees and
when, in accordance with established practice, overtime is paid, the overtime
rate shall be time and one half, except as provided under paragraph (G)
(Extensive Overtime Work) hereof.
The
Company and the Union mutually agree that overtime work will be held to a
minimum and that compulsory overtime work will be avoided wherever feasible.
It is further agreed that the Company retains the right to take
alternative steps to avoid overtime work.
Where overtime work is assigned, the opportunity to work overtime will
be spread as equally as practicable on a calendar-year basis among those
qualified employees who perform the work on a straight-time basis at a given
work location; subject, however, to the procedure outlined in the following
paragraph hereof:
Overtime
shall be tracked on a cumulative basis. Employees
transferring into a work group during the year will be put on the overtime
eligibility list at the overtime average for the group.
The method of zeroing out of overtime shall be determined annually
through mutual agreement in shop committee.
Failure to agree shall result in all employees being zeroed out on
January 1st of each year.
In
order to maintain service to the public, it is agreed that the Company must
and does reserve the right to require overtime work under certain
circumstances. Nevertheless, this
will be done only when, in the judgment of the responsible supervisor, the
need for such work cannot adequately be met on a voluntary basis.
(B)
Definition of Overtime:
Overtime
is defined as time worked prior to or after an employee’s regularly
scheduled working hours or time worked during nonscheduled working days.
(C)
Overtime Calculation:
Overtime
will be paid for all time worked in excess of scheduled hours, computed to the
nearest quarter hour.
(D)
Time Sheets:
Whenever
overtime work has been performed, an employee whose time sheet for payroll
purposes is filled out by another person may upon request inspect the time
sheet at the end of the workday, or may inquire at the beginning of the next
working day by phone in those instances where the time sheet is filled out at
another location or has been filled out after the employee is released from
work.
(E)
Overtime Meal Allowance:
An
employee will be provided a meal allowance of $13.50 any time his or
her working time is ten
hours
and 30
minutes
or more, or if he or she works a short-notice call-out of four hours or more
(actual working time and travel time) that does not continue into his or her
regularly scheduled workday. In
addition, a meal allowance will be provided every five hours of continuous
work after the employee has worked the ten
hours
and 30
minutes,
plus a time allowance of one-half hour in order to eat a meal.
A
field employee working alone who has not been instructed otherwise may, if he
or she has worked two and one half hours or more of extended day overtime
under non-emergency conditions, choose to eat a meal either before or after
completing work.
In
the case of a crew, the employee in charge will make this decision and notify
the dispatch office if a meal break is being taken before completing work.
An employee may similarly receive a meal allowance if a short-notice
call-out has caused the employee to miss his or her usual meal.
(F)
Short Notice Call-Out:
A
short-notice call-out occurs if, with less than 12 hours notice, the employee
is called out to work. Travel to
and from a short-notice call-out which does not extend into the employee’s
regularly scheduled workday or which occurs on a scheduled day off is
considered time worked and is paid. If
the call-out extends into the regularly scheduled workday, travel time is not
paid unless it is in excess of the employee’s normal home to base commuting
time.
If
an employee is called out to work during a period not immediately preceding
his or her scheduled workday, and is released from such duty prior to the
commencement of his or her regularly scheduled workday, or is called out on
his or her scheduled day off without having received at least 12 hours’
notice prior to such call-out, the following shall apply:
(1)
His or her travel time to and from work shall be counted as working time.
(2)
For such a call-out, he or she shall be assured of receiving not less than two
hours’ time (working time plus travel time) at overtime pay, except that for
a call-out dispatched to him or her on or after 11:00 p.m. and before 6:00
a.m., he or she shall be assured of receiving not less than four hours’ time
(working time plus travel time) at overtime pay.
(3)
An employee who accepts such a call-out that is subsequently canceled before
he or she leaves his or her home, shall receive the minimum overtime payment
he or she would have been entitled to receive had the employee actually
reported to work.
The
four-hour minimum overtime guarantee period (working time plus travel time)
for employees working swing shift or graveyard shift is 2:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
for swing shifts and 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for graveyard shifts in lieu of
the four-hour minimum overtime period between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
If
a minimum overtime guarantee period extends into an employee’s regularly
scheduled workday, he or she will continue to be paid at the overtime rate in
lieu of straight-time pay to the extent necessary to satisfy the two-hour or
four-hour minimum overtime guarantee period.
The balance of his or her time worked during his or her regularly
scheduled workday will be paid at the straight-time rate, except as provided
below.
An
employee called out on short-notice should be given a rest period of nine or
more hours after release from duty if he or she does not have at least five
continuous hours off (excluding working time and paid travel time) between:
(A) 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. for day shifts; or (B) 2:00 a.m. and 9:00
a.m. for swing shifts, or (C) 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. for graveyard shifts.
The
following conditions apply:
•
Time not worked and not paid as travel on a two- or four-hour minimum
is included as time off.
•
In the absence of any instructions to the contrary, if the employee
does not receive the five-hour rest period, the employee shall not return to
the job until a lapse of nine hours, or until the start of his or her next
regularly scheduled shift, whichever comes later.
If he or she does return voluntarily, overtime for the regular shift
shall be waived.
•
To the extent the nine hours off the job extends into the employee’s
regularly scheduled shift, the employee will be paid straight-time rate.
When
an employee has returned home after completion of a short-notice call-out, or
has had a call-out canceled as provided above, and is called out again on a
short-notice basis within the period for which he or she is guaranteed pay as
defined above (two or four hours), the employee shall be assured of receiving
not less than the appropriate minimum pay period guarantee (two or four hours)
from the time of the last call-out. In
no event, however, will short-notice call-out guarantees be compounded.
Employees
who use their personal cars, trucks, or motorcycles to report to the job or to
their base location on a short-notice call-out that does not extend into the
regularly scheduled workday shall be allowed 36.5
cents per mile per round trip of up to 60 miles, and the existing casual
mileage rate per mile thereafter, subject to a minimum reimbursement of $5 per
calendar day of such use (only one daily allowance for a single call-out that
overlaps two calendar days). If
the casual mileage rate is increased or
decreased
due to IRS changes, the prevailing casual mileage rate shall be used for all
mileage driven. A personal car is
one that is not a Company vehicle.
(G)
Extensive Overtime Work:
I.
Twelve-hour Rule
Under
some conditions, an employee may be required to be on duty during an extended
interval of time. Time worked
includes required standby at the job site, base location, etc., but excludes
time spent at home, motel, etc., and time not worked during a two-hour or
four-hour call-out minimum. Travel
time to and from work is paid if it does not coincide with the regularly
scheduled workday. Double the
straight-time rate is paid for time worked in excess of 12 continuous hours or
12 cumulative hours occurring at different intervals since the employee’s
last period of eight or more hours off the job.
Double-time payments for time worked continue until a rest period of
nine or more continuous hours is achieved.
(1)
In calculating the 12 hours toward extensive overtime, all time worked since
the last rest period of eight or more hours, including regularly scheduled
shifts, time worked on short-notice call-outs, and travel time which does not
extend into a regularly scheduled shift, are considered.
(2)
A rest period is defined as the lapse of time occurring between being released
from duty at the job site or at the base location, plus any paid travel time,
and the time of reporting back to work. Paid
travel time is not considered as part of the rest period.
A
rest period of nine or more continuous hours off the job is required between
any period of time worked, as defined above, to avoid accumulation towards 12
cumulative or continuous hours or to stop double-time pay after employee is
already in a double-time situation.
A
rest period of nine or more continuous hours off the job is required between
any period of time worked, as defined above, to stop double-time pay after an
employee is already in a double-time pay situation for extensive overtime.
Time
taken for meals at the job site in conjunction with work is considered working
time. Ordinarily, mealtime is not
considered working time; however, time is paid for meals eaten at the job
site.
In
the event that an employee is excused by his or her supervisor from working a
portion or all of his or her regularly scheduled workday because the employee
has been on an extended overtime assignment, the employee shall be paid at the
straight-time rate for any such regular hours that are not worked.
The
extent of excused time shall be determined by the mutual agreement of the
employee and his or her supervisor after discussion of the work requirements
of the job and the physical condition of the employee.
If a dispute occurs, the decision of the supervisor shall stand at the
time, but shall be subject to the grievance procedure in those cases where the
employee believes the extent of excused time to have been insufficient because
of his or her physical condition.
In
the absence of any instructions to the contrary, after the extensive overtime
work assignment is over, the employee shall not return to the job until a
lapse of nine hours or the start of his or her next regularly scheduled shift,
whichever comes later. If he or
she does return sooner voluntarily, double-time payment shall be waived for
all time worked after he or she returns.
II.
Consecutive-Day Rule
When
an employee works for seven consecutive days, all time worked on the seventh
day and all succeeding scheduled days off without a full day off, will
be paid at double-time rates. This
section covers full days and call-outs for
partial days.
For
purposes of determining eligibility under the Consecutive-Day Rule, days not
worked, including paid and unpaid time, are not considered.
Employees
who trade with other employees and thereby work on their scheduled days off,
shall not be entitled to the double-time premium hereunder.
Time worked on a traded day will not count toward eligibility for
double-time pay under this section unless the traded day becomes a mandatory
workday.
(H)
Emergency Postponement of Lunch Periods:
Operating
emergencies may force unusually long postponement of the lunch period.
In such circumstances, if the period is not started within the first
5-1/2 hours of the scheduled shift, the employees will be considered to have
worked one-half hour outside their regular schedule and will eat their lunch
as work permits.
(I)
Planned Call-Out Policy:
When
an “8-hour” call-out is offered to employees on a holiday or on a
scheduled day off, it is the Company’s expectation and intent to provide 8
hours of work if such work is available.
If during the day in question it develops that there is not
enough work for everyone, the following procedure shall be followed, in
sequence:
(1)
Employees who call in shall be offered the opportunity to quit work before 8
hours if they wish to do so.
(2)
Useful work shall be assigned to those who wish to continue working, to the
extent practicable.
(3)
If no useful work can practicably be assigned, the remaining employees shall
be released. Paid “standby”
is used only to the extent that the Company may decide it is needed to cover
emergency needs.
If
a planned call-out is canceled with less than 10 hours’ notice, the affected
employees shall receive two hours’ overtime pay, whether or not they report
to work at the previously established time of the planned call-out.
4.3
– Premiums
All
premium rates listed shall be adjusted 2.25% effective January 1, 2005, 2.25%
effective July 1, 2005, 3.5% effective July 1, 2006, and 3.75% effective July
1, 2007.
(A)
General Statement: Employees
who are scheduled and who work on the swing shift shall receive premium pay at
the rate of $1.05
per
hour worked on such shift. Employees
who are scheduled and who work on the graveyard shift shall receive premium
pay at the rate of $1.34 per hour worked on such shift.
A scheduled shift is one that is part of the 40-hour workweek
(including holidays that fall within an employee’s 40-hour workweek).
Employees who are scheduled to work and who work a combination of a
regular eight-hour day and a swing or graveyard shift during a scheduled
workweek of seven days shall receive triple the applicable premium rates
herein and in paragraphs (C) and (D). The
foregoing premium rates do not apply to temporary and part-time employees.
(B)
Definition of Shifts:
(1)
Swing Shift: All shifts beginning
on or after 12:00 p.m. but before 8:00
p.m. and all shifts beginning on or after 4:00 a.m. but before 6:00 a.m. shall
be considered swing shifts.
(2)
Graveyard Shift: All shifts
beginning on or after 8:00 p.m. but before 4:00 a.m. shall be considered
graveyard shifts.
(C)
Split Days Off:
Any
full-time employee whose regular straight-time schedule for the workweek
provides a day off that is not directly preceded or followed by another day
off (whether or not within the same workweek) shall receive premium pay at the
rate of 48 cents per hour for work performed on such schedule
throughout the week. An employee
on such a schedule who has a scheduled day off on Tuesday, Wednesday, or
Thursday, or an employee who works a six-day schedule with two scheduled
half-days off, shall receive premium pay at the rate of $1.15 per hour
for work performed on such schedule throughout the week.
(D)
Sunday Work:
Employees
who are scheduled and who work on Sunday shall receive premium pay at the rate
of $2.52 per hour worked on such schedule.
Employees who are scheduled and who work on the swing shift or the
graveyard shift on Sunday shall receive shift premiums in addition to the
Sunday premium.
(E)
On-Call Pay:
Employees
who serve on on-call assignments must stay within 30 minutes’ driving time
of the employee’s base location during the period of the on-call assignment.
The employee has the responsibility of ensuring that his or her communications
equipment (telephone, pager, radio) is working properly and to have such
equipment at his or her disposal at all times during the on-call
period. The employee shall
immediately notify the Company of any malfunctioning communications equipment
and agree upon an alternative means of contact.
By mutual agreement between the Company and the Union, alternative
residency requirements for on-call employees may be established with regards
to the “30 minute rule”.
Employees
who serve on a week-long, on-call assignment during off-duty hours as a job
requirement shall receive a premium of $123 above their regular weekly
rate for each week of such assignment and $126
for a week-long, on-call assignment which includes a holiday.
Employees who serve on weekend and holiday on-call assignments shall
receive a premium above their regular weekly rate of $69 for an
ordinary weekend; $93 for a weekend preceded or followed by a holiday;
and $47 for a holiday
alone. Such premium shall be paid
for the workweek that includes all or most of the time of the on-call
assignment. Furthermore, for each
on-call holiday on which the employee is not called out, an additional premium
of $37 shall be paid. On-call
assignments of less than one week include all time after the close of work on
the preceding workday to the start of work on the following workday.
If
on-call assignments are established in additional groups that do not have such
assignments as of the effective date of this Agreement, employees who are
regular incumbents in the jobs affected shall have the right to refuse such
assignments unless they have first been negotiated with the Union.
It is understood, however,
that on-call assignments may be required of employees who have been informed
of the requirement prior to entering the job on a regular basis.
Except
where only two qualified employees are based in the area, on-call assignments
shall be made no more frequently than once every third week to any one
employee, except for necessary trading off for vacations, illness, etc., or
for more frequent assignments that are strictly voluntary.
