Article 8: Seniority

Section 8.1:Definitions

A.For the purpose of this Agreement there are two types of seniority, Plant Seniority and Department Seniority.

B.Plant Seniority is defined as the length of continuous service of an employee within the bargaining unit, and shall accrue from the most recent date of hire or rehire until seniority is broken as follows:

C.Break in Seniority. A regular employee shall be considered terminated and seniority shall be broken, which means all rights under this Agreement are forfeited, for the following reasons:

1.Whenever the employee quits or retires.

2.Whenever an employee is discharged or terminated for just cause.

3.Whenever an employee on layoff does not notify the Company after recall within four (4) calendar days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and recognized holidays under this Agreement after being notified by certified letter or telegram (return receipt requested) with a copy to the Local Union by the Company at his last address as shown on the Company records, whether he intends to return to work. Such four (4) day period shall commence the day notice is received. The Company shall have complied with this Section if a certified letter is returned as non-deliverable.

4.Whenever an employee returning from layoff does not report for work within five (5) calendar days from the date the employee informs the Company of his intent to return to work.

5.Whenever an employee fails to report to work at the expiration of a leave of absence.

6.Whenever an employee has been laid off for a period exceeding three-hundred-sixty-five (365) days.

7.Whenever an employee has incurred an off-the-job injury or illness for a period exceeding two (2) years.

8.Whenever an employee has incurred an on-the-job injury or illness for a period exceeding three (3) years.

9.Whenever an employee who has been absent from work due to accident or illness fails to notify the Company of his availability for work the day after being released for work by his treating physician, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and the recognized holidays under this Agreement.

10.Whenever an employee is absent for reasons other than layoff or a leave of absence, without prior permission, for more than three (3) consecutive working days unless doing so for reasons beyond his control.

11.Whenever an employee on leave of absence is found to be working elsewhere without prior permission.

12.Failure to report any changes in medical status to the designated management safety representative while absent due to sickness or injury, or while on light duty.

D.Departmental Seniority is defined as the length of continuous service within a department. Department Seniority shall accrue through length of continuous service in a department from the most recent date of hire, bid award, or permanent assignment to a department in the absence of any qualified bid. Temporary assignment outside of a department will not be considered a break in continuous service in the department. When an employee is reduced or displaced from his department through the application of Section 8.2 of this Article, he shall not lose his Department Seniority in that department.

1.For the purpose of this Article, the following departments have been established: Melt Shop, Rolling Mill, Shipping, Maintenance and Stores, Yard, and Roll Shop.

2.Department Seniority shall be held in only one department at a time.

3.If two or more employees obtain Plant Seniority on the same day, seniority ranking will be alphabetical. If two or more employees obtain Departmental Seniority on the same day, the employee with the most Plant Seniority will be senior.

E.Qualifications: Whenever used in Article 8: Seniority, the terms "qualified" or "qualification" are defined as meaning the ability to efficiently perform the work using existing technology and equipment.

Section 8.2:Reduction in Force

A.All reductions except as provided herein shall be in accordance with Plant Seniority.

B.Employees moving into a position different from their bid position must be qualified to perform the work.

C.The following procedures shall apply whenever a reduction in force occurs in any department:

1.Layoff - 48 hours or Less

In the event a department lays off its work force for up to and including 48 hours, affected employees (based upon Department Seniority) may claim any available work normally performed by bid job holders within the department on the shift affected.

2.Layoff – 2 to 10 Days

a.In the event a department lays off its work force from two up to ten days, affected employees (based on Department Seniority) may claim any available work on any shift normally performed by bid job holders within the affected department and/or plant utility jobs.

b.Wage rates shall not be adjusted for employees reduced to a lesser-paying job during a short-term layoff.

3.Layoff - Over 10 days

In the event a department lays off its workforce for more than ten (10) calendar days, affected employees may use their Plant Seniority to claim bid jobs in any other department, if qualified, and/or plant utility jobs. As soon as the Company knows that long-term layoffs will be necessary, the following procedure will be used:

a.The required number of employees will be reduced out of the department by Plant Seniority. The remaining employees will then select their new position (job and shift) and work week (in a department having eight, ten, twelve hour shifts with crews having different days off), by Department Seniority using the shotgun bid method. That is, employees will inform their superintendent or designated representative of their desire to occupy the unfilled position, and awards will be made by Department Seniority. Such awarded bids will become the employees’ new bid positions.

b.After the one-time shotgun bid method has been used to return to full crew occupancy, new openings will be filled as per all of the rules associated with a normal bid process. When it becomes necessary to return to a full crew or to add an additional crew, all employees will return to their previous bid jobs and shifts held prior to the layoff or reduction of a crew. At that time any unfilled bid positions will be handled by a “shotgun” bid. That is, employees will inform their superintendent or designated representative of their desire to occupy an unfilled position, and awards will be made by Department Seniority. With the exception of the posting procedures, jobs awarded by this shotgun method will fall under the rules associated with a normal bid process. After the one-time shotgun bid method has been used to return to full crew occupancy, new openings will be filled as per all of the rules associated with a normal bid process.

c.Scheduled Plant Shutdowns.Opportunities for work during scheduled plant shutdown periods will be posted and awarded to the senior qualified employees (by Departmental Seniority) who have signed up as a result of such a posting. In the event that no qualified employee signs up for any such opportunity, the job will be assigned to the junior qualified employee.

d.Employees shall not be allowed self-disqualification of shotgun bids awarded under the provisions of this Section 8.2

e.The Company may disqualify employees from shotgun bid awards within 90 days of the bid award, and in such case, the disqualified employee will bump into any position he or she has the seniority and qualifications to claim.

f.Should a department experience an emergent situation causing production to cease for ninety (90) calendar days or less, employees will be restored to the position and shift held prior to the shutdown upon resumption of production.

