LABOR
AGREEMENT
The parties to this Agreement are TIMBER
PRODUCTS CO. of Medford, Oregon, herein called
"Employer," and WOODWORKERS LOCAL LODGE W261,
I.A.M., herein referred to as "Union."
RECITALS:
This Agreement supersedes all previous
agreements, amendments, and rescinds all past practices as of
June 1, 2003, except as specifically continued as a result of
collective bargaining and except as mutually agreed past
practices that may be established subsequent to June 1, 2003.
All parties desire to establish the standards to hours
of labor, rates of pay, and other conditions under which the
employee shall work for the employer during the term of this
agreement and desire to regulate the mutual relations between
the parties hereto.
In consideration of the mutual promises
and undertakings in good faith made by both parties to this
Agreement, individually and collectively, the parties do
hereby agree:
1.
During the life of this agreement the Union shall be
the sole collective bargaining agency for all employees
retained by the Employer including regular full and regular
part-time employees, except temporary student employees
working on a seasonal basis between May 1 and October 1 and
December 15 through January 2; office and clerical employees;
guards; professional employees; supervisory employees as
defined in the National Labor Relations Act, as amended; and
construction workers hired for specific projects.
Supervisory employees shall not be permitted to do
bargaining unit work which is normally done by employees in
the bargaining unit, except in emergency situations or where
work by supervisors does not result in layoff or the denial of
overtime opportunities of employees on duty.
1.
The management of the plant and the direction of the
working force are vested exclusively in the Employer and,
except as limited by specific provisions of this Agreement,
the Employer shall continue to have sole and exclusive rights
customarily reserved to management, including the right to
hire, promote, suspend, discipline, transfer, or discharge for
cause; the right to relieve employees from duty because of
lack of work; the right (with ten (10) days' notice) to
schedule operations, shifts, and all hours of work; the right
to select supervisor personnel and control their conditions of
employment; and the right to establish rules pertaining to the
conduct of employees. The
Employer retains the right to develop and implement reasonable
work and safety rules. The Employer and the Union agree that there are circumstances
(such as raw material supply, work flow problems, market
conditions, etc.) when extra shifts or extra hours of
production are both necessary and desirable.
In circumstances such as these, the Employer agrees to
meet with the Plant Committee to reach an acceptable method
for manning the required production time.
The Employer shall have the sole right to decide the
process of manufacture, types of machinery and equipment to be
used, types and quantities of products to be made, quality of
material, quantity and quality of work required, selling
prices and products, as well as the methods of selling and
distribution of products.
2.
It is understood and agreed that the Employer has the
right to determine levels of staffing required to operate the
plant or any department thereof.
Where a reduction in staffing has a demonstrable,
adverse impact of workload, the Union reserves the right to
bargain concerning such impact.
3.
The above-mentioned management rights are not to be
interpreted as being all inclusive, but merely indicate the
type of rights which belong to and are reserved to management.
It is understood that any of the rights, power, or
authority the Employer had prior to the signing of this
Agreement are retained by the Employer, except those
specifically abridged or modified by this Agreement.
All employees covered by this Agreement
as a condition of employment, on the thirty-first (31st) day
following the date of the signing of this Agreement or on the
thirty-first (31st) day from the beginning of their
employment, whichever last occurs, shall become and remain
members of the Union, to the extent of keeping paid all
regular initiation fees and regular dues as set by the Union.
The Union shall notify the Employer in
writing of any employee who fails to become or remain a
member of the Union. If
such employee does not become a member within five (5) days or
reinstate his membership within fifteen (15) days (whichever
is applicable), the employee shall be discharged on written
notice from the Union.
The employer agrees to deduct from the
pay of each employee who authorizes such deduction in writing,
initiation fees and monthly dues uniformly required for
membership in the Union, and to remit such deductions to the
Local Union once a month, together with a list of the
employees showing the amount deducted from the pay of each.
The financial secretary of the Union shall inform the
Employer in writing of those charges to be deducted, and any
charge which may be authorized from time to time.
2.
The Employer shall select one or more representatives
from among its officers and supervisors of the operation, who
shall represent it in conference with the Plant Committee.
3.
The parties shall notify each other of their selected
representatives and any changes thereto.
1.
Should there be any dispute or complaint as to the
interpretation of any clause of this Agreement, or any
grievance arising out of the operation of the Agreement, Union
agrees that all employees shall continue to work under the
conditions then existing.