In a few isolated locations having only two qualified employees (in or
out of the bargaining unit), on-call assignments are rotated between those
two. After on-call assignments
have been established in a particular group, such assignments may be filled on
a voluntary basis by mutual agreement in Shop Committee, as long as sufficient
numbers of volunteers are available. Such
arrangements, however, do not remove the normal requirement that the employee
is subject to on-call if needed. Mandatory
on-call in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be imposed
whenever insufficient numbers of volunteers are available.
If
an employee, in order to cover a potential emergency situation, (1) is
assigned overnight to a specific motel or hotel away from home and is required
to remain at that location to await possible calls to active work; and (2)
within a period of 24 hours following the start of such assignments does not
accrue overtime for paid travel time and working time of at least 8 hours, the
Company shall grant such employee additional overtime pay up to a total of 8
hours. If the assignments
continue beyond 24 hours, the employee will in the same manner be assured of
receiving at least 8 hours’ overtime pay for each 24 hours of the
assignment, with prorated payments calculated to the
nearest even hour for additional periods of less than 24 hours.
The
employee shall also receive On-Call Pay according to the length of his or her
assignment, in proportion to the On-Call premiums specified in this Section.
(F)
Bilingual Premium:
Employees
who are qualified in a second language and are assigned bilingual contact
responsibilities with customers, and the position is identified in the System
Wide Bid book as “bilingual”, shall receive a premium of 51 cents
per hour.
Once
assigned, employees with bilingual responsibilities may not voluntarily
transfer to available non-bilingual positions within the job progression for
one year.
4.4
– Benefits
(A)
Vacation:
I.
Vacation Allowance
Paid
vacation is as follows: a regular
employee who completes his or her first year of service shall be entitled to
vacation pay in accordance with the following table:
Month
of Employment
Days of Vacation
January
and February
10
March
9
April
8
May
7
June
6
July
5
August
4
September
3
October
2
November
1
December
0
In
and following the subsequent calendar year, two calendar weeks or 80 hours per
year. In the calendar year in
which the sixth year of service is completed and each calendar year thereafter
— three calendar weeks or 120 hours per year.
In the calendar year in which the 16th year of service is completed and
each calendar year thereafter — four calendar weeks or 160 hours.
In the calendar year in which the 24th year of service is completed and
each calendar year thereafter — five calendar weeks or 200 hours.
In the calendar year in which the 32nd year of service is completed and
each calendar year thereafter — six calendar weeks or 240 hours.
Service years are completed service with the Company, running from the
day, month and year recorded as the official date of the employee’s entry
into such service.
In
the calendar year in which the fifth year of service is completed and in each
fifth year thereafter, a service anniversary vacation allowance of one
calendar week or 40 hours shall be granted in addition to the employee’s
regular vacation allowance for that year.
If
an employee returns after July 1 from a continuous absence from work of six
months or more, the employee’s vacation allowance for that year shall be
reduced by one-sixth for each month or fraction thereof between July 1 and the
date of the employee’s return. Such
reduction shall be calculated to the nearest full workday.
Such reduction shall count toward the requirement set forth in the
following paragraphs covering Conditions Governing Vacation Allowance that an
employee must take a vacation of at least one workweek each year.
If the employee already has had a vacation in the current calendar
year, no reduction shall be applied in the following year.
II.
Conditions Governing Vacation Allowance
Insofar
as possible, vacations shall be scheduled on a voluntary basis with respect to
the normal choice of the employee and the convenience of the Company.
Vacation shall be scheduled in accordance with Company needs at any
time during the calendar year. When
convenient to the Company, an employee may schedule his or her current
year’s vacation to include the final week of the year, or to overlap into
the following calendar year, providing the first day of such vacation is
December 31 or earlier. An active
employee may schedule the following year’s vacation to begin on the first
workday of the new year unless he or she is off without pay (or with pay for
other than scheduled vacation) at the end of the year.
Subject to operating needs, such vacation may coincide with the
previous year’s allowance. However,
an employee must work at least one day in the new year following an absence
for reasons other than prior scheduled vacation before being entitled to the
new year’s Vacation Allowance.
Vacations
are scheduled in minimum increments of whole days.
Use of vacation allowances in one-hour increments may be authorized up
to a maximum of the
total scheduled
shift for eight (8) and ten (10) hour schedules, when operating necessity
permits, at the request of the employee or for Personal Business reasons when
the Personal Business allowance is depleted.
Employees
who take a vacation of at least one workweek may add the remainder to their
vacation in a later year; provided, however, that the maximum vacation
allowance that may be carried over from one year to the next is three calendar
weeks or 120 hours plus any odd hours less than one day.
Holiday credits earned during the year will not be counted in
calculating the 120-hour maximum that may be carried over.
Unused holiday credits are carried over to the next year and remain
holiday credits until used or cashed out when employee terminates or leaves
the Company voluntarily.
Should
a recognized holiday, as provided herein, coincide with an employee’s
scheduled vacation time, equivalent time will be added to the employee’s
vacation allowance. However, in
order to grant prime vacation time to the maximum number of employees
consistent with Company needs, vacation periods may be assigned in even
workweek units. Should an
employee be left with an odd day or two of vacation because of this requirement,
he or she may to the extent necessary exceed the maximum accumulation of
vacation at the end of that year upon application to the employee’s
supervisor.
Should
an employee be off sick on his or her scheduled vacation time, the employee
will be permitted to change his or her vacation to a subsequent date, which
will not conflict with another employee’s vacation.
Any employee who shall become ill during his or her vacation period may
be permitted to cancel the remaining period of such vacation and reschedule it
for a date subsequent to the employee’s return to duty and for a period
which will not conflict with another employee’s vacation; provided that such
employee shall notify the appropriate supervisor of the situation at the onset
of the illness and shall present appropriate written evidence of such illness
upon return to duty.
An
employee whose service terminates after the completion of his or her first
year of service shall receive payment for any portion of his or her first
year’s vacation allowance that has not been used plus one-twelfth of the
employee’s second year’s vacation allowance for each completed month of
service in the employee’s second service year.
An employee whose service terminates after the completion of his or her
second year of service, or who terminates on or after July 1 in any subsequent
calendar year, shall receive payment for any portion of his or her vacation
allowance that has not been used. An
employee who terminates before July 1 in the calendar year in which he or she
completes or would complete his or her third or subsequent year of service
shall be eligible for one-sixth of his or her current annual vacation
allowance for each completed months of service in the calendar year.
If, at the time of termination, an employee already has taken more of
his or her vacation than the applicable prorated allowance provided above, the
employee’s final paycheck shall be reduced accordingly, unless such used
vacation was completed two weeks or more prior to the last day of work.
III.
Vacation Periods
Vacation
periods shall be assigned to employees in strict seniority order.
However, in order to assure seniority preference for their entire
vacation period, employees who have accumulated extra
vacation must declare their intention to use it by February 1.
Employees who split their vacations shall have only one seniority
preference, except that seniority preference may be applied to any remaining
unscheduled vacation time after all other employees in the scheduling group
have expressed their first preference.
With
the exception of those employees who change jobs or work locations under
Article V, (Position Opportunity System) employees may carry with them one
vacation period (consecutive days) of their choice which had already been
approved and scheduled prior to the move.
IV.
Buy or Sell Vacation Policy
Represented
employees have the option to buy or sell vacation as follows:
•
Employees may purchase or sell up to 40 hours of vacation in 8-hour
increments.
•
Any purchased vacation is used last.
•
Any purchased vacation not used or pre-posted by the last pay period
of any given year, will be paid out in the last paycheck of the year.
•
Annual base pay as of August 31
is used to calculate purchased or sold vacation.
(This date is currently used, and may be changed in future years to
accommodate administrative requirements.)
•
The election to buy or sell occurs annually and only during open
enrollment. Purchased vacation is
paid for by payroll deduction. Sold
vacation is paid in one lump sum.
(B)
Sickness Allowance:*
Short-term
Annual Accrued Sickness Allowance:
Employees
in active service who have completed six months or more of regular employment
shall receive the following accrual
of short-term annual sickness allowance when absent due to sickness or injury:
Full pay allowance after the first six months
of service for the following number of days
Completed
service or
calendar weeks during any calendar year
by
end of calendar
year
in which
Calendar Weeks
Equivalent
disability
begins
or Working Days
or Working Hours
6
months
1
week
40 hours
1
year
1 week
40 hours
2
years or more
2 weeks
80 hours
*Effective
January 1, 2003
Fifty
percent of an employee’s short-term annual accrued sickness allowance may be
used to attend to an illness of the employee’s spouse, child, or parent as
those terms are defined in California law.
The Company reserves the right to verify the illness of an employee’s
spouse child or parent according to California law.
Definition
of Current Term Sick leave: any illness that is 3 days (24 hours) or less.
Extended-term
Paid Sickness Leave:
Employees
in active service who have completed three (3) years or more of regular
employment shall receive the following Extended
Term Paid Sickness Leave, in addition to the Short Term Annual Sickness
Allowance:
Completed
service
by
end of calendar
year
in which
Calendar Weeks Equivalent
disability
begins
or Working Days or Working
Hours
3
years
1 week
40 hours
4
years
1 week
40 hours
5
years
2 weeks
80 hours
6
years
3 weeks
120 hours
7
years
4 weeks
160 hours
8
years
5 weeks
200 hours
9
years
6 weeks
240 hours
10
years or more
7 weeks
280 hours
Any
portion of an employee’s “Extended Term Paid Sickness Leave” which has
been used during any calendar year will be replenished the first day of the
next calendar year. An
employee’s Extended Term Paid Sickness Leave is not an annual accrual and is
not subject to use for spouse, child or parent.
Any
employee whose extended sick leave has been exhausted may elect to apply
unused Current term sick allowance to his or her extended sick leave
allowance.
Completed
service with the Company runs from the day, month, and year recorded as the
official date of the employee’s entry into such service.
The
Extended Sick Leave of
an employee who will have completed ten or more years of service by the end of
the calendar year in which a disability begins shall be increased by four
weeks (160 working hours) if he or she has been absent because of illness or
injury less than 160 hours in the previous five calendar years (averaging less
than one week per year). Unpaid
absence shall be included in calculating said 160 hours, but absence because
of industrial accident shall not be included.
Once an employee has earned the “bonus” allowance of 160 working
hours as defined in this paragraph, it shall remain a part of his or her
Extended Sick Leave to be reduced only by the extent to which he or she may
receive more than 280
working hours of Extended
Sick Leave
in any calendar year. If the
“bonus” allowance is so reduced, it may be restored to 160 working hours
by another period of five consecutive calendar years in which the employee is
absent because of illness or injury less than 160 hours.
Sickness
Allowance shall not be paid by the Company for time lost by an employee due to
occupational injuries or disabilities arising out of or in the course of any
gainful employment with an established employer other than the Company,
subject to the California Workers’ Compensation Law.
Conditions
Governing Sickness Allowance:
An
employee who is unable to work due to sickness is required to notify his or
her supervisor, or someone designated to receive such notice, as promptly as
possible. In a line of work in
which a substitute must be secured for each absent employee, the supervisor in
charge shall determine and post the time and conditions under which advance
notice of absence due to sickness shall be furnished.
Notice of absence due to sickness may be given personally by the
employee or through another person. When
notice is not provided, Sickness Allowance shall be paid only when the
disability is verified by a physician, and when the employee furnishes
evidence that circumstances beyond his or her control prevented giving notice.
The
Company reserves the right to verify the disability of any employee through
its own medical staff or by requiring a doctor’s certificate in connection
with the payment of Sickness Allowance or Disability Benefits.
With the exception of employees who have open workers’ compensation
cases, and thus recourse through an Agreed Medical Examiner, when there is a
disagreement between the employee’s medical doctor or psychiatrist and the
Company medical staff regarding whether the employee is medically able to
work, a third doctor shall be randomly selected from a list provided by the
Los Angeles County Medical Association. The
list shall include six general practitioner M.D.s
and six specialists in each major specialty category, and random selection
shall be through the Disability
Management Services.
If
the Company medical staff’s decision is upheld, the employee shall pay the
full cost of obtaining the third opinion and no Sickness Allowance nor
Disability Benefits will be granted. If
the employee’s doctor’s opinion is upheld, the Company will pay for the
third opinion and transportation costs and will grant Sickness
Allowance/Disability Benefits (if available) for the actual time of illness. Upon
returning to work from a disability, an employee will receive the allowance he
or she would be entitled to for the current year.
Such
an employee who returns to work, but then must
leave
work within a period of 180 days for reasons related to the original
disability, will be immediately reinstated to the disability payroll without
benefit of any sickness or vacation allowance. Such
an employee who is assigned to light duty without change in classification,
but is returned to disability because of lack of light duty work, shall not be
eligible for a new annual Sickness Allowance but shall be eligible for a
Vacation Allowance in the new calendar year.
Any
employee whose Sickness Allowance has been exhausted may elect to apply unused
Vacation Allowance, including any holiday credits earned under the provisions
of Section (E) (Holidays) below, for which he or she was eligible at the
commencement of his or her absence, for additional absence on account of
sickness or injury. If sufficient
unused Vacation Allowance is available, the waiting period of 60 calendar days
prior to the effective date of Disability Benefits under the Pension and
Benefit Agreement may be extended until the first day after all or any part of
such Vacation Allowance has been used.
(C)
Industrial Accident Allowances:
Any
regular employee who has completed six months of service and who is injured in
an accident under which he or she is entitled to the benefits of the
California Workers’ Compensation Law shall have his or her compensation
payments supplemented by the unused Sickness Allowance provided by Section (B)
(Sickness Allowance) above, in the following manner:
his or her current unused Sickness Allowance at the onset of the
industrial disability figured in dollars shall be available to raise his or
her total payments to equal straight-time pay for the scheduled working hours
until such Sickness Allowance shall have been exhausted.
If sufficient unused Sickness Allowance is available, the waiting
period of 60 calendar days prior to the effective date of Disability Benefits
under the Pension and Benefit Agreement shall be extended until the day that
such Sickness Allowance is depleted to the point that it produces a lower
benefit than the employee is eligible for under the Disability Benefit Plan.
After a portion of the employee’s Sickness Allowance has been used as
provided for above in case of industrial disability, any remaining portion of
his or her Sickness Allowance figured in dollars shall be available for
application in subsequent cases of sickness or industrial injury during the
same calendar year.
