2007 Local Supplemental
Tentative Agreement Summary
1.) Grievance Procedure Letter
The Company agrees to screen backlog of grievances to find resolutions and to mutually conduct training in dispute resolution.
2.) Shortages Letter
The Company agrees to make every reasonable effort to pay grievances and shortages within two weeks.
3.) Paycheck Distribution Letter
The Company agrees to make a reasonable effort to get paychecks to the Operations Centers in time for employees to pick them up on their last shift worked when a holiday falls on Friday.
4.) NG Training Letter
Employees assigned to the new NG machines may be moved to other than their normal shift for training, one week notice to be given, unless the training can be done on their shift. If training can be done on more than one shift the Employee will be given their preference. Training should not exceed two weeks.
5.) Safety Committee Items Letter
The Company agrees to provide the Safety Committee a digital camera for use in investigations. In addition, each respective division will be provided a desk, chair, phone and computer for Safety Committee responsibilities.
6.) Electronic Balance of Hours Letter
The Company agrees to pursue the development of an automated Balance of Hours system.
7.) Vacation Relief Agreement
The Vacation Relief starting dates will be moved May 12 in 2008 and May 11 in 2009 due to current trends for school year ending times. Also the dates for the vacation periods were adjusted for normal housekeeping to May 26, 2008 and May 25, 2009.
8.) 1041 DOT Lab Agreement
The Company agrees to include Department 1041 in the Radial Truck Gain Share program.
9.) Fire Department Agreement
The Company, in recognition of the contributions of the Fire Department will re-establish an appreciation dinner and look into the feasibility of enhanced group life insurance for those volunteers.
10.) 6110 Agreement
The Company agrees to offer overtime to zone craftsmen prior to transferring Dept. 6110 crafts to that zone.
11.) Warehouse Employee Transfer Agreement
There will be a one time opportunity for Warehouse employees to fill open positions in the Topeka Plant. Warehouse employees will choose among open positions by seniority as they occur. Any open positions not filled by Warehouse employees will be filled by new hires.
Warehouse employees will be placed in plant jobs at the grandfathered classification wage rate for jobs that have been placed in Grade Wage Rates 1-4. If these employees choose to move to a job in grade 5 or 6 they will immediately move to that Grade Wage Rate for that job
Warehouse employees transferring to the plant will retain service credit for seniority purposes.
12.) Buyout Agreement
The Company agrees to offer any of the 30 Wage Separations unused by Warehouse employees to Topeka Plant employees by seniority.
All active regular Topeka Plant employees, with the exception of Technical Maintenance employees, are eligible to apply for a separation allowance.
Eligible employees may apply for these separation allowances by filing a written application with the Human Resources Manager not later than 30 days after ratification of the Agreement.
Employees will be able to identify a preference for an exit date when filing the written application. The Company will notify the employee of their exit date within 30 days from the close of the application period. The assigned exit date can be anytime during the 2007 calendar year through the first quarter of 2008.
Each employee granted a separation allowance will receive a one time cash payment equal to $2,000 for each year of completed service with a maximum payment of $40,000 and a minimum payment of $8,000 provided the employee agrees to work for the employer until the date determined by the employer. If the employee so chooses they may take the allowance in equal monthly payments for a period not to exceed twelve months.
Payments will be subject to payroll taxes as required by federal, state, or local governments. The payments are not subject to Employee Savings Plan Contributions and are not credited to wages for vacation pay calculations.
13.) PDP/Flowcharts/Training Agreement
During the course of Local negotiations there were significant discussions concerning the Positive Discipline Procedure. As a result it was agreed to modify the Positive Discipline Policy, dated October 27, 1982.
Circumstances of each case will determine if a counsel is warranted, or the number of counseling sessions that are warranted in between each step. Under certain situations the severity of the case may determine if counseling should be limited or skipped. In addition to the circumstances of the absence, consideration will be given to length of time since last infraction, unique facts surrounding the infraction, and overall work record. With due consideration of the severity of an infraction, discipline may be initiated at any of the five steps.
Hot Stove Rule: The ability to handle disciplinary situations can be improved greatly if it is consistently applied with the use of the “Hot Stove Rule” in situations where it applies. The application of the “Hot Stove Rule” will be predictable, immediate, consistent, and impersonal; however discipline will be administered as soon after the infraction as business conditions allow.