Such dispute, complaint, or grievance shall be handled
in the following prescribed manner:
a.
The employee or employees involved and the shop
steward, shall have five (5) working days from the date of the
alleged grievance or the date on which the employee knew or
reasonably should have known to reduce the grievance to
writing and meet with the appropriate supervisor. Grievances not presented within the time limit prescribed are
deemed waived. The
supervisor shall have up to three (3) working days Monday
through Friday, from the time of presentation in which to give
an answer.
b.
If no satisfactory settlement is reached under this
procedure, the written grievance shall be delivered to the
Human Resources Department, Medford, within three (3) days,
Monday through Friday following the supervisor’s answer
under (a) above. Grievances
not presented in this manner within the time limit are deemed
waived. A meeting
concerning the written grievance shall be scheduled between
the Employer Committee and the Plant Committee within fifteen
(15) working days or as mutually agreed between the Union and
the Employer. The
Plant Committee shall be entitled to representatives of the
Union as it may select to assist them in any meeting with the
Employer Committee, and one employee who is involved in the
matter under discussion.
The Employer shall be entitled to have the supervisor
involved present at any meeting with the Plant Committee.
Any settlement arrived at between the two committees
shall be reduced to writing and signed by the members of each
committee.
c.
If the two committees are unable to arrive at a
satisfactory settlement within five (5) days Monday through
Friday, from the time of their last meeting, the matter shall
be referred to the top management of the Employer in writing
at Post Office Box 1669, Medford, Oregon 97501 and Woodworkers
District Lodge 1, I.A.M., at 25 Cornell Avenue, Gladstone,
Oregon 97027. As
soon as practicable, representatives of the Employer and the
Woodworkers District Lodge 1, I.A.M. shall meet at a time and
place mutually agreed on and shall attempt to resolve the
grievance. Any
settlement arrived at shall be reduced to writing and signed
by a representative of Employer and Woodworkers District lodge
1, I.A.M.
2.
Meetings and conferences between the Employer and Union
through the committees of representatives shall not be held in
the plant or during working hours except by mutual agreement,
but in the office of the Employer or at such other place and
at such time as may be agreed upon between committees and
Employer. Failure
by the Company to comply with a time limit specified in this
Article VI shall automatically move the grievance to the next
step in the grievance procedure.
Time limits specified herein may be extended or waived
only by written mutual agreement.
Resolution of a grievance shall not constitute a
binding precedent upon the parties in the event of a
recurrence of a similar situation.
1.
The right to hire, suspend, discharge is vested in the
Employer. Suspension and discharges are subject to review by the Union
by invoking step 1 (b) of Article VI - Grievance Procedure,
within twenty-four (24) hours following such action by the
Employer, exclusive to Saturday, Sunday, or holidays.
2.
The Employer agrees that any employee who has completed
the probationary period (30 days, subject to 30-day extension
on prior notice to the employee and the Union) is suspended,
laid off permanently or discharged for cause, shall, in the
presence of the Union (shop steward, committee person,
officer, etc.) be immediately given the reason therefore, by
either his or her supervisor or Plant Manager.
3.
Upon written request within twenty-four (24) hours the
employer will provide the Union with written notice of the
reason for the suspension or discharge of an employee who has
completed the probationary period.
4.
In the event that any employee is discharge during the
initial thirty (30) day probationary period, and claims in
writing to the Union, with a copy to the Employer, that he or
she has been discharged due to a violation of federal or state
law, the parties to this Agreement shall review the case.
No strike shall be called, engaged in or
sanctioned by the Union, or any of the employees and no
lockout shall be called by the Employer until all provisions
of Article VI Grievance Procedure - have been carried out.
2.
All hours worked in excess of eight (8) hours in a work
day except as stated above with regard to the 4:10 workweek
option, or forty (40) hours in a work week and holidays which
fall on an employee’s scheduled work day shall be considered
overtime work. Overtime
work shall be paid for at one and one-half (1 ½) times the
employee’s job rate. Daily,
weekly, or holiday overtime pay shall not be duplicated.
3.
In the event that work cannot be filled at straight
time, senior qualified employees will be asked to perform
overtime work as follows, provided that in filling daily
overtime requirements contiguous to a regular shift the
employee performing the work in the classification at straight
time shall have preference:
a.
in the same department, job classification, and shift;
b.
in the same department, job classification, on other
shifts;
c.
from the overtime sign-up sheet.