Unused
Vacation Allowance may be applied in the same manner, on the basis set forth
in Section (B) (Conditions Governing Sickness Allowance), provided that any
remaining portion of the Vacation Allowance figured in dollars shall be
rounded to the nearest full day and considered to be unused vacation.
(D)
Family Care Leave:
Conditions
of Leave:
(1)
A family care leave of absence without pay may be granted to a full-time
employee who has completed six months of employment and who wishes such leave:
a.
for the birth of the employee’s child and to care for the newborn child;
b.
for the placement with the employee of a son or daughter in connection with
adoption or foster care; or
c.
to care for the employee’s spouse, son/daughter (biological, adopted,
foster, stepchild, or legal ward), or parents (biological or viewed as such)
with a serious health condition. For
the purpose of this policy, a serious health condition means an illness,
injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that requires
participation of a family member to provide care during a period of
incapacity, treatment or supervision that involves either inpatient care in a
hospital, hospice, or residential health care facility, or continuing
treatment or supervision by a health care provider.
(2)
An employee may take up to a maximum of six months unpaid leave within a two
calendar year period (24 months). Except
that should an employee use more than three months of leave in the first
calendar year, the employee will be eligible for an additional 12 weeks of
leave at the beginning of the second calendar year under FMLA and CFRA
(California Family Rights Act). In
order to be considered a leave, an employee’s request for absence must be
more than three working days.
Such leave may be taken intermittently or on a reduced work schedule
subject to the supervisor’s concurrence, or as required by applicable
federal and state laws.
(3)
For purposes of tracking and determining maximum leave, a calendar year shall
be used (January through December).
(4)
Such leave (or any extension of leave) requires written notice to the Company
indicating the length of time required and expected return to work date of the
employee. An employee must
provide the Company with at least 30 days advance
notice before such leave is to begin if the leave is foreseeable.
If 30 days notice is not practical because of medical emergency or a
change in circumstances, or the leave is not foreseeable, notice must be as
soon as practical.
In the instance where leave involves care of a family member, the
Company may require the employee’s request be supported by a certification
issued by the health care provider.
(5)
An employee’s entitlement to leave for a birth or placement for adoption or
foster care expires at the end of the twelve-month period beginning on the
date of birth or placement.
(6)
In the case of a request for intermittent or reduced schedule leave, the
Company may temporarily transfer the requesting employee within their present
location to an available alternative position of equivalent pay and benefits
which the employee qualifies for in order to accommodate the request.
(7)
While on leave, employees shall accumulate seniority for the period of such
leave if they return to work upon conclusion of the leave
Leave Substitution:
(8)
Employees exercising their right to California Paid Family Leave may, at the
employee’s option, choose to use available vacation during the initial one
(1) week waiting period.
Absences
taken for a serious health condition will reduce the amount of family care
leave for which an employee is eligible except that pregnancy disability shall
not reduce leave entitlement under Section 4.4 (D)(1.) a.
Continuation
of Benefits During Leave:
(1)
Medical, Dental, Vision and Basic Life Insurance:
An employee may elect to continue his or her medical, dental, vision
and life insurance coverage at the active employee rate for 12 weeks of such
leave. The 12 weeks is reduced by
any period of time during the calendar year the employee is absent due to a
serious health condition or other family care leave during which the employee
was receiving these benefits. If
leave continues past 12 weeks, the employee shall be responsible to pay the
total costs (employee and Company) of these benefits in order to continue
coverage, except as otherwise provided by Company policy.
(2)
Employee-Paid Life Insurance and Accidental Death and Dismemberment
(AD&D): An employee may elect
to continue employee-paid life insurance and AD&D during leave.
In which case, the employee will be responsible for the full cost of
coverage.
(3)
If a leave occurs during the annual open enrollment period, an employee will
have the same options that would be available if the employee were on active
status.
Arrangements to continue coverage should be made with Employee Benefits
as early as possible following approval of leave in order to ensure
uninterrupted coverage. Should an
employee not return to work from leave, the Company will be entitled to
reimbursement for the Company’s contribution for medical, dental, vision and
basic life insurance premiums paid during the leave.
Recovery may be made through deduction from any final pay due the
employee.
Use
of Paid Absence in Conjunction with Leave:
If
a leave request is for intermittent absence or a reduced schedule, an employee
may, at the time of departing on leave, use available vacation, holiday credit
and personal business allowance to substitute for unpaid leave.
Use of such paid time will not extend the duration of the leave period.
If
a leave request is for more than ten consecutive working days, employees will
be paid for all available vacation at the commencement of such leave in
accordance with Section 4.4 (Conditions Governing Vacation Allowance).
Termination:
An
employee is subject to termination if the employee:
(1)
misrepresents the reason for a leave;
(2)
engages in other employment while on leave without notifying the Company and
receiving prior approval;
(3)
fails to report to work on or before the expiration of the leave;
(4)
fails to obtain a leave extension when additional absence is needed;
(5)
fails to provide the Company with necessary health certification.
Return
From Leave:
An
employee returning from a family care leave shall be returned to his or her
regular classification or an equivalent classification at the same location
within five working days of notice by the employee.
Should an employee determine during the leave that the entire leave
period requested will not be needed, the employee must notify the Company and
return to work within five working days.
(E)
Holidays:
The
holidays observed by the Company are:
New
Year’s Day
Veteran’s Day (Nov. 11)
Martin
Luther King, Jr’s Birthday
Thanksgiving Day
Presidents’
Day
Day after Thanksgiving Day*
Memorial
Day
Day before Christmas
Independence
Day
Christmas
Labor
Day
The
Day before Christmas holiday shall be observed on December 24, except when
Christmas is on Sunday or Monday, when it shall be observed on the preceding
Friday.
In
addition, upon completion of six months of service, each employee shall be
eligible for two holiday credits in the current calendar year and in each
calendar year thereafter in which the employee is actively at work during some
portion of the year.
These
holiday credits will be treated as additional earned holiday credits as
provided below.
*Consistent
with work load and public service requirements, certain employees may be
scheduled to work on this day.
By
giving his or her supervisor at least two weeks’ advance notice, any
employee may elect to have one of these holidays on his or her birthday.
If the employee’s birthday falls on a day off, the employee may
specify the workday nearest his or her birthday.
If the employee’s birthday falls on a single day off, he or she may
specify either the workday preceding or the workday following.
Employees whose birthday is February 29 shall exercise their holiday
option as of February 28. The
Company further agrees, with the same advance notice, that it shall make every
reasonable effort to allow employees to use their holiday credits to meet a
bona fide religious need to take a day off for a religious holiday or
function, subject only to the right of the Company to require attendance in an
operating emergency.
Employees
may be scheduled to work Sundays as part of their regular schedule, where
operations or service require the maintenance of such schedules, without
becoming eligible for overtime compensation.
(1)
If any of the holidays observed by the Company fall on Sunday, it shall be
observed on the following Monday.
(2)
If an employee works one or more of the recognized holidays on a regular
shift, the employee shall receive overtime pay for that day or may elect to
have equivalent time off added to his or her holiday
credits.
(3)
If a holiday falls on Sunday, or if Christmas falls on a Sunday or Monday, and
is part of the employee’s regular schedule, he or she may elect to receive
overtime pay for the actual holiday or to have equivalent time off added to
his or her holiday
credits.
The actual holiday shall be in lieu of the Company-observed holiday and
the employee must work the actual holiday.
(4)
All time worked after eight hours on a holiday shall be paid at double the
straight-time rate.
(5)
If a recognized holiday coincides with an employee’s scheduled day off, the
employee shall have equivalent time off added to his or her holiday
credits.
(6)
Holidays added to an
employee’s yearly holiday credits may be taken at any time after the holiday
occurs.
(7)
If an employee terminates his or her employment before his or her additional
earned holiday credits
have
been used, the employee shall receive one day’s pay at straight-time for
each day of unused credit, at the rate in effect at the time of the
employee’s termination.
(8)
The Weekly Rates in Section 4.1 (Pay Structure) include payment for the
holidays which occur within the employee’s working schedule.
(F)
Leaves: Military and Personal
I.
Military Leave of Absence
Any
regular employee of the Company who enters the armed forces of the United
States under the provisions of the Uniform Services Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 or any amendment thereof shall be subject to
the practices outlined in this Section (probationary employees shall be
entitled to the benefits
provided by law):
(1)
Any such regular employee shall automatically receive Leave of Absence for the
full period of active duty required, with no impairment of seniority, and with
the right to return to work if requested by him or her within the 90 calendar
days next following the end of such active duty, provided the Company’s
circumstances have not so changed as to make such return to work impossible or
unreasonable. However, Life
Insurance and Disability Insurance Benefits as provided by the Life Insurance
Plans and the Disability Benefit Plan shall be suspended during the term of
such leave.
(2)
The employee shall be entitled to pay for any vacation he or she may
have coming at the time the employee is called to or volunteers for such
active duty and, in addition, will be granted one week’s time with pay as a
military separation allowance. An
employee returning from active duty whose vacation allowance is reduced by one
week or more in the calendar year in which he or she returns will be granted
one extra week of vacation in the following year.
(3)
The following time allowances and Leave of Absence practices shall be
observed where employees are called out for short-term encampments, and
intensive military training periods of less than one year:
employees who are members of the Officers’ Reserve, National Guard,
Naval Reserve, and like organizations, will be allowed annually, in addition
to their regular vacation, one week’s time with pay for attendance at
encampments or other prescribed training.
The one-week allowance may be made in any units of one working day or
more that the employee is required to be absent from his or her job.
In lieu of such one-week pay allowance, an employee may elect the
following alternative, provided such election is made in writing in advance of
such leave, and provided further that such election must apply to the entire
extent of such leave in that calendar year: For such attendance at encampments
of not to exceed two workweeks or ten working days in any one year, the
Company will pay such employee the amount, if any, by which the remuneration
he or she receives from the Government is less than his or her regular Company
pay would have been for the same period.
Such items as subsistence, travel, uniform, and other allowances will
not be included in computing the remuneration received from the Government.
The Company will require satisfactory evidence of attendance.
If
still more time is needed for the Guard or Reserve activities, employees may
be allowed time off without pay for attendance, under regularly authorized
Leave of Absence.
II.
Personal Leave of Absence
Upon
written application to his or her supervisor, a regular employee may be
granted a leave of absence without pay and without loss of seniority, for a
period of 30 calendar days or less for personal reasons other than to work for
another employer, provided that adequate arrangements can be made to take care
of the employee’s duties without undue interference with the normal routine
of work as determined by the Company.
Such
leave of absence shall become effective on the date and at the time the
employee is first absent from work by reason of such leave and shall terminate
as of the date and time the employee resumes active work.
It shall be understood that during such leave of absence the employee
is not carried on the payroll and that he or she will not be paid for any
holiday occurring during the leave. However,
in cases of leaves of absence granted under this section or for short-term
military encampments as described in the above section on Military Leave of
Absence, an employee will be granted holiday pay for a holiday observed on his
or her regular working day immediately preceding the employee’s return to
work. In the event a shortage of
work occurs while an employee is on leave of absence, such employee will be
considered as if at work, and any necessary reclassification or layoff shall
be governed by his or her seniority rights and qualifications as compared with
those of all other employees affected. An
employee on leave of absence at the time of a layoff for lack of work shall be
entitled to rehiring rights as though he or she
had been at work at the time of such layoff.
Where
an employee does not return to work upon expiration of a Personal Leave of
Absence as provided above, the employee’s employment is terminated.
In such circumstances, where an employee who has completed five or more
years of service prior to his or her termination, is unable to return to work
because of a severe illness or injury to a member of his or her immediate
family, and is re-employed by the Company within one year of the date of his
or her termination, the employee shall upon re-employment be credited with the
seniority accrued by the employee up to the time of his or her termination.
In addition, the employee shall be reinstated with regard to Sickness
and Vacation Allowances. The
employee’s status under the Life Insurance, Disability Benefit, Pension, and
Savings Plans shall be determined in accordance with the then existing rules
of said Plans.
(G)
Personal Emergencies:
(1)
Personal Business Time – General
Employees
who have completed six months of service may be authorized time off with pay
for any legitimate purpose that cannot be attended to during non-working hours
and does not unduly interfere with normal operations. It is understood and
agreed that an employee shall be required to inform the appropriate supervisor
prior to taking the personal business time as to the reason for any absences
in order that the Company may determine whether or not pay shall be sustained
for all or part of such absences. The
number of Personal Business hours for each employee shall be 16 hours per
calendar year.
Personal
Business will be used for “snow days.”
(2)
Bereavement/Emergency Illness Time
Employees
who have completed six months of service are eligible for
Bereavement/Emergency Illness pay. The
number of Bereavement/Emergency Illness hours for each employee shall be up to
24 hours per occurrence with a maximum of 48 hours per calendar year.
Pay
is sustained for death of a member of the employee’s immediate family or the
immediate family of the employee’s spouse.
For Bereavement/Emergency Illness pay purposes, immediate family
includes: employee’s spouse,
child, parent, brother, sister, grandparent or grandchild.
Also included are legally declared relationships such as adopted or
step relatives in the immediate family or the spouse’s immediate family as
defined above.
For
the purpose of this Section, the term “spouse” shall include domestic
partner.
Emergency
illness is defined as a life-threatening event of sudden
onset requiring hospitalization or deterioration of an existing condition
where, in either case, death appears imminent.
Pay
is sustained to enable the employee to be with a family member or the family
of the employee’s spouse during an emergency illness where death appears
imminent.
Verification
of death or illness of family member may be requested by supervision.
Attendance
at scheduled or non-emergency surgery where death is not probable or illness
not of the nature defined above does not qualify for Emergency Illness
time-off. These may be chargeable
to Personal Business time-off.
(H)
Jury Duty:
Employees
shall be granted time off with pay for one period of jury duty service once
every three years.
