Dear Members,
Unfortunately, once again, it has been brought to the Union’s attention that certain members of management are violating Article 7 and Article 9 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) by instructing employee(s) who request Vacation-Day-At-A-Time (VAC-DAT) to approach members of the Unit to arrange “one way” trade day(s) off before approving or denying the VAC-DAT.
Article 7.L.1.c allows employees who are on a “one way” trade day off to use vacation time to make up for all hours on the unpaid trade day off. Article 9.C sets forth the method in which employees may request VAC-DAT. Members of management should be denying and/or approving any VAC-DAT request based on the provisions set forth in Article 9.C. No employee should be instructed by any member of management to seek out another member covered by the CBA in an effort to administer Trade Days and/or VAC-DAT. If you find yourself in this situation inform the Union immediately. Make sure to give the date, time and names of those involved in these violations.
To allow such behavior tremendously disadvantages your fellow Union brother or sister who has signed the overtime list in an effort to realize the payment of time and one half and double time provided for in Article 17. To allow management to circumvent the requirement to pay these rates as well as continue to cover vacation outages with straight time only serves to undermine the gains we have fought so hard to achieve.
Further, a System Board decision prohibits changing any part of a bidded week of Vacation into “one way” trade day(s) off. Once a column is taken, via bidded vacation, it must only be changed pursuant to Article 9.D (Changes to the Posted Schedule). For anyone to seek out an employee on a bidded week of vacation in an effort to change any of the day(s) in that week to a “one way” trade day off violates the rights of another Union brother or sister who wanted the same week but was otherwise unable to get it through the bidding process. Such behavior further undermines the overtime provisions of Article 17.
We fully understand the provisions of the CBA. It was your Local representatives who played a large roll in achieving the language set forth in the CBA as it relates to this memo. No one is looking to remove the right to back fill a “one way” trade day off with vacation time. There is, however, a proper way to administer both “one way” trades and VAC-DAT. Failure to administer the CBA as negotiated will result in grievances up to and including final and binding arbitration. Thank you for your time and if there are any questions feel free to contact a Union representative.