In the application of the foregoing,
maintenance employees will be treated as part of the
department they are assigned to service.
4.
For those parts of the plywood department working a
five day workweek:
a.
In the same department, job classification, and shift;
b.
In the same department, job classification, on other
shifts;
c.
Split then double in job classification;
d.
From the overtime sign-up sheet.
5.
For those parts of the plywood department working a
seven day workweek, paragraph 3 b and c shall be applied as
follows:
a.
If it is the senior employee’s day off, they shall be
offered 8 hours work;
b.
If the senior employee is working on the contiguous
shifts, they shall be offered 4 hours work and split with the
senior employee(s) on the other shifts and if not filled, 4
hours shall be offered from the overtime sign up sheet;
c.
If still unfilled, the working of a double shall be
offered to the senior employee in job classification and as
the last resort the last 4 hours shall be filled from any
source.
6.
An overtime sign-up sheet shall be posted and removed
on a weekly basis. Maintenance
personnel shall be exempt from the overtime sign-up sheet.
When overtime is voluntary there shall be no
disciplinary action against any employee who declines to work
such overtime, unless the employee has previously agreed to
work the overtime. Employees
who have agreed to work overtime and fail to do so shall be
subject to disciplinary action in accordance with the
attendance policy. If
overtime work remains unfilled, the Employer may go to any
source to fill the overtime positions.
7.
The working of a double shift on any two (2) shift
operation will be allowed under the following condition:
Overtime
for up to eight (8) hours will be offered to the senior person
in job classification before being offered to senior qualified
or the sign-up list.
8.
In Particleboard Production, which is a seven-day
continuous operation, overtime shall be filled as follows:
a.
PLCC, DRYER, FRONT END LOADER, UTILITY, # 1, 2, & 3
RELIEF:
1.
An eight (8) hour shift will be split and offered in
the operator classification from other shifts;
2.
Unfilled split overtime will be offered to other senior
qualified;
3.
An eight (8) hour unfilled shift will be offered and
the working of a double shift allowed following steps 1 and 2
in Section 3 above.
b.
PRODUCTION SAWYER/JITNEY
1.
Monday – Friday overtime shall be split between
operators in classification on other shifts;
2.
Monday-Friday unfilled split overtime will be offered
to the senior qualified employees;
3.
Saturday – Sunday overtime shall be split between the
#2 Reliefs on other shifts;
4.
Saturday-Sunday unfilled split overtime will be offered
to the senior qualified employees.
9.
Weekend overtime when operating any two-shift basis
will be offered to the senior employee in the department
working the job classification regardless of shift when
only one shift is working.
Should any two-shift basis revert to a three (3) shift
basis, then Article IX, paragraphs 4 a, b, c and d, shall be
applicable; all other provisions of Article IX shall be
observed per the terms of the working agreement.
10.
Scheduled weekend overtime assignments will be posted
at the affected department time clock not less than 48 hours
in advance of the overtime work.
When an error in scheduling overtime is made but not
detected prior to working the overtime, and the Company has
followed this posting procedure, there is no grievance.
When an error in scheduling overtime is detected and
called to the supervisor’s attention in writing at least
twenty-four (24) hours in advance and not corrected, the
aggrieved employee will be compensated for the lost time.
If an employee who is assigned overtime under this
Section withdraws, the Employer may fill the position from any
source.
11.
Employees working in jobs which are scheduled on a
three (3) or four (4) shift basis shall have established an
eight (8) hour shift with a twenty (20) minute paid meal
period as the flow of the work permits.
In maintenance classifications, paid lunch and breaks
will be accomplished as the flow of the work permits.
Employees scheduled on any other basis shall have
established a thirty (30) minute non-paid lunch period which
shall be accomplished at the Employer’s option by either
shutting down or providing relief. Subject to the foregoing, all employees shall receive two (2)
ten (10) minute breaks during each scheduled eight (8) hour
shift. Should
either the Plywood Dryers of the Particleboard Finish-end
revert to less than a three (3) shift operation a non-paid
lunch hour will become effective.
The right to refuse calendar Sunday work (up to a
period of one full shift) will not apply when a calendar
Sunday is a regular workday in an employee’s regular work
schedule where such schedules are contractually permitted.
12.