(I)
Patents:
An
employee is required to notify and disclose to the Human Resources Department
in writing all inventions or improvements made or conceived by him or her
during his or her employment relating to any phase of the Company’s work or
investigations, before filing any patent applications relating to such
inventions and improvements. Promptly
following such notification and disclosure, the Company shall advise the
employee of its decision as to one of the following courses of action,
provided that it determines that public disclosure of such inventions or
improvements will not do harm to the Company nor reveal important confidential
information:
(1)
The Company will give the employee a written release as to all rights in the
inventions or improvements; or
(2)
The Company will give the employee a written release as to all rights in the
inventions or improvements, subject to retention of shop rights by the
Company; or
(3)
The Company will pay the costs of filing a patent application in the United
States relating to the inventions or improvements and will pay the costs of
prosecution of such patent application before the primary examiner in the
Patent Office but shall not be obligated to pay costs for appeals nor
interferences. The employee may
take over prosecution of the application at any time upon 30 days written
notice to the Company, and at his or her own expense.
The Company retains a royalty-free, paid up, nonexclusive license, and
the employee is free to exploit the patent and the inventions and improvements
subject to such license.
No
provision of this Agreement is intended to require assignment of any of the
employee’s rights in an invention if no equipment, supplies, facilities or
trade secret information of the Company was used, and the invention was
developed entirely on the employee’s own time; and the invention does not
relate to the business of the Company or to the Company’s actual or
demonstrably anticipated research or development; or does not result from any
work performed by the employee for the Company.
(J)
Employee’s Personal Vehicle Insurance:
Consistent
with Company Procedure 100.0130 with respect to the employee’s use of his or
her personal vehicle on Company business, the Company agrees to indemnify the
employee for liability loss not covered by personal insurance and for physical
damage to the employee’s vehicle within the insurance deductible or
in excess of coverage but not to exceed $500.
Liability indemnification is contingent upon an employee having
a valid policy of liability insurance for the vehicle.
In no event shall the Company provide any indemnification or pay for
any damage to the employee’s vehicle if the Company ascertains that the
employee:
(1)
Has been driving while under the influence of alcohol or any other drug or
substance which can impair his or her ability to drive.
(2)
Has been driving recklessly.
(3)
Has willfully caused the damage or liability.
4.5
– Special Provision
(A)
Uniforms:
To
provide uniform appearance and ready identification, certain employees shall
wear uniforms prescribed by the Company while performing their work.
These uniforms shall be worn only in the course of the performance of
this work, including related wear to and from the employee’s home.
The uniforms will consist of shirts and trousers for employees
regularly performing this work and shirts for employees temporarily performing
it. Uniform jackets will also be
worn as required for employee comfort. The
shirts and jackets will bear Company emblems.
The
Company will provide sets of uniforms in appropriate quantities to the
employees assigned this work as a part of their regular duties.
Shirts in appropriate quantities and a jacket if required for employee
comfort will be provided to employees assigned this work on a temporary basis.
Employees
provided uniforms will maintain them in a manner consistent with appropriate
grooming for the work being performed, and will not allow them to be worn by
anyone else.
Uniforms
provided by the Company will be returned when replaced by the Company and when
they are no longer required in the course of the employee’s work
assignments.
When
purchasing uniforms for Meter Readers, walking shorts may be substituted for
pants unless the supervisor believes such attire is a safety hazard.
The decision of the supervisor will not be subject to arbitration.
The
following classifications will be furnished uniforms suitable for work in
which they are engaged:
Commercial
Service Technician Lead Construction
Technician
Construction
Technician
Lead Electrician
Electronic
Energy Meas Tech
Lead
Facilities Mechanic
Energy
Technician Distribution Lead
Field Collector
Energy
Technician Residential Lead
Fleet Technician
Facilities
Mechanic
Lead
Meter Mechanic
Facilities
Helper
Lead
Meter & Regulator Technician
Field
Collector
Logistic Representative
Field
Planning Associate
Measurement Electronics Tech
Field
Service Assistant
Meter Reader
Field
Technician
Meter Reader Technician
Fleet
Assistant
Meter & Regulator Technician #1
Fleet
Technician
Meter & Regulator Technician #2
Industrial
Service Technician
NGV Station Technician
Journey
Electrician
Transportation Logistics Rep
Journey
Facilities Mechanic
The
following classifications will be furnished jackets:
Asst
Telecommunication Tech
Lead Meter & Regulator Technician
Construction
Technician
Lead System Protection Specialist
Energy
Technician Distribution
Meter & Regulator Technician #1
Energy
Technician Residential
Meter & Regulator Technician #2
Field
Collector
Meter Reader Technician
Field
Technician
NGV Station Technician
Field
Service Assistant
Senior Telecommunication Tech
Lead
Construction Technician
System Protection Specialist
Lead
Field Collector
Telecommunication Technician
The
following classifications will be furnished uniforms when they are regularly
assigned to perform leak surveys or take Cathodic protection readings on
private property:
Lead
Planning Associate
Planning Associate
Lead
System Protection Specialist System
Protection Specialist
Pipeline
Planning Assistant
(B)
Coveralls:
In
general the Company will not undertake to furnish working clothes to
employees, but the Company will provide coveralls for employees whose duties
are such that it is impracticable for them to keep their clothing neat and
clean and who come in contact with the Company’s customers or with the
public while performing such duties.
Eligibility
for Coveralls:
Three
classes of employees will be furnished with coveralls, viz.:
(1)
Employees who regularly use them and who leave them in their lockers, etc., at
the end of the day.
(2)
Employees who occasionally require coveralls and who keep them available for
use in vehicles driven by them in the performance of their duties.
(3)
Employees whose normal duties do not require them to use coveralls but who, on
occasion, perform a job for which the use of coveralls is authorized and who
are permitted to use them on each such specific job.
These coveralls are to be returned promptly upon the completion of each
job.
Coveralls
for Regular Use:
Employees
in the following classifications will be regularly supplied with coveralls,
and, unless they go directly from home to a field job, will not take them home
at night. Employees who go
directly from home to the job site will be permitted to take coveralls home
with them provided that they do not use them except on Company business.
Construction
Technician
Mechanic #2
Field
Service Assistant
Meter & Regulator Tech #1
Field
Technician
Meter & Regulator Tech #2
Fleet
Assistant
Pipeline Technician
Fleet
Technician
Senior Instrument Specialist
Instrument
Shop Mechanic #1 Station
Maintenance Specialist
Instrument
Shop Mechanic #2 Station
Operations Specialist
Lead
Construction Technician Station
Technician
Lead
Fleet Technician
Systems Protection Specialist
Lead
Instrument Shop Mechanic
Transmission Pipeline Specialist
Lead
Meter & Regulator Tech
Transmission Welding Specialist
Lead
System Protection Spec
Coveralls
for Intermittent Use:
Employees
in the following classifications will be issued coveralls and may carry them
in vehicles driven by them for use when the occasion warrants:
Commercial
Service Technician
Energy
Technician Distribution
Energy
Technician Residential
Field
Collector
Field
Technician
Gas Storage Specialist
Instrument
Specialist
Lead
Field Collector
Measurement Specialist
Coveralls
for Unusual Jobs:
Employees
whose normal duties do not require them to use coveralls, such as station
personnel and office workers, may obtain coveralls for use on a specific job
which is of short duration and which involves undue soiling of regular clothes
worn by such employees. For
example, if such employees are required to inspect vaults, or assist employees
working in a classification normally assigned coveralls, they may, upon
approval of an authorized supervisor, obtain coveralls for the period of the
assignment. Senior
Logistics Representative and Logistics Representative may obtain coveralls for
“night loading” operations without specific authorization from a
supervisor.
(C)
Jackets:
The
Company will provide winter jackets for employees located at the following
bases: Rim Forest, Beaumont,
Lancaster, and Yucca Valley. The
Company will also provide extra jackets for use by employees working
temporarily at these locations. In
addition, jackets will be provided and maintained at the Bakersfield Base for
use at mountainous areas and at times of extremely cold weather.
In
addition, each employee holding the regular classification of Transmission
Technician, Storage Specialty at Aliso Canyon and
Honor Rancho Underground Storage Field will be assigned one (1) parka-type
jacket. Furthermore, parkas will
be provided and maintained at Transmission bases for employees who are
required to work in extremely cold weather.
Management will determine the bases which meet the cold weather
criterion and the number of parkas assigned to each base.
(D)
Footwear:
Qualifying
positions that require construction quality boots that provide ankle
protection will be paid a yearly allowance of $85.00 during the second
pay period in July.
The
allowance is limited to those qualifying employees who are on the active
payroll as of the first day of the pay period in which the allowance is to be
paid.
(E)
Moving Expense:
It
is understood and agreed that reasonable moving expenses, limited to the
actual cost of transporting furniture and subject to approval in advance by
the Company, shall be paid by the Company only under the following
circumstances:
(1)
When an employee is transferred from one Region to another solely for the
convenience of the Company. In
such cases, if it is impossible to give such employee notice of the proposed
transfer to permit him or her to arrange in advance for a place to live
convenient to the Region to which he or she is transferred, he or she shall be
given such board and lodging allowance as may be mutually agreed to in each
case.
(2)
When an employee who is transferred as a result of a layoff under the
provisions of Section 7.1
(Seniority in Layoff) moves
to a residence at least ten miles closer to his or her new work location;
provided that none of the options available to the employee under Article VII
would provide the employee an equivalent or higher classified job within the
same work location, or an equivalent or higher classified job outside his or
her work location that is within twenty miles of his or her then existing work
location.
(3)
To be eligible for reimbursement for moving expenses under the provisions of
this Section, the employee must move his or her residence within three months
following his or her transfer; except that upon written notification to his or
her supervisor or to the Human Resources Department within this three-month
period he or she may secure an extension of the time limit to six months
following his or her transfer. Beyond
this, the Company may grant a reasonable further extension of time to an
employee who is attempting to arrange a move but encounters delays beyond his
or her control.
(F)
Overnight Expense:
In
the case of a Company-ordered temporary transfer where the job location makes
it necessary for the employee to remain away from home overnight and requires
the purchase of meals, lodging, transportation, etc., the Company agrees to
reimburse the employee for such expenses.
Article
V
Work
Force Flexibility/Work Schedules
5.1
– General Statement
Eight
hours shall constitute a regular day’s work, and 40 hours shall constitute a
regular week’s work. Except in
special situations, the regular work schedule of the construction and
operating forces of the Company shall consist of a five-day week.
Certain office employees whose primary work load varies in relation to
telephoned orders from the public may be required to work four eight-hour days
and two four-hour days a week without overtime payment.
Such schedules shall be filled on a voluntary basis to the extent
practicable. Otherwise the
schedules shall be rotated equally within the group unless other
arrangements are agreed upon in Shop Committee.
Work
performed on a shift basis may be scheduled without reference to the calendar
week, but shall not exceed 40 hours in the scheduled workweek of seven days.
In
general, the policy as to work schedules is that:
(1)
Regular work schedules shall be set and made available to employees in
advance.
(2)
Schedules shall be limited to the 40-hour week and eight-hour day except when
the excess time worked is paid at the overtime rate.
(3)
Modification of schedules is restricted to definite work requirements.
(4)
When in the judgment of the Company it is practicable to do so, work schedules
providing optional starting and quitting times will be offered to employees in
certain working groups and shall be chosen by qualified employees in seniority
order.
5.2
– Workday and Workweek
All
hours worked beyond 40 straight-time hours in any workweek of seven calendar
days and beyond eight straight-time hours in any calendar day shall be paid at
time and one-half; provided, however, that all work performed consecutively
beyond eight straight-time hours, whether or not within a single workday,
shall be paid at time and one-half.
5.3
– Modification of Schedules
As
general policy, work schedules shall be changed on short notice only when
unavoidable and only when required to meet operating and other bona fide
Company requirements. Additional
hours worked before or after an employee’s regular schedule do not
constitute a schedule change. Hours
worked outside of the employee’s regularly scheduled shift are paid at the
overtime rates as defined in Section 4.2(B) (Definition of Overtime).
If the scheduled 40-hour workweek includes any day on which the
starting time is more than two hours earlier than the starting time on the
previous calendar day, if any, overtime shall be paid for the time worked on
the entire shift.
There
are two general types of changes in schedules which may be made:
(1)
Changes in Scheduled Hours Within the Scheduled Day
An
employee’s scheduled work hours may be shifted within a calendar day,
without payment of overtime, only when he or she is given 24 hours advance
notice as follows:
(a)
If his or her schedule is changed to a later hour in the day than that at
which he or she has been scheduled to report, the notice must be given 24
hours in advance of the time at which he or she was scheduled to report for
work before the change.
(b)
If his or her schedule is changed to an hour that is up to, and including, two
hours earlier in the day than that at which he or she has been scheduled to
report, the notice must be given 24 hours in advance of the earlier hours at
which he or she is to report.
When
such notice is not given, all hours worked outside the hours included in the
old schedule shall be paid at the overtime rate.
In any event, if the starting time for the new schedule is more than
two hours earlier than the starting time of a scheduled shift on the previous
calendar day, overtime shall be paid for time worked on the entire shift.
(2)
Changes in Scheduled Days
Changes
in a work schedule involving the shifting of working days and days off may be
made without the payment of overtime providing the following two requirements
are met:
(a)
That the new schedule meets the same requirements as the old with regard to
the 40-hour week and eight-hour day.
(b)
That notice is given at least 30 hours in advance of the time at which the
employee was to have reported under his or her old schedule or 40 hours in
advance of the new reporting time for the new schedule, whichever is earlier.
If
these advance notice requirements are not met, payment at the overtime rate
will be made for all hours worked on any day that was a day off under the old
schedule.
5.4
– Job Site Reporting
The
Company, at its option, may require employees to report for work and to end
their workday at specific job sites other than their regular bases, provided
that employees will be paid excess time and mileage where incurred to report
to and leave from a job.
Further,
employees who regularly drive Company vehicles in the performance of their
work may volunteer to report to work at locations other than their regular
bases and return home in their assigned Company vehicles.
These employees shall earn no additional compensation for such job site
reporting provided that the work sites are within the normal commuting area
and normal commuting time of their operating base and that the employees incur
no costs for driving or parking the vehicle.
5.5
– Special Work Schedules
(A)
Customer Services Field Employees:
Regular work schedules, with Saturday as a regularly scheduled workday,
will be established for customer service field employees where in the judgment
of management it is practicable to do so and sufficient coverage is available.
