First, I would like to convey my thanks and appreciation to President Dave Sherman and President Randy Fort for their assistance with putting the update newsletters together.  And, I would also like to thank those members of the negotiating team who have given so much of their time to prepare the Union’s proposals.

On Tuesday, June 24, 2008 the Union and the Company reconvened and began the third week of negotiations continuing with the exchange and discussion of proposals as follows:

SUMMARY of 2008 NEGOTIATION PROPOSALS – WEEK THREE (June 24th thru June 26th)

UNION PROPOSALS

U-33 Section 4.3 (A) and (C) Premiums

Employees would be paid their regular shift premiums while on vacation, holiday, and sick leave.  Also Split Days Off Premiums would be $1 for scheduled days off of Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.  $2 for employees with two scheduled half days off.

U-35 Section 4.4 (A) Vacation

Vacation would be taken in ¼ hour increments.  Vacation approval would be based on operating necessity instead of company convenience.  Increase purchase of vacation to two weeks of vacation during open enrollment.  Implement the practice of using purchased vacation first.  Also, allow part-time employees to accrue vacation.  After 500 hours worked in previous year employee would earn 20 hours of vacation and would continue to accumulate vacation up to a maximum of 60 hours per year.

U-38 Section 4.3 (D) Premiums – Sunday Work

The Union proposes that any Sunday work would be paid at double the straight-time rate of pay.

U-46 Section 4.4 (G) Personal Emergencies Bereavement/Emergency Illness Time

The Union proposed to increase the number of events an employee would be eligible for, in the event, there were multiple personal emergencies involving immediate family members.

U-48 Section 4.4 ( J ) Employee’s Personal Vehicle Insurance

The Union proposed that the Company agree to reimburse for gas, oil, and servicing required for employees who use their personal vehicles on the job; any additional cost an employee incurs for insurance; any deductibles or other uninsured losses that result from work-related uses; and a reasonable amount of depreciation value per California Labor Code”.  In addition, employees would not be disciplined as a result of no-fault accidents or claims.  

U-55 Section 5.5 Special Work Schedules

This Proposal would add additional language to the contract stipulating Sunday is not a regular workday to assure field employees would not perform regular work on Sunday.  Also, Industrial Service Technicians would not be required to work Saturdays or Sundays.

U-57 Section 5.9 Temporary Relief Assignments

It was proposed that the time on a temporary relief assignment be limited to six months.  Any extension would have to be mutually agreed upon by the Union and the Company.

U-61 Section 5.10 (C) Pay for Time Required for Job Interviews and Pre-qualification Examinations

The Union proposed to extend this benefit to part-time employees and to increase the number of test sites and sessions.

U-66 Section 5.10 ( J ) Placement of Disabled Employees

The Union proposed to reduce from 75 to 50 miles from their last work location the amount of distance an employee must travel to be eligible for termination wages.  In addition to increasing the termination wages from 1 week of pay per years of service up from 20 years to 25 years.

U-83 Appendix C Letter Agreements

The Union proposed to modify language in the letter agreements concerning when part-time employees become part of the bargaining unit; the company providing monthly reports identifying contract employees and contractors on a monthly basis; adding language to specify that Out-of-Town expenses would be paid at the IRS Per Dium Rates; and, eliminating the former Field Mechanic (ETD) bidding priority letter agreement.

COMPANY PROPOSALS

C-7    Notification for Union Leave of Absence

This proposal would require the Union to notify the Company 48 hours prior to the beginning of leave for union business.  Currently the required notification by the Union is 24 hours. In addition, this proposal seeks to reduce the number of members on leave from the same department.  

C-8    Union Dues Processing

This proposal would allow the company to implement an electronic process for the dues authorization process via My Info. 

C-9    Notification for Union Activity

This proposal would require the Union to notify the Company 48 hours prior to the beginning of leave for union activity (i.e., base visits, safety inspections, distribution of Union literature, etc.) on Company property.  Currently the required notification by the Union is 24 hours.

C-15  Shop Committee

This proposal would reduce the number of shop committees to one (1) per region for Customer Service and Distribution.  The result would be a loss of one shop committee each in Pacific Coast and South Inland Regions.

C-19  Seniority in Shifts/Schedule Assignments

This proposal would allow management to create shifts with pre-assigned scheduled days off and eliminate the Customer Service Field Employees (ETR, ETR-A’s and FT’s) Letter Agreement, which allows the individual bases the right to vote on their preference of static or rotating shifts.

C-27  Short Notice Call Out

This proposal would modify the contract language regarding short notice call outs to allow a minimum of one-half (1/2) hour of overtime when the employee can perform the work remotely or does not need to report to the job location.  Call outs between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and before 6:00 a.m. would not receive less than one (1) hour of overtime pay.  Currently the contract calls for two (2) and four (4) hours of overtime pay to be paid for such work.

C-59B Position Opportunity and Placement

This proposal would modify contract language to allow time in temporary (“V”) assignment to count towards pre-requisite job experience where there is at least one year time-in-grade with satisfactory performance, as well as documented Company training.

This proposal provides contract language to allow on-line posting of test results, via E-Bid.

This proposal would require employees to re-submit bids for promotional opportunities, including promotional opportunities at the work location after accepting a job.  Once accepting a bid, all bids would be canceled and must be re-submitted, including bids for promotional opportunities at the work location.

This proposal would increase the wait time to re-submit bids for jobs that they were disqualified for from 3 months to 6 months.

This proposal would decrease number of days for return rights to previous job from 52days to 42 days

C-86  PAQ – Job Evaluation Process

This proposal would eliminate the Union and the Company from participating in the job evaluation process and be conducted by an external third party consultant (Valtera).

C-109 Appendix F – Medical, Dental, Vision Plan

This proposal would modify the plan to provide administrative and legal updates.   

The Joint Steering Committee (JSC) will continue to keep you updated on the issues as these negotiations progress.  If there are questions or concerns contact your local Union representative.  Thank you for your continued support and stay united.

UNITY IS STRENGTH!