After leaving the Employer's premises following
completion of their regular shift, employees called back to
work prior to but not contiguous with their next regularly
scheduled shift, shall be paid three (3) hours at their
regular straight time or overtime rate, as appropriate, or pay
for the hours actually worked, whichever is greater.
13.
When an error in the assignment of unscheduled overtime
is made and not detected by the Company nor the affected
employee prior to the time of assignment, the affected
employee will be paid if he or she would have accepted the
overtime assignment if aware of it.
Spreader Crew
Incentive Bonus Criteria
1.
Incentive will be computed per pay period as follows
based on production and quality for the pay period excluding
volume and day for any day in which production does not meet
60,000 as a result of down time.
(a)
Exclude 60,000 coreline production threshold per
workday.
(b)
Bonus per M over pay period excluding daily threshold,
effective as of the first day of pay period following
ratification.
|
Bonus
per M
|
Spreaders/S-R
|
Press
|
|
$.60
|
3.25%
|
1.75%
|
|
$.00
|
Over
3.25%
|
Over
1.75%
|
Spreaders, Presses
& Stock Rustler
All Products
Board & Veneer Core (Note: No 2 for 1 on board
core)
5th Person
Per Agreement
Shop criteria per existing practice.
Article
XI
TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENTS
1.
The Employer may assign employees to fill temporary
vacancies for a period not to exceed fourteen (14) days.
Laborers will not fill any temporary vacancy except as
assigned. Laborers
will be paid at the Laborer rate regardless of the position
assigned unless assigned to a skilled position.
2.
All work assigned to any classified employment shall be
done by employees regularly assigned to that classification
except in cases of emergency.
In all cases where an employee’s services are no
longer required in his or her class of employment or in
his/her work area, the employer may, with the employee's
consent, instead of laying him off, transfer him or her to any
other position available and at the wage fixed for that
position. If the
former position is revived, the employee shall be returned to
his or her former position.
3.
An employee, other than the Laborer classification
assigned to a higher paying job will be paid the higher rate,
except where the assignment is for training purposes in which
case the employee will be paid at his regular rate for up to
thirty (30) working days or until trained.
4.
Senior employees who bid on a training opportunity in a
specific job, one per employee, will have priority in training
as backup in such job. No
employee may hold more than one training job at any one time.
Such position will be posted for bid and employees will
be selected for training based on availability.
An employee bidding on a training position must be on
the same shift and available at straight time a minimum of
three (3) days per week, two (2) days in the case of employees
assigned to a rotating shift. During the training period, for
not more than fifty percent (50%) of the training period, an
employee may be trained on another shift other than the shift
where the training vacancy occurs.
An employee shall be allowed up to thirty (30) days, as
determined by the employer, for training purposes on that
particular job. An
employee designated by the Employer as back up on a particular
job will be required to accept the next permanent vacancy in
that job if unfilled by a fully qualified bidder as a result
of the bidding procedure under Article 16.
5.
If, for the convenience of the employer, the employee
is temporarily shifted to a position paying a lower wage than
his or her regular job, he or she shall continue to receive
the rate of pay of his or her regular job as long as he or she
is employed at such lower-paid job.
6.
The following positions shall be classified as
semi-skilled positions:
|
Dryer
Feeder
|
Panel Patcher
|
|
Advanced
Apprentice Grader
|
Side
Filler
|
|
Raimann
Patcher
|
Dryer
Relief
|
|
Spreader
Service
|
Resizer/Skin
& Trim Bander
|
|
5th
person
|
Bander
Utility
|
|
Utility
Cleanup-particleboard
|
Utility
OB/Bander
|
7. A vacancy created by
the assignment of a semi-skilled bid holder will be filled by
a Laborer. A
vacancy created by the assignment of a skilled bid holder will
repeat the process. In
the event that a temporary vacancy in a semi-skilled position
is filled by a semi-skilled bid holder, if the senior employee
is not used, then both shall receive the higher rate of pay.
8. Temporary
vacancies in skilled positions will be filled by assignment in
the following sequence:
1.
Senior qualified semi-skilled bid holder, on shift;
2.
Senior qualified skilled bid holder, on shift;
3.
Assignment from any source.
Effective 6/1/2004 shift differential
will be $.45 for swing shift, $.55 for graveyard shift, and
$.55 for relief shift. Effective
6/1/2005 shift differential will be $.50 for swing shift, $.60
for graveyard shift, and $.60 for relief shift.