The schedules will be set in advance and no two consecutive Saturdays
will be part of the regular schedule.
The
Company will also examine the issue of work schedules in the Call Centers and
attempt to accommodate employees’ desires not to work consecutive weekends.
However, it is not known if this can be accomplished and this is not a
binding commitment.
(B)
Commercial Technicians and Industrial Technicians:
Effective
the date of the signing of this Agreement, the Company may establish regular
work schedules with Saturday and Sunday as a regular workday for Commercial
Technicians and Industrial Technicians, provided that (1) employees subject to
these schedules will not be assigned split days off without their express
consent and (2) the Company will not schedule employees on two consecutive
Sundays. Notwithstanding,
paragraph (A) above will not apply to these classifications.
5.6
– Work Assignments of Relatives
Related
persons may not be given or continue in work assignments which require one
relative to direct, assign, appraise,
or check the work of another, or permit one relative to have access to the
personnel records and/or
local departmental files
of another. Whenever one of these
prohibited working relationships is
established, one of the employees must transfer to a position which
eliminates the relationship or resign. If
neither employee chooses to move, the less senior employee will be required to
do so or be terminated. The
Company will allow 90 calendar days following the establishment of the
prohibited working relationship to eliminate it through promotion or transfer
under the provisions of Section 5.10.
The 90 calendar days will begin upon notice to the affected employee and his
or her local Union.
A
prohibited working relationship can be avoided if the employees receive work
direction and their personnel records are reviewed by someone other than the
relative.
For
purposes of this Section, relatives are defined as:
husband and wife, parent and child or step-child; parent and son- or
daughter-in-law; brother or sister, or step-brother or step-sister; aunt or
uncle and nephew or niece (by blood or marriage); grandparent and grandchild,
first cousins; brother-in-law or sister-in-law.
5.7
– Job Assignments During Inclement Weather
When
construction work or field operations are suspended because of inclement
weather, no probationary or regular employees will be laid off because of such
inclement weather. However, when
inclement weather prevents such employees from performing their usual and
customary duties, such employees shall report to work regardless of weather
conditions, and the Company may assign them other work irrespective of whether
or not such work is normally performed by employees in different
classifications.
5.8
– Flexible Work Force
(A)
Notwithstanding any provisions of this Agreement to the contrary, the Company
retains the right to assign any represented employee to perform the duties of
any job classification hereunder within the skill, knowledge level and
physical ability of said employee, as determined exclusively by the Company
subject to Section 3.10 (Refusal of Duties), for the purpose of balancing the
work load and utilizing the work force efficiently.
Such assignments shall first be done on a volunteer basis in seniority
order. In the absence of such
volunteers, selection will be in inverse seniority order.
The determination of the bases or facilities which are to supply the
needed work force is determined by the Company.
(B)
Opportunities for parallel or downhill work hereunder will be offered first to
volunteers at said bases or facilities. In
the absence of sufficient volunteers, selection will be in inverse seniority
order from among qualified employees.
(C)
Promotional opportunities hereunder will be handled pursuant to Section 5.10
(Position Opportunity System), except that, as stated above, the Company
retains the exclusive right to determine, at its discretion, the supplying
base or facility.
(D)
Employees who are assigned to other locations or classifications for purposes
of work load balancing shall be given the same opportunities to work overtime
in those locations or classifications as employees regularly working such
classifications at such work locations have been offered the work.
However, nothing shall require that an employee already doing work be
pulled off a job in order for someone else to continue on overtime.
(E)
LTS for performance shall only be allowed in the employee’s primary job.
(F)
Excess time and mileage will be paid where incurred to report and leave from
such assignments.
5.9
– Temporary Relief Assignments
Temporary
vacancies shall be filled by the qualified employee who is next in line in
seniority order within the job progression, except when it is inconvenient to
operations to do so, such as when the senior employee is based elsewhere, is
unavailable part of the time because of vacation, etc.
All temporary assignments to management will cease to accrue
bargaining unit seniority, while on such assignment, if the assignment lasts
more than 18 cumulative months in a 2 ½ year period.
Nevertheless, the Union and the Company recognize that in order to
provide vacation relief, for work load balancing and to meet temporary
operating emergencies it may be necessary to make work assignments from other
than the work locations in which the vacancy occurs.
It is mutually agreed that such temporary assignments may be made
without regard to such job progressions and without regard to the conditions
and agreements governing promotions to regular positions. Operating
convenience being relatively equal, preference
in such cases shall be given within the bargaining unit.
5.10
– Position Opportunity and Placement
The
Company will attempt to fill vacant positions from regular employees according
to the following Position Opportunity System (“POS”) procedure before
resorting to outside hires. The
Company will maintain a list of classifications in a job index, including a
job profile summary of the primary duties of the job and the minimum
qualifications thereof, which will be subject to the provisions of the POS.
Any
qualified employee may bid to any other job, provided that his or her current
job performance is not rated less than satisfactory.
Prior to submitting a bid, employees are encouraged to review the job
profiles. In addition, employees
must take any pre-qualifying examination and/or skills test required.
Some jobs that require similar skills, qualifications, and work
activities may be grouped by the Company in an ascending order according to
training and proficiency development requirements for work performed.
Part-time
employees shall be eligible to bid for full-time positions based on their
seniority calculations as follows: Total
hours worked since initial hire by the Company divided by 2080 hours.
(A)
Prescreening for Employees:
Some
jobs require successful completion of a pre-qualifying examination, skills
test, and physical ability tests. For
such jobs, employees must meet minimum qualifications, as well as all
pre-qualifying requirements to be selected.
Also, an employee’s performance must not be rated less than
satisfactory in the job from which the move is requested.
Bids will not be accepted if an employee’s performance is rated less
than satisfactory and/or if he or she has not met pre-screening requirements.
For
jobs that require successful completion of a pre-qualifying examination and/or
skills test, employees must have the experience and/or background required for
a job in order to take such tests. Employees
who do not pass an examination will not be eligible to re-test again for six
months
from the date of disqualification. Employees
who do not pass a skills test, such as keyboard proficiency, stenography, or a
physical abilities test may re-test after three
months.
Pre-qualifying
examinations will be valid for a maximum of five
years. After this time, employees
will be required to re-qualify. Skills
tests and physical abilities tests are valid for one year.
Employees who have held a job for one year or more in the last five
years and whose performance is not rated less than satisfactory in the job
need not take an examination for the same job family to be selected.
However, a skills test or physical abilities test may be required.
Some jobs may require certification.
For such jobs, recertification will be required as established by the
Company.
Employees
who transfer from a job at one work location to the same job at a different
work location are not required to take a pre-qualifying examination, provided
the new job does not require additional skills which the employee has not
performed or for which he or she has not tested.
Any
employee who bids for a position that requires the same pre-qualification,
skills test, or physical abilities test, as the current job held, will be
exempt from having to take the same test for the new job, providing the
employee has previously passed the pre-qualification test on file.
Information
on test locations and schedules will be available at all work locations.
(B)
Requesting a Job Move:
When
a job vacancy is to be filled, the senior, pre-qualified employee with
a bid on file for that job is considered in the priority order listed below.
1.
Disability Bid:
Employees who have been granted disability bid priority by Human
Resources may bid for any jobs for which they qualify at their current pay
grade or lower. They will be
considered first for job vacancies, provided that they indicate their
disability priority status and meet the minimum qualifications.
2.
Transfer/Progression:
The
most senior of the following two types of job requests:
a)
Employees requesting a transfer to the same job at a different work
location.
b)
Employees in the same or same type of job progresssions
(such as Field Technician to Energy Technician-Residential).
3.
Bid:
Employees may bid for any job, provided they meet the minimum
qualifications for the job requested.
Employees
must submit a bid to Human Resources to be considered for a job vacancy.
The number of bids an
employee may submit is not limited. However,
an employee can only decline one job offer in a 12-month period without
restrictions. If an employee
declines a second job offer in a 12-month period, the employee will be
restricted from bidding for another job for one year,
and
all of his or her existing bids will be canceled.
See Section (D) Acknowledgment and Validity of Bids.
When
an employee is accepted for a job, all of his or her bids are canceled and the
employee will not be eligible to bid again for one year from the effective
date of the job move. The
exception to this will be promotional opportunities within the same job
progression at the same location. If
the employee is satisfactory in his or her current classification, the
employee’s bids for the promotional opportunities will remain active in POS.
All other bids will be canceled and the employee will need to re-submit
bids after the completion of one year from the effective date of the most
recent job.
Employees who are accepted for a job requiring greater technical
knowledge and skill may be restricted from bidding for up to two years
from the effective date. However,
an employee may request consideration for a newly created job as described in
Section (G) New Jobs, if the new
job was first posted after the employee accepted a job offer.
Employees
not accepted for the job are so notified, and their bid for the specific job
is canceled.
(C)
Pay for Time Required for Job Interviews and Pre-qualification Examinations:
1.
Job Interviews:
An employee who bids to a different job is allowed the working time,
with pay, for a job interview arranged by the Company if the interview is
scheduled during the employee’s regular working hours or otherwise requires
that he or she be excused from work. The
working time allowance is limited to four hours.
The employee bears the cost of his or her own transportation to and
from the location of the interview, and of any related personal expenses.
2.
Pre-qualifying Examinations:
An employee who is scheduled for a pre-qualifying examination is
allowed up to sixteen hours per year with pay in connection with any
examination arranged by the Company during the employee’s regular working
hours or that requires that he or she be excused from work.
The employee bears the cost of his or her own transportation to and
from the location of the examination, and of any related personal expenses.
3.
Shortage of Work:
For
employees affected by a shortage of work, the Company will pay excess casual
mileage required to travel to the interview or pre-qualifying examination or
may provide transportation.
(D)
Acknowledgment and Validity of Job Requests:
The
Company will provide a means for employees to bid for jobs listed in the Job
Index. Also, the Company will
place the bidder’s name on an eligible list to be maintained in connection
with each job. Bids will be
accepted according to bid number and will not be accepted if they do not
provide the necessary information. Bids
that are received after prior job referral has been released by Human
Resources to a hiring supervisor will not be considered until the referred
employee has been interviewed and accepted or disqualified for the job in
question.
Bids
will remain in effect for a maximum of 24 months, until the employee is
accepted for a job, is disqualified, declines a
second job
offer
in
a 12-month period;
or until the employee cancels them. When
an employee is disqualified for a job, all of his or her bids for that
specific job will be canceled and the employee will be restricted from bidding
for that job for three
months.
When an employee declines a second
job
offer, all of his or her bids will be canceled and the employee will be
restricted from bidding for any job for one year.
Also, an employee’s bids will be canceled if his or her performance
is rated less than satisfactory. The
employee will be restricted from bidding until his or her performance rating
is not less than satisfactory.
Bids
for a specific job will be canceled if results of prior pre-qualifying
examinations or skills test expire during the effective term of the bids.
Employees may resubmit such bids after successfully re-testing for the
jobs.
An
employee who has a bid on file may, at any time, secure, through his or her
representative or directly from Human Resources, information regarding his or
her position on an established bid list.
Also, an employee may request the name and seniority of the last
employee placed on a job from such job request list, and the date such action
was taken.
(E)
Protesting Disqualification:
1.
Transfers:
An employee who questions the judgment of management regarding his or
her qualifications for a transfer to a job vacancy, is entitled to file a
grievance under the dispute resolution provision.
In the event of such a grievance, the Company will assume the burden of
proof as to the appropriateness of disqualifying the employee for a transfer.
Failure to file a grievance concerning the matter within 15 working
days will excuse the Company from considering the grievance as applying to the
particular job in question.
2.
Bids:
An employee who questions the judgment of non-management regarding his
or her qualifications for a job bid, including disability bids, is entitled to
file a grievance under the dispute resolution provision. Failure to file a
grievance concerning the matter within 15 working days will excuse the Company
from considering the grievance as applying to the particular job in question.
(F)
Training and Proficiency:
Some
jobs require successful completion of extensive off-the-job Company training.
For such jobs, an employee’s new job classification will take effect
after the successful completion of training tests at the end of the initial
training course. However, if
the training course is not available and/or completed within 90 days from the
job acceptance date, the new rate of pay will begin on the 91st day.
Employees who do not pass subsequent training courses, once the job
takes effect, will be placed on a performance improvement plan and will be
subject to the due process provision of this agreement.
An
employee who fails the initial course will be returned to the job from which
he or she came and displace the employee who replaced him or her.
The displaced employee will return to the job from which he or she
came, and so on.
Employees
who return to a job they held previously will be required to successfully
complete the Company training course and meet the current proficiency
requirements for that job if they were out of the former job for five years or
more.
(G)
New Jobs:
The
Company will notify the Union whenever an entirely new job classification is
created that is covered by the provisions of this Agreement.
The Company will indicate in such notification the pertinent facts
concerning the job. Following
notification, the Company will then post a notice system wide, which will
describe the job duties, minimum qualifications and the pay rate of the new
job. Interested, qualified
employees may submit bids under the provisions of the POS.
(H)
Return to Prior Position:
Within
five
calendar weeks
(35
days)
of an employee moving into a new job classification, the supervisor will meet
with the employee to jointly discuss the employee’s progress to date.
If, after discussions, the supervisor or
employee
believes
the employee might not be capable of performing satisfactorily in the new
position, the employee may exercise the option to
return
to her/his position within eight
calendar weeks
(56
days).
When no formal training is
required, the 56-day period begins on the effective date of the new
classification (when the employee actually moves to the new job). If formal
training is required, the 56-day period begins after successful completion of
training, or upon successful completion of the initial training course.
Following a return, the employee will be restricted from bidding for one
(1) year.
(I)
Placement Upon Return From Authorized Absence:
When
a job becomes vacant because of the absence of an employee on Military Leave,
Disability, Personal Leave of Absence, or other authorized reason of a nature
which permits the employee to return to the former assignment, the Company
will follow the normal procedures governing position opportunities.