Step 4, for attendance only, has been changed to: the employee will be placed on a one day suspension without pay on the next regularly scheduled day. All other Step 4 infractions will continue as before; given the next scheduled day off with pay to consider whether or not they can function within the established standards of the work place.
There will be joint training for hourly and salaried employees in the proper use of the new policy. This policy will go into effect within 30 days of ratification of this agreement.
The Company also agrees that the Union will have 90 days to review employee records for discipline that occurred after March 22, 2007 (repudiation letter date) and work with VSM’s to review discrepancies against the new policy.
14.) Job Bidding Agreement
Article X, Section 3, paragraphs (b) and (h) are amended as follows;
(b) Permanent vacancies or new jobs shall be posted on Thursdays by 11 a.m. plant wide on the bulletin boards provided for this purpose, and employees interested in filling the vacancies shall have until the following Thursday at 11 a.m. to contact the Employment Department to be considered. Jobs will be awarded at 3:00 p.m. on the Monday following the end of the posting period. Posted vacancies shall be filled by eligible and qualified employees, except employees assigned to a temporary vacancy, (according to this section) in the following manner:
(h) Employees awarded a vacancy shall be transferred to the awarded vacancy by the end of the learning period of the job transferred from or at the latest 90 calendar days from the date the job was awarded. During periods of staffing large numbers of new hires, the Company may declare to the Union a period that may result in transfers taking longer than 90 calendar days. This period will allow the Company to extend the 90 calendar day time frame. During this period, the Company will make every reasonable effort to transfer the employee as soon as possible. Such declaration will be made by the HR Manager and a specific estimate of the length of the extension will be given at that time and will not exceed an additional 90 days.
An employee awarded a vacancy by the bidding procedure will be allowed to cancel their bid up till Monday at 11 a.m. following the posting period.
15.) December Vacation Shutdown Agreement
An agreement was reached concerning the December shutdowns (if scheduled) for 2008 and 2009 in the following manner:
2008 Tuesday, December 23 through Tuesday, December 30
2009 Wednesday, December 23 through Wednesday, December 30
If scheduled, employees at their option may schedule a full week of vacation or three (3) days of vacation (which recognizes two (2) holidays during the 2008 and 2009 shut downs.) In the event the Company cancels these shut downs in accordance with the agreement, the company will make every effort available within the agreement to allow persons choosing three (3) days of vacation during the shut down to schedule their remaining days. Employees who do not have the opportunity to use these three (3) remaining days will be allowed to defer those days into the next vacation year, including the ability to sell them pay-in-lieu, in addition to the allowance per the current local contract.
16.) Safety Shoe Voucher Agreement
Effective 1-1-2007 $60.00
Effective 1-1-2008 $60.00
Effective 1-1-2009 $60.00
In addition it was agreed to allow shoe vouchers to accumulate for up to three years.
If employees purchased safety shoes from 1-1-2007 until present, they will be reimbursed for the purchase up to $60.00 by providing a receipt in lieu of a shoe voucher or they may just take the 2007 shoe voucher without any reimbursement.
17.) Inequities Agreement
The inequities agreed to are as follows:
2411 General Utility and Production Balance – An evaluation will be done once the Hot Former is on regular production
1430 Clean Machinery – Will move this classification to General Utility
1541 Equipment Tender - Job has been placed in Dept. 2503 and pay 8 hours instead of 7.83 hours
1411 – Agree to pay 8 hours instead of 7.83 hours
18.) Grade Wage Rate Tier Adjustments
The Company agrees to the following Grade Wage Rate Tier adjustments:
2504 Two Piece Build and Cure – Move form Grade 4 to 3
1320 Banbury Helper – Move from Grade 5 to 4
1330 Mill Trucker – Move from Grade 6 to 4
19.) Earthmover Incentive Agreement
The Company agrees to work with the Union to create a committee to review the current plan. If the Committee cannot find a way to make the existing plan effective they will be authorized to explore alternative methods. If by August 1, 2008 they do not have the Earthmover Incentive program viable the Committee has the authority to make the current plan null and void.