Shift Differential, non-duplicative, will be paid on
the basis of hours worked on premium shifts. In the event an employee works two contiguous shifts which
are both covered by this Article, the employee will be paid on
the basis of the higher shift differential for all hours
worked.
There shall be two (2) complete paydays
each month; one to be on or before the tenth (10th) and the
other to be on or before the twenty-fifth (25th) of each
month.
An itemized accounting of hours worked,
wages earned, and deductions made shall be issued with each
check to the employee of the employer.
The Employer agrees not to contract work
out of the bargaining unit that has the effect of depriving
regular employees of jobs.
This does not prevent the use of contractors in
specialized maintenance or repair work, the installing of
equipment and/or machinery, construction, or any similar work.
2.
Employees reporting to their scheduled jobs, but not
put to work through no fault of their own, shall receive two
(2) hours' pay unless notified prior to reporting to work that
their services are not required.
The Employer shall not be held responsible for
notifications where the employee is unable to supply a
telephone number or reasonable means through which he or she
can be reached for such notification. This rule shall not apply if the plant or portion of the
plant in which the employee works is shut down by breakdown or
if the failure to put such employee to work is caused by
something which the employer could not reasonably foresee in
time to Give such notice. The Employer may require the employee to do available work
for a minimum of two hours at regular pay.
The employee may waive the right to reporting pay if
given the option of going home.
Plywood
Department
Master
Grader
Sander
Opr/Grader
Panel
Cut-Off Sawyer
Dryer
Operator
Particleboard
Department
Dryer
Operator (note
this is different than plywood job)
#1
Relief
PLCC
Operator
Sander
Operator
Sawyer/Jitney
Maintenance
Department
Electrician
Millwright
Mechanic
Carpenter
Electrician
& Millwright Apprentices
3.
If during a break in trial period, not to exceed thirty
(30) work days, the employee is unable to satisfactorily
perform the duties of the new job, or he or she is
dissatisfied with such job, he or she shall be returned to his
or her former classification and job without loss of any
seniority rights. If
at any time during the break in trial period the Company deems
the employee fully qualified, the employee will accept or
reject the new classification.
If an employee bids a job and/or shift that he or she
had previously held, then he or she shall not have a break in
trial period and not be allowed to return to his/her former
classification as provided in this section.
Upon employee request, employees who are returned to
his or her former classification and job within the first ten
(10) work days of the break-in period will be reviewed by the
plant manager.
4.
An employee promoted to a supervisory position with the
Employer shall continue to accrue seniority for a period not
to exceed sixty (60) days. At any time during the sixty (60) day period, at the option
of either the Employer or employee, he or she will be returned
to his or her former department and job.
An employee retaining a supervisory position beyond a
sixty (60) day period shall be deemed to have forfeited all
his or her accrued seniority.
5.
Curtailments shall be for thirty (30) calendar days or
less and shall be applied to the department affected.
The existing departments shall be classified as the
combined plywood-hardwood veneer grading-shipping department,
the combined particleboard shipping department and the
maintenance department. Seniority
of employees in combined departments will be dovetailed by
recognition of existing seniority as of June 1, 1994.
Departments may be added, deleted, or merged into other
departments by mutual agreement of the Union and Company.
From zero to five (5) calendar days, there shall be no
bumping and employees in the department shall be curtailed in
the inverse order of hire by department seniority.
From six (6) to thirty (30) days, curtailed employees
may bump by department seniority within the department.
Employees who are not able to use their department
seniority, may use plant seniority to bump to a labor position
only. Layoff or
job elimination, as distinguished from curtailment, shall be
of thirty (30) days or more and be by plant seniority
consistent with paragraph 1 of this article.
The employee laid off may bump any junior employee
consistent with Paragraph 1 of this Article.
Curtailed employees
whose jobs start back up within the first thirty (30) calendar
days have no option but must return to their former position.
After thirty (30) calendar days, jobs will be posted
for bid, however, any bumped employee may bid exercising
“recall rights” for up to twelve (12) months and not be
charged with a successful bid.
Failure to exercise these “recall rights” will
forfeit their return to their former position.
Employees exercising a bump due to layoff
only shall bump any junior employee in the following manner:
A.
The laid off employee, based on plant seniority and
qualifications, may select and bump into any