If the employee on authorized leave returns within a period of two
calendar years following his or her last day worked in active service, the
employee who had been appointed to the vacancy will be returned to his or her
former classification within the job progression, at the work location from
which the employee left. When
such an employee returns to his or her former job, the employee if any, who
replaced him or her will likewise have the right to return to the job from
which he or she came, and so on. In
case more than one employee will have been appointed to such a job, the
employee last appointed to the job classification will be the first to return
to his or her former job. If the
employee on authorized leave returns to the same payroll classification after
an absence of two calendar years following the last day worked in active
service, and if there is no vacancy available for him or her in that
classification, the provisions of Article VII governing layoff for shortage of
work will apply to the employee displaced by the returning employee.
(J)
Placement of Disabled Employees:
When
an employee (whether or not on the Disability payroll) is unable to perform
the duties of his or her job because of a disability, but is capable of
performing the duties of a classification or classifications other than his or
her regular job, the employee may request transfer to or the Company may place
such employee in any vacant job he or she is capable of performing, provided
that it is not higher than his or her regular classification.
Bids from an employee who has been notified by Human Resources that he
or she has been granted disability request priority will be considered before
all other job requests, provided that such employee meets the minimum
qualifications for the job requested. The
standard for disqualification of an employee requesting disability placement
is set forth in Section 5.10 (B).
If
an employee is medically disqualified for a certain job classification, any
other requests he or she submits for the same classification will be canceled
and the employee will not be considered for further interviews for the same
classification until he or she submits evidence that he or she is no longer
medically disqualified. If at a
later date the employee again becomes capable of performing the job he or she
held prior to becoming disabled, at that time the employee will have the right
to return to his or her former job on the same basis as an employee returning
from disability.
An
employee placed in a job under the provisions of this Section will receive the
rate of pay that is no lower than the weekly rate which he or she received
immediately prior to the disability.
Employees
who have been offered employment under this section by the Company and have
been offered a job more than seventy-five (75) miles from their last work
location, may elect termination wages equal to one (1) week of pay for each
year of service up to 20 weeks, in lieu of accepting the job.
This is a severance payment and disability benefits will be terminated
the date the employee leaves the company.
(K)
Supervisory Promotions:
While
seniority shall be observed where possible in the selection of employees to
fill positions of supervision or of special responsibility, the Company
reserves the right to exercise complete discretion in the choice of
employees for such positions and in their retention in such positions.
The most important requirement for selection and retention in a
position of supervision or of special responsibility is that the employee
shall be acceptable to the Company as an agent for the exercise of authority.
This applies where authority is to be exercised on behalf of the
Company as follows: (1) directing
the work of other employees in a supervisory capacity (barring such direction
or supervision as is exercised by a Lead Construction Technician over Energy Technician
Distribution
or Construction
Technician),
(2) inspection of work, particularly where such inspection is to ensure
compliance with requirements of law or of public regulation, and (3)
assignment of work to employees who have no other direct supervision.
When
a supervisory employee returns to a classification of work covered by this
Agreement because of a shortage of work in his or her classification, such
employee shall have the right to return to the classification from which he or
she was advanced, within the previous two years, providing that such return
does not bump any employee in the classification who has greater seniority.
In the event the returning employee does not have the seniority to fill
a job in the classification from which he or she was advanced, he or she shall
have the right to go back into the next lower classification within the work
location for which his or her seniority entitles him or her.
Furthermore, a supervisor may utilize accrued bargaining unit seniority
at any time to return to a vacant job but shall not have bumping rights.
This
Section does not apply to temporary promotions into management.
5.11
– Job Profiles
The
Company agrees to prepare and issue a revised index of job classifications and
summary of duties for the purposes of assisting employees in determining the
nature of duties to be performed in any job for which they may bid.
Where pertinent,
the index will list the principal minimum qualifications for the Indicative
Duties Descriptions, with the understanding that such lists may not be all
inclusive and may be subject to change. However,
the Company agrees to notify the Union immediately if it intends to modify the
minimum qualifications for any job. Furthermore,
any minimum qualifications must be reasonable and necessary to indicate
probable success in the classification.
5.12
– Certification
The
Company shall pay for reasonable costs associated with all job-required
certifications and licenses. Cost
must be approved in advance. The
Company shall provide sufficient time during regular work hours for study and
testing related to required certifications and licenses.
5.13
– Technical Layoff
In
some cases, there may be a shortage of work in one or more classifications
(pay grade) in a job progression, but equivalent or higher jobs in the same
type of work are available elsewhere to all employees in the layoff area.
In this situation, when such jobs are available at a work location not
more than twenty miles distant from the affected employee’s existing work
location, the provisions of Section 7.1
(Seniority in Layoff) shall not apply, however, the affected employees (lowest
in seniority in the classification) (pay grade) will be given 10 working days
of special bid rights. These bid
rights will have preference over all bidders except those bidders under
Section 5.10 (J) and 7.1.
5.14
– New or Modified Regions
In
the event that the boundary lines of a Region in which the Union has
representation rights as herein defined shall be modified so as to create new
boundaries which shall include some or all of the job progressions, as herein
defined, it is agreed that the assignment of employees who will staff the new
Region shall be deemed to have been made prior to the date the new Region is
established and shall be accomplished in the following manner:
(A)
The Company will establish a Table of Organization showing the number of
classifications of the jobs and job progressions to be established in the new
Regions and those to be eliminated from the other areas affected.
A copy of the Table of Organization will be forwarded to the Union.
(B)
Employees working in the area encompassed by the new Region whose work
location or job status will be unaffected will be so notified.
(C)
Employees in job progressions that are affected will be considered for jobs in
similar job progressions in the revised Regions without being required to
submit bid cards. Each such
employee will be informed of his or her rights, and his or her preferences
will be recorded by his or her supervisor.
Any such employee who volunteers for a job of the same, a parallel, or
a lower classification will be accepted in seniority order, prior to
consideration of bids and promotions under the regular Position Opportunity
System. Any such employee who is
eligible for promotion to a vacant job in a higher classification shall
receive consideration in accordance with paragraph (E) hereof.
(D)
In the event that an insufficient number of employees volunteer, from a unit
affected, for positions in the new or modified Regions, the number in excess
of the Table of Organization established for the unit affected under the
provisions of (A) of this Section shall be subject to layoff under the
provisions of Section 7.1 (Seniority
in Layoff)
or Section 5.13 (Technical Layoff), as appropriate.
It is understood, however, that an employee is not subject to layoff if
positions are available to him or her within his or her then existing job
progression even though at a different base location.
(E)
Jobs in the new Regions which remain unfilled after exhausting the bids
received under the provisions of paragraph (D) hereof shall be subject to the
regular bidding procedure.
(F)
At the request of either party, a meeting shall be held within five working
days of the Company’s announcement of a Region boundary change to discuss
details under which they shall proceed and to discuss the probabilities of
transfer, reclassification, and other matters covered by the terms of this
Agreement.
5.15
– Employee Redeployment – Work Force Balancing
Assuming
no reduction in total number of employees or in job classification level,
relocation of employees within a job progression shall be effected as follows:
(A)
Employees at work locations where the excess of work force exists will be
offered, in seniority order, the existing vacant jobs at other work locations.
Requests from these employees for change to the location where
vacancies exist will have
priority until enough requests have been honored to effect the necessary
reduction in work force.
(B)
If there then remains an excess of work force at any work location, the
employees to be reassigned will be selected in reverse seniority order.
In seniority order, each employee in this group will be allowed to
choose the vacant job to which he or she shall be reassigned.
Any employee thus reassigned by the Company may submit a request to
return to a job in the classification he or she held at the work location from
which he or she was displaced. Such
requests will be given priority over routine transfer requests.
It is understood that acceptance of a promotion, or any voluntary
change in job progression
or
work location, removes any special priority of return.
(C)
In the event a redeployment involves a move more than 30 miles from the
employee’s present work location, such employee shall have the option of
accepting redeployment or exercising rights under Section 7.1 (Seniority in
Layoff).
Article
VI
Dispute
Resolution
6.1
– General Statement
The
Company shall exercise its right to employ, promote, demote, discipline, and
discharge employees in the interest of good service and the proper conduct of
the business, subject to the terms and provisions of this Agreement.
Where an appeal through grievance procedure is upheld, the employee’s
status and pay shall be restored. The
Union and the Company agree to take alternate measures to resolve disputes
prior to any formal action by either party.
6.2
– Job Performance Appraisals
When
a supervisor prepares an Employee Appraisal or an Interim Personnel Report for
entry into an employee’s personnel file, the supervisor shall give the
employee an opportunity to read it. Normally
the employee will initial the entry, signifying only that he or she has read
it, not necessarily that the employee agrees with it.
If the employee declines to initial the entry, the supervisor shall so
note on the entry. The employee
may, at his or her option, submit a short written statement (not more than one
page) of rebuttal to be added to the personnel file along with the
supervisor’s entry. The
employee may obtain a copy of the Employee Appraisal or Interim Personnel
Report without charge if the request is made at the time the supervisor shows
it to the employee. Otherwise,
the employee may obtain copies of any documents in his or her personnel file
upon written request to the Human Resources Department at a transaction charge
of $2.00 plus ten cents per page of copy.
It is understood that some such entries may be made without being seen
first by the employee in cases when the employee is unavailable or in cases of
disciplinary action for which formal protest procedure is established.
At
any time an employee may request of the supervisor an appraisal and discussion
of his or her job performance, including a personal inspection in the
supervisor’s presence of the employee’s personnel file, if requested with
reasonable advance notice. Normally
such inspections shall not be repeated in less than twelve months, but
exceptions may be made in such instances as the issuance of a
less-than-satisfactory rating or, the disqualification of an employee on a bid
or promotion, or following disciplinary action.
In addition, any employee may review with the Human Resources
Department the nature of his or her past record of service.
When
a supervisor enters into the record that an employee’s overall job
performance rating is less-than-satisfactory, it is the supervisor’s
obligation to tell the employee of the reason for the rating.
Furthermore, on the day the employee is to be informed of his or her
less-than-satisfactory rating, the employee upon request, shall be entitled to
have a Union representative present as a witness to the interview.
In addition, the employee shall be given a Notice of
Less-Than-Satisfactory Job Performance (Form No. 3891) at the time such entry
is made or as soon as practicable thereafter.
It is agreed, however, that with relation to such privileges as
transfer, bid or promotion, the employee’s overall job performance rating
will be based on his or her actual current status regardless of whether or not
it has yet been entered into the record or whether or not he or she has yet
been notified.
The
Company also recognizes the obligation of its supervisors to inform employees
who have been rated less-than-satisfactory when and if their work performance
is again judged to be satisfactory. The
Union may at any time protest a less-than-satisfactory rating through the
grievance and arbitration procedure.
6.3
– Causes for Disciplinary Action
Any
of the following shall constitute causes for demotion, discharge or
disciplinary layoff, except that any acts of sabotage or theft of any
employee, customer or Company property shall be an immediate cause of
dismissal:
(A)
Unsatisfactory job performance, including the following:
Failure
to perform work in an efficient and workmanlike fashion.
Unsatisfactory
accident record; carelessness or negligence on the job which affects the
safety of fellow workmen or which involves avoidable damage to property;
unsafe, unlawful driving.
Failure
to follow Company rules which have been posted or which are common knowledge
or of which the employee has been directly notified.
(B)
Misconduct,
including the following:
Insubordination
– failure to comply with orders or instructions given by the proper
supervisor, or engaging in any activity or conduct in violation of Section 2.2
(E) (No-Strike Clause).
Failure
to cooperate with supervisors and/or fellow employees in matters pertaining to
the Company’s operations.
Insobriety
– drinking on the job, or drinking off the job to the extent that it
adversely affects the employee’s attendance or the quality of his or her
work.
Absence
without authority – (when it would be possible to apply for authority for
such absence) and without satisfactory excuse.
Dishonesty
– regarding money, falsification of Company reports or records; failure to
tell the truth in matters pertaining to Company operations or in matters
relating to the employee’s absence from or performance on the job.
Obvious
causes – such as conviction of a felony, engaging in a criminal act (other
than a minor traffic violation) or an act involving moral turpitude.
Drug
abuse – use of, on or off the job, which is in violation of negotiated
agreements and government mandates.
6.4
– Advance Warning of Intention to Discipline
The
Company agrees that an employee whose work is of such quality as to justify
discipline for the first reason stated under Section 6.3 (A) (Failure to
Perform Work in an Efficient and Workmanlike Fashion), shall be specifically
warned by the supervisor with reasons stated in writing of any intention which
the supervisor may have of recommending demotion, discharge, or disciplinary
layoff for said reason. The
supervisor will give a reasonable period of advance warning in order that the
employee may remove the necessity for disciplinary action.
When the nature of the employee’s deficiency is such that it would be
unreasonable to expect him or her to correct it immediately, the supervisor
will give the employee a reasonable probationary period in which to improve
his or her work to a satisfactory level.
Any
employee who has received such a warning shall have the option of requesting
reclassification and transfer to work which he or she has previously performed
successfully if such work is available and if such request is made before the
expiration of the stated probationary period, without regard to the
“satisfactory work requirements” of Section 5.10 (Position Opportunity
System). The employee may elect
to waive the probationary period in favor of an immediate hearing as provided
in Article VI, Dispute Resolution, in which case his or her employment and
pay will continue until the Company has stated its position as provided in paragraph
(5) of Section 6.5 (A).
Any
such warning so given shall be continuing in effect until the cause for such
warning shall have been removed by the employee and any failure on the part of
the Company to take action following any such warnings, regardless of lapse of
time, shall not be deemed a waiver by the Company of its right to act upon
such warning at any later date within six months.
In the event that two such warnings are given within a period of two
years, such six months limitation shall be extended to one year on the second
warning; and if subsequent warnings are given within one year after the lapse
of the previous warning period, such limitation shall be extended to two
years.
6.5
– Disciplinary Procedure
The
following procedure shall be followed in connection with (A) Discharge for
Cause, (B) Demotion for Cause and (C) Disciplinary Layoff, for the causes
listed in Section 6.3 (Causes for Disciplinary Action):
(A)
Discharge for Cause:
(1)
Employees are subject to removal from active work and to subsequent
termination of service for the causes cited in Section 6.3 hereof.
Immediate causes of discharge are offenses which have occurred (or
which have been discovered) within 90 days of the date of removal from work,
and no offense shall be regarded as an immediate cause of discharge unless
acted upon within that period. While
discharge action must be directly related to an offense or offenses which have
occurred within the period of time just stated, consideration of any given
case shall not necessarily be limited to one specific offense.
The record of previous good service, or of previous offenses, if any,
and punishment usually given for similar offenses, shall also be considered.
The sole purpose of placing a time limit upon action following any
given offense is to provide a period of time during which an employee may
clear his or her record of any immediate cause of discharge.
It is not the intent of this provision to provide a time limit which
operates to cancel the effect either of good service, or of repeated offenses
which interfere with the proper conduct of the business.
(2)
When any employee is removed from active work, pending a discharge for cause,
he or she will be immediately notified of the reason therefore on a Notice of
Discharge for Cause. This notice
shall indicate the nature of the offense, citing the subsection of Section 6.3
hereof which applies, the date upon which the discharge is effective, and the
last date upon which the discharge may be protested with a request for a
hearing.
(3)
The Human Resources Department, upon request, will arrange for a hearing to be
held, whenever practical, within not less than two working days, nor more than
five working days of the date of removal from work, and will withhold official
termination of service until expiration of that period, in any case.
Where more time is required, the hearing will be scheduled at the
earliest date possible. However,
the effective date of the discharge, unless set aside, shall be the date upon
which the employee is actually removed from work.
If a protest is upheld, the employee shall be restored to the job which
he or she held at the time of removal from work or some other job agreeable to
the parties concerned, and receive full pay from the date of removal from
work. And, in addition, such
employee shall be reimbursed for his or her transportation expense in
connection with such hearings in an amount not to exceed the cost of public
transportation. The time limit
herein provided refers to regular business days and not to calendar days.
Saturday, Sunday, and holidays will be disregarded in computing the
two-day and five-day periods. No
protest of a discharge will be accepted unless received by the Human Resources
Department within five working days of the date the Notice of Discharge for
Cause is mailed.
(4)
The employee may appear in person at his or her hearing, whether he or she
represents himself or herself or is represented by the Union.
The employee may produce such witnesses as may be necessary to testify
in his or her behalf on questions of fact.
(5)
Upon conclusion of the hearing, Company representatives will mail a certified
letter to the last known address of the employee, stating the position taken
by the Company either in upholding the protest or in sustaining the discharge,
or if the Union has represented the employee in the hearing, the Union and the
employee shall be notified of the outcome.
If the protest is upheld, the employee’s status and pay shall be
restored as provided in Section 6.1 (General Statement).
If discharge is sustained, and there is dispute on this point, a Board
of Arbitration shall be designated to arbitrate the matter, as provided by
Section 6.8, provided the Human Resources Department receives a written
request for arbitration from the Union within the 20 calendar days next
following the date upon which the certified letter stating the Company’s
position, as provided above, is mailed. In
the event that the Union schedules a membership or Executive Board vote
concerning a request for arbitration of a discharge at the earliest regular
meeting (or series of area meetings) following the date of the Company’s
letter, the 20-day limit referred to above shall be extended until the second
working day following the date of the completion of the vote, provided that
the Union notifies the Company in writing within the 20-day limit that a vote
has been scheduled, specifying the date when the voting will be completed, and
provided further that in no event shall the time limit be extended more than
25 additional calendar days beyond the 20-day limit.
(B)
Demotion for Cause:
(1)
Employees are subject to demotion for the causes cited in Section 6.3 hereof.
The duties and pay rates of the employee are subject to immediate
change but the demotion may be protested under the same procedure as provided
for in connection with discharge for cause.
(2)
Employees demoted for cause shall be notified on a Notice of Demotion for
Cause. No protest of a demotion
will be accepted unless received by the Human Resources Department within five
working days of the date the Notice of Demotion for Cause is mailed.
(C)
Disciplinary Layoff:
(1)
Employees are subject to disciplinary layoff for the causes cited in Section
6.3 hereof. The layoff may be set
immediately upon commission of the offense.
Layoffs will be reviewed by the Company under the same procedure as
provided for in connection with the discharge for cause and may be protested
under the same procedure.
(2)
Employees subject to disciplinary layoff shall be notified on a Notice of
Disciplinary Layoff. No protest
of a disciplinary layoff will be accepted unless received by the Human
Resources Department within five working days of the date the Notice of
Disciplinary Layoff is mailed.
(D)
Temporary and Probationary Employees:
Nothing
in the provisions of Section 6.3 (Causes for Disciplinary Action), 6.4
(Advance Warning of Intention to Discipline), and 6.5 (Disciplinary Procedure)
applies to layoff or changes of duties occasioned by lack of work.
None of the provisions hereof apply to (1) strictly temporary
employees, or (2) prospective regular employees who have been employed less
than six months and who are serving their probationary period, except that the
Company agrees to review and discuss with the Union any claim made in writing
that any probationary employee working in the payroll classifications listed
in Appendix B hereof has been unfairly dismissed; provided, however, that
should any dispute arise over the disposition of such claim it shall not be
subject to arbitration.
A
probationary employee who is notified of the intention of the Company to
terminate his or her services because of unsuitability for long-term
employment shall have the right to elect to submit a written resignation and
the records of the Company shall so indicate.
6.6
– Disciplinary Interviews
When
a supervisor interviews a regular employee with the intention of issuing a
written warning letter under Section 6.4 of this Agreement, or of assessing a
disciplinary layoff, demotion, or discharge, or with the intention of
developing facts in the interview to support disciplinary action that is being
considered against such employee, the employee upon request shall be entitled
to have a Union representative present in order for the interview to continue.
In the event the supervisor fails
to grant such a request, the employee may refuse to answer any questions, and
the Company shall be precluded from relying upon any statements made by
the employee during the interview, after such request, as a basis for
assessing or upholding the discipline. However,
the Company shall not be foreclosed from independently ascertaining any facts
contained in the employee’s statements and relying upon such independently
ascertained facts. It shall be
the policy of the Company to encourage supervision to notify employees of
their right to Union representation in the disciplinary or investigatory
interview described above. The
absence of such notification, however, shall not invalidate any information
received or action taken in the interview.
If
the employee requests a Union representative (Shop Steward or other Union
official) and none is available at the moment, the interview shall be
postponed until the representative can be present.
In the case of some activities where the employees involved are in the
field, it may be more convenient to arrange in advance to have a Union
representative available, and this option is open to the supervisor at his or
her discretion. The employee does
not normally have the option of asking for a Union representative from a
district other than his or her own or one who is not an employee of the
Company.
The
role of the Union representative in a disciplinary interview is not that of an
adversary; he or she is there as a witness to counsel the employee and to
clarify to the employee if necessary the employee’s rights under the
Agreement. Any protest of the
action being taken shall be reserved for the procedure set forth in Section
6.5.
The
right of having a Union representative does not apply to investigative
interviews when the employee is not under suspicion.
It does not apply to counseling interviews.
6.7
– Termination Wages
(A)
Discharge:
An
employee when discharged for unsatisfactory job performance, as defined under
paragraph (A) of Section 6.3 (Causes for Disciplinary Action), shall receive a
termination wage equivalent to one week’s pay per year of service, up to a
maximum termination wage of ten weeks’ salary and in addition shall receive
payment for any unused portion of the Vacation Allowance for which such
employee is then eligible.
An
employee who has been demoted for unsatisfactory job performance, as defined
under paragraph (A) of Section 6.3, may elect, as an alternative to such
demotion, to terminate his or her employment with the Company and to receive
the termination wage provided herein, provided such election is made either in
lieu of protesting the demotion within the five days provided in Section 6.5
(Disciplinary Procedure), or if the demotion is protested, within the time
limits provided in paragraph (5), Section 6.5 (A); provided however, that
refusal of the employee to perform the duties of the classification to which
he or she is demoted, during any portion of the time period provided in
Section 6.5 for appeal against the demotion, shall be deemed an election to
terminate his or her employment with the Company and to receive the
termination wage hereinabove provided.
An
employee who is discharged for misconduct as defined under paragraph (B) of
Section 6.3, or commission of or conspiracy to commit any act of sabotage,
shall not be entitled to a termination wage.
(B)
Demotion:
An
employee who has been demoted for misconduct as defined under paragraph (B) of
Section 6.3 (Causes for Disciplinary Action), may elect, as an alternative to
such demotion, to terminate his or her employment with the Company and to
receive two weeks’ termination wage, provided such election is made either
in lieu of protesting the demotion within the five days provided in Section
6.5 (Disciplinary Procedure), or if the demotion is protested, within the time
limits provided in Section 6.5. Refusal
of the employee to perform the duties of the classification to which he or she
is demoted, during any portion of the time period provided in Section 6.5 for
appeal against the demotion, shall be deemed an election to terminate his or
her employment with the Company and to receive the termination wage
hereinabove provided.
6.8
– Grievance/Arbitration Procedure
The
parties encourage the settlement of disputes at the local level between
employees and supervisors prior to initiation of formal procedure.
The
Union and the Company mutually agree that the prompt handling of grievances is
a fundamental responsibility of both the Union and the Company and to that end
the Company will permit the use of its regular Company messenger service for
the purpose of handling grievance matters and will establish a delivery and
pickup service at Union headquarters for the purpose of expediting this
matter. Union representatives
will be authorized to use the Company “special service” messenger
facilities at such times as the situation appears to warrant.
It is understood and agreed, however, that the use of the Company
messenger facilities shall normally be limited to handling grievances.
In
order to aid in the proper disposition of grievances, Shop Stewards may be
selected by the Union. Such Shop
Stewards may be selected from among the active employees in each of the
departments and groups in the bargaining unit.
The
Union agrees to train all new area officers, unit officers, and local
presidents with regard to grievance investigations on Company time.
This training must be completed within 30 days of the officer taking
office. Further, if the Union
fails to train the above mentioned officer, the officer will be precluded from
conducting such grievance investigation on Company time.
Any
grievance, other than appeal following disciplinary action, as provided in
Section 6.5 (Disciplinary Procedure) of any employee covered by the terms of
this Agreement, or any dispute which shall arise between the Union or its
members and the Company shall be determined in the following manner:
Responses
from the Company to any step of the grievance procedure shall be sent to the
appropriate Union office with copies to the involved Region/Departmental
officer, shop steward and the president of the local.
Each
grievance shall be initiated within 90 calendar days of the event causing the
grievance, or within 90 calendar days after the date on which such event
should reasonably have become known by the aggrieved employee.
For this purpose, the grievance shall be reduced to writing on a multicopy
form in accordance with paragraph (B) of Step 1*.
Step
1: Grievance Procedure
(A)
The Union will make a careful investigation of the grievance before it is
reduced to the formality of a written
complaint
in order to ascertain that the grievance complaint is justified under the
terms of this Agreement and that there is reasonable ground to believe that
the claim is true in fact. For
this purpose, one officer from
the Union shall be allowed a reasonable length of time with pay to complete
the investigation after having notified and received permission for such from
the Regional Manager or his or her designated representative.
It is mutually agreed that the normal procedure shall be for the local
Union representative to discuss any pending grievance with the appropriate
local management representative before formally presenting it except that
grievances involving potential pay adjustments shall be based upon the date of
filing of the grievance in Step 1.
The
grievance complaint shall set forth all the facts
*For
job disqualifications, there is a 15 day limit to initiate grievances.
Refer to Section 5.10(E).
necessary
to understanding of the issues involved, and it shall be free from charges or
language not germane to the real issue or conducive to subsequent calm
deliberations. So far as
possible, the Union and the Company shall avoid publicizing any grievance
or
complaint founded thereon prior to the final determination of the issue, other
than as a matter of internal communication.
(B)
Grievances which are appealed to Step 1 in timely fashion shall be reduced to
writing on multicopy forms provided by the Company
and approved by the Union, shall be signed and dated by the aggrieved and his
or her Union representative, and filed with the local management
representative delegated to receive such local grievances on behalf of the
Company. The Union will be
advised of the appointment of local management representatives.
In the event that doubt exists as to the identity of such local
management representative, the grievance complaint may be addressed to
“Appropriate Local Management Representative, c/o Director, Labor
Relations.” Such grievances
will be forwarded immediately to the Company representative to whom authority
for handling the grievance has been delegated.
(C)
The local management representative will commence a prompt investigation of
the facts and will reach a conclusion at the earliest date consistent with the
nature of the investigation and with the
normal conduct of necessary business. Upon
reaching such conclusion, but in any event, within ten working days of
the receipt of the grievance, the local management representative will reply
in writing, stating the Company’s position on the issues raised in the
complaint.
(D)
If the Union wishes to discuss the grievance further with the local management
representative, the Union will, within ten working days after receipt of the
statement of the Company’s position, so notify the local management
representative, who will arrange to hold a local grievance meeting within the
ten working days following such request.
Attendance at such meeting shall normally be limited to the employee or
employees whose grievance is under discussion, two representatives of local
management, and two
representatives of the Union, who shall be active employees in the
Region/Department in which the grievance arises.
Discussion shall be limited to the issues raised in the grievance
complaint. An earnest effort
shall be made to arrive at and state a decision in this meeting; however, oral
agreements, reached in the local grievance meeting, shall be regarded as
purely tentative and without force until confirmed in writing.
Local
grievance meetings may be scheduled during regular business hours if
consistent with the normal conduct of business, provided that total Union
attendance at the meeting does not exceed four persons.
Under no circumstances will Company pay be sustained for more than
three employees in attendance for the Union at such local grievance meetings.
It is understood and agreed, however, that the Union may, upon notice
to the Director, Labor Relations, also have in attendance an employee who is a
Union officer or an employee selected by the Union to do Union business, as
provided by Section 2.2 (B) (Union Leave of Absence); and, in such case, the
Company may also select an additional representative from the Human Resources
Department to attend such hearing.
Step
2: Grievance Procedure
(A)
Within ten working days following conclusion of the local grievance meeting,
the local management representative will give the Union a brief written
statement of the decision reached.
(B)
If no final agreement is reached at the local management level, upon request
within ten working days after receipt of the statement of the Company’s
decision, a final meeting will be held with Human Resources representatives.
The request for a final meeting should be made in writing and should
state which facts are still in dispute, if any, and the specific basis upon
which the Union takes issue with the position of the local management
representatives.
Attendance
of Union representatives at meetings in this step of the grievance procedure
will normally not exceed seven people. The
Company will sustain pay and reimburse the casual mileage rate of not more
than two employees (three in the case of Joint grievances where employees from
more than one Union attend); provided, however, that by mutual agreement this
limitation as to the number in attendance and the number to be reimbursed may
be revised.
(C)
Within three working days following receipt of the Union’s request for a
final meeting, the Company will acknowledge the request by letter and will
arrange a meeting within the next ten working days whenever any necessary fact
finding can be accomplished prior to the date of the meeting scheduled within
such period. If it is obvious
that the necessary fact finding cannot be accomplished in such time as to
permit the Company to discuss the grievance within such ten working day
period, the letter will include a statement to that effect and a tentative
date will be set for a later meeting. The
Company and the Union by mutual agreement can waive the time limits provided
herein.
(D)
Within ten working days following conclusion of the final meeting, the Company
will give the Union a brief written statement of the decision reached.
(E)
Grievances of a general nature (system-wide) by the Union shall be initiated
by the Local Union President or designated representative by a written
statement served by the aggrieved party on the other and filed within 90
calendar days of the event causing the grievance or after the date on which
such event should reasonably have become known.
Such grievances shall be heard directly in Step 2.
Step
3: Grievance
Procedure/Arbitration
If
the final decision of the Company is not acceptable to the Union, the Union
may refer the matter to arbitration as provided by this section hereof,
provided a written request for arbitration is received by the Human Resources
Department within the 20 calendar days next following the date of receipt of
the Company’s statement of position as provided by Step 2, paragraph (D) of
Section 6.8 (Grievance/Arbitration Procedure).
In the event that the Union schedules a membership or Executive Board
vote concerning a request for arbitration of a grievance at the earliest
regular meeting (or series of area meetings) following the
date of the Company’s letter, the 20-day limit referred to above shall be
extended until the second working day following the date of the completion of
the vote, provided that the Union notifies the Company in writing within the
20-day limit that a vote has been scheduled, specifying the date when the
voting will be completed, and provided further that in no event shall the time
limit be extended more than 25 additional calendar days beyond the 20-day
limit. Discharge cases will be
scheduled for arbitration within six months from the date of temination.
(A)
Definition of Arbitrability: There
will be no arbitration of any dispute unless requested in writing by the
Union, as distinct from a request by the individual employee.
Disputes which are arbitrable under this
Section shall include only those arising under the provisions of Section 6.5
(Disciplinary Procedure) or Section 6.8 (Grievance/Arbitration Procedure)
which concern the interpretation or application of any of the terms or
provisions of this Agreement. Arbitration
under this section shall be the exclusive means of settling such disputes.
Step
4: Alternative Dispute Resolution
The
parties recognize the need to resolve grievances and protests of disciplinary
actions whenever possible in order to avoid the expense and delay associated
with arbitration. Therefore, the
parties enter into this Agreement to use mediation and expedited arbitration,
where mutually agreed to by the parties, to resolve pending arbitration cases
as well as grievances and protests of discipline that may arise during the
term of this Agreement.
A.
Mediation:
1.
Within ninety (90) days of the ratification of this Agreement, the
parties will meet to select mediators to hear cases under this procedure.
The mediators selected shall agree to provide the parties with an
agreed upon number of available dates. The
parties and the mediators shall then schedule specific dates.
The mediator will continue to serve by mutual agreement of both
parties.
2.
Within thirty (30) days of the selection of mediators, the parties will
meet to identify those pending cases which the parties agree will be processed
through this mediation procedure. Discharge
cases which the parties agree to mediate shall be scheduled first, in the
order in which the cases were filed to arbitration.
3.
Following disposition of cases pending as of the date of this
Agreement, or which have been filed pending resolution of the backlog cases,
the parties shall process future cases by scheduling a Mediation Conference to
be held at the earliest available date of a mediator within thirty (30) days
of the Union’s request for arbitration, except for cases in which either
party requests that mediation be bypassed.
4.
Each party should have one principal spokesperson at the Mediation
Conference. The Spokesperson for
the Company
will normally be the Director, Labor Relations,
or designated representative. The
spokesperson for the Union will normally be the President or designated
representative. Only by mutual
agreement will an attorney be used by either party at the Mediation
Conference. In addition to the
grievant(s), the number of employees who shall suffer no loss in pay for
participation in the Mediation Conference shall be no more than two (2).
5.
Proceedings before the mediator shall be informal in nature.
The presentation of evidence is not limited to that which has been
presented in the grievance proceedings. The
rules of evidence shall not apply, and no record of the Mediation Conference
shall be made, nor may either party introduce into any other proceeding any
record, testimony or evidence of such proceedings.
6.
All written material that is presented to the mediator or to the other
party shall be returned to the party presenting the material at the
termination of the Mediation Conference.
The mediator may, however, retain one copy of the written grievance, to
be used solely for purposes of statistical analysis.
7.
The mediator will have the authority to meet separately with any person
or persons, but will not have the authority to compel the resolution of a
grievance or protest.
8.
The mediator shall conduct as many conferences each day as is feasible
and mutually agreeable to the parties. The
first session will begin at 9.00 a.m.
9.
The Company and Union at the Mediation Conference may accept the
resolution proposed by the mediator. Such
settlement or any other settlement resulting from the conference shall not be
precedent setting, unless both parties agree.
10.
If no settlement is reached during the Mediation Conference, the
mediator shall provide the parties with a written advisory opinion within
three (3) days, briefly stating the grounds therefor,
unless both parties agree that no opinion shall be provided.
11.
If no settlement is reached at the Mediation Conference, the grievance
may be scheduled for arbitration in accordance with Article VI
(Grievance/Arbitration Procedure).
12.
In the event that a grievance which has been mediated subsequently is
arbitrated, no person serving as a mediator between these parties may serve as
arbitrator. Nothing said or done
by the mediator may be referred to at arbitration.
Any settlement proposal made by either party at the Mediation
Conference shall not be referred to at the arbitration hearing.
13.
The parties agree to share equally the costs associated with mediation.
14.
The assessment of costs for mediation cases which have been appealed to
arbitration under Article VI of the collective bargaining agreement shall be
as follows:
Non-Discipline
Cases:
(A)
If the Union fails to accept the mediator’s recommendation, it may
appeal the case to arbitration. If
the arbitrator renders the same or less favorable decision than the mediator
recommended, the full costs of that arbitration are then paid by the Union.
If, however, there is a more favorable ruling than the mediator’s
recommendation, then the cost is split equally between the parties.
(B)
If the Company fails to follow a mediator’s recommendation
and receives the same or less favorable decision from a subsequent
arbitration, the Company pays the full cost of that arbitration.
If the arbitrator’s award is more favorable to the Company than the
mediator’s recommendation, then the cost is split equally between the
parties.
Discipline
Case:
(A)
If the mediator’s recommendation upholds the discipline in whole or
in part, the Union may appeal the case to arbitration.
If the arbitrator concurs with the mediator’s recommendation, the
Union will pay the full cost. However,
if the arbitrator reduces the discipline lower than the mediator’s
recommendation or eliminates it, the costs will be split between the parties.
(B)
If the mediator recommends reducing or eliminating the discipline and
the Company refuses to accept the mediator’s recommendation
and the case is moved to arbitration and then if the arbitrator reduces the
discipline to the same degree as the mediator or less or eliminates it, the
Company pays the full cost of the arbitration; otherwise, the costs will be
split between the parties.
15.
Payment shall include full costs for cases appealed from mediation and
shall include the full cost of the arbitrator, court reporter, transcript and
meeting facility if applicable. Each
party’s own costs shall not be included in this assessment.
B.
Expedited Arbitration:
1.
Pending arbitration cases which are not mediated, unresolved at
Mediation Conference or are removed from Mediation may be referred to
expedited arbitration by mutual agreement
of the parties. Following
disposition of pending cases, the parties may refer future grievances and
disciplinary protests which are not resolved at Mediation to this Expedited
arbitration by mutual agreement of the parties.
2.
Within ninety (90) days of the ratification of this Agreement, the
parties shall select three arbitrators to serve as expedited arbitrators for a
term of the agreement from the current eleven person panel in a manner agreed
upon by the parties. The
arbitrators shall be scheduled for a period of twelve (12) months.
The schedule shall initially provide for four days of hearings during a
month. Effective three (3) months
after the parties conclude selection of expedited arbitrators, during the
remainder of the term of this agreement, either party may remove one (1)
arbitrator from service as an expedited arbitrator.
Vacancies of expedited arbitrators shall be filled by mutual agreement.
3.
Two (2) cases shall be heard each day.
The first case will begin at 8:30 a.m., the second case at 1:30 p.m.
This schedule can be adjusted by mutual agreement to handle a third
case.
4.
No less than two (2) weeks prior to each scheduled expedited
arbitration date the parties shall meet to determine which cases are to be
heard at that scheduled date. At
that time the parties shall seek to agree upon fact stipulations and shall
exchange witness lists and evidence to be submitted at the hearing.
Except for good cause shown as determined by the arbitrator, and
rebuttal witnesses and
evidence,
no witnesses nor evidence not revealed at this time shall be admissible at the
hearing.
5.
At that time the parties shall also agree upon an issue statement.
Failure to agree upon an issue statement will automatically refer the
case back to regular arbitration.
6.
At the hearing each party will have seventy-five (75) minutes to
present its case, however, the arbitrator has the authority to extend the
time. That time may be used in
whatever fashion that party chooses, and allocated as it wishes.
Cross examination shall count against the party conducting it.
7.
The arbitrator shall have the obligation of assuring that all necessary
facts and considerations are brought before her or him by the representatives
of the parties. In all respects,
he or she shall assure that the hearing is a fair one.
The arbitrator shall also be responsible for keeping the parties to the
time allotted.
8.
No briefs shall be filed nor transcripts made.
9.
The arbitrator shall provide the parties with a written award at the
conclusion of each case or by the close of the hearing day, including a brief
written opinion in support of the decision unless both parties agree that no
opinion shall be provided.
10.
These decisions shall be final and binding upon the parties and shall
not be cited as precedent in any succeeding arbitration case.
The authority of the arbitrator shall be the same as provided for the
Board of Arbitration pursuant to Article VI.
Step
5: Board of Arbitration
Should
the Union and the Company fail to settle any such arbitrable
dispute, the matter in controversy shall be submitted in writing to a Board of
Arbitration who shall settle such matter as provided herein.
(A)
The Board of Arbitration shall consist of three members, one of whom shall be
selected by the Company, one of whom shall be selected by the Union, and a
third by mutual agreement of the Company and the Union.
The fee charged by the third arbitrator shall be borne equally by the
Company and by the Union.
The
third member of the Board of Arbitration shall, within ten working days of the
Company’s acceptance of the Union’s request for arbitration, be selected
from one of two panels of independent arbitrators agreed upon by the parties,
one panel for disputes covering discharges arising under the provisions of
Section 6.5 (Disciplinary Procedure), and the second panel for other disputes
arising under the provisions of Section 6.5 (Disciplinary Procedure) and
Section 6.8 (Grievance/Arbitration Procedure).
The
arbitrator listed at the top of such panel shall be selected, unless such
arbitrator is disqualified as herein provided, in which case the next listed
arbitrator shall be selected. The
name of the selected arbitrator shall be moved to the bottom of the panel.
The Union and the Company may, on an alternating basis, within the ten
days provided above, disqualify the arbitrator listed at the top of such
panel, with the provision that each party may disqualify not more than one
arbitrator for any one arbitration based on its turn for the first or second
disqualification in the selection process.
Upon
appointment of the Board of Arbitration, the parties shall arrange a hearing
date and start hearings as promptly as possible, for it is the expressed
desire of the parties to dispose of all arbitrable
disputes as promptly as possible.
The
decision of a majority of the Board of Arbitration shall be binding upon the
Company, the employee, and the Union, unless any party to the controversy
shall, within ten working days subsequent to such award, make a claim in
writing that such award was invalid upon the grounds set forth in the
Arbitration Statute of California Code of Civil Procedure.
Upon receipt of such claim, the parties shall meet promptly to attempt
to gain an understanding of such claim, and if possible to work out a solution
therefor which will be acceptable to all parties
to the controversy. No party to
the controversy shall avail himself or herself of the provisions of any
section of Code of Civil Procedure relating to the modification or correction
of such award until the parties have made a diligent effort to compose their
differences concerning the award, and in no event earlier than ten working
days subsequent to the conclusion of the discussion of the claims of the
aggrieved party that the award was improper upon the grounds set forth in the
Arbitration Statute of the Code.
(B)
General Provisions:
If
the Union decides to withdraw its request for arbitration, it shall so notify
the Company in writing within ten working days of reaching such decision.
It
is agreed that no issue or contention shall be arbitrable
which is contrary to any express provision of this Agreement nor shall it
involve a determination in disregard or in any manner violative
of any power, authority, function or duty which under the provisions of this
Agreement are expressly vested in or reserved to the Union or to the Company.
It
is agreed that the Board of Arbitration or any one of them shall have no
jurisdiction, power or authority to amend, modify, supplement, vary or
disregard any provision of this Agreement in any respect whatsoever.
6.9
– Adjustment of Status and Pay
Where
an appeal through grievance procedure is upheld, the Company agrees to adjust,
in accordance with the findings, an employee’s status and pay retroactively
to the date of filing of the grievance. Notwithstanding
and in no event to exceed the remedy contained in Section 6.1 (General
Statement), the Board of Arbitration may, in non-discharge disciplinary
grievances, modify the action taken by the Company.
Article
VII
Shortage
of Work
7.1
– Seniority in Layoff
When
there is a shortage of work in a specific job or job classification at
a work location,
the Company will seek to achieve reductions locally before expanding the
layoff to unaffected areas. Where practical, work force will be reduced
through voluntary movement of employees, by reassignment to fill vacancies
within the affected job classification at
the affected work location,
or by voluntary termination from the Company. In addition, the Company will
lay off employees in affected positions whose performance is rated less than
satisfactory before laying off employees whose performance is satisfactory.