D.When a RIF occurs, shotgun bid to fill all jobs, during the subsequent 12 month period if the department returns to the pre-reduction in force staffing, employees will return to their prior bid position they maintained at the time of the 12 month expiration. Vacancies occurring during the 12 month period following the RIF will be filled by bid award. End the current reduction in force status. Following Ratification shipping and rolling mill departments will vote separately as to whether they want to re-bid jobs in their respective departments.

E.The employer will make a good faith effort to determine the length of time of a specific layoff at the outset. If the layoff is anticipated to last in excess of ten days or longer, then the company may, if necessary, implement wage adjustments immediately.

F.In order to satisfy the seniority provisions of this section, the Company may require an employee to work a combination of shifts, e.g. 8hrs, 10hrs, or 12 hrs. When an employee is assigned to two or more daily work shifts in one work week as a result of this section, the shift with the most number of days assigned will dictate the method of calculating daily overtime.

G.Displaced or laid off employees will retain department seniority unless such employee successfully bids to a position in another department.

 

Section 8.3:Qualifications

 

A.Qualifications are not required for any senior employee to displace any junior employee holding a utility job.

B.If a senior employee is qualified (i.e., has the ability to perform the job in a worker-like manner), seniority as defined in this Article shall rule for all reduction and promotion purposes, although it may happen that a junior employee is better qualified.

 

Section 8.4:Recall From Layoffs

 

Employees will be recalled from a layoff in the reverse order of their lay off. This will result in the following:

A.Employees will be recalled from a layoff in order of greatest Plant Seniority.

B.Employees not in their regular department will be recalled as needed to openings in their regular department by Plant Seniority. Position and shift preference shall be governed by Department Seniority. Employees may not refuse a recall.

 

Section 8.5:General Rules

 

A.The Company will give four (4) calendar days advance notice of a pending layoff when Section 8.2 becomes effective, unless prohibited from doing so due to reasons beyond the Company's control.

B.The Company will post schedules reflecting the reduction in force procedures of this Agreement. An employee who believes he is improperly placed under the reduction in force provisions of this Agreement must notify the Human Resources Department immediately after he should have become aware of the improper placement. After the rearrangement for the new schedule, no future rearranging of the schedule shall be considered for the duration of the reduction in force, unless required by a grievance settlement.

C.Rearrangement of such work schedules may be made by the Company in a manner that will avoid unnecessary overtime or premium pay.

D.Employees required to change shifts as a result of a bid award or reduction in force bump shall not be entitled to overtime as required in Article 9: Hours of Work and Overtime, unless required to work with less than 12 hours between work shifts.

 

Section 8.6:Temporary Vacancies

 

A temporary vacancy is a vacancy in a job created by the bid holder being absent from his/her normal job for any reason and still retaining seniority rights to the job.

Temporary vacancies that are expected to be thirty (30) calendar days or less shall be considered short-term; vacancies expected to exceed thirty (30) calendar days shall be considered long-term. When an initial vacancy is 30 days or less and is subsequently extended by an additional 30 days or less, the vacancy shall be considered short-term.

A.Short-term temporary vacancies shall be used as opportunities to train for the job, and filled using employees stepped up using the following procedures:

Preference shall be given to the senior qualified employee capable of performing the work who is on the shift and who holds the next lower wage rated job(s), and then the capable senior employee on the shift, in order of successively lower wage rated jobs.

The least senior qualified employee capable of performing the work, who is working on the shift in the next lower wage rated job or a successively lower wage rated job, in any event may be forced to accept the step-up vacancy.

A temporary vacancy not filled by options 1 or 2 above may be filled by utilizing an employee within the plant-wide utility pool who is on the same shift.

When the duration of a short-term temporary vacancy becomes extended for an unusual or an undetermined length of time, the Company and the Union shall review the circumstances and determine whether the vacancy should be considered permanent or long-term.

In the event overtime is required to fill temporary vacancies, the overtime provisions in Article 9 shall apply.

B.Long-term temporary vacancies will be jointly reviewed by the Department Head and the Union President, Grievance Chairman, or Department Grievance Representative. Following the joint review, including any such review that may be required under paragraph A.4 above, the Company may, provided the Union representative is in agreement during the review, suspend the short-term provisions above, and fill the vacancy by temporary bid award utilizing the following procedures:

The initial vacancy shall be opened for bid by Department Seniority.

The three (3) subsequent vacancies directly related to the initial temporary bid award shall be filled utilizing the shotgun bid method, i.e. employees inform their superintendent or designee of their desire to occupy an unfilled position, and awards will be made by Department Seniority.

All successful bidders must be qualified to perform the work without additional training.

Same job, different shift bid holders shall be eligible to bid a temporary vacancy only when the vacancy is expected to exceed six (6) months.

Successful bidders must be moving to equal or higher wage rate positions, except that movement to lower wage rate positions is allowed where the bidder is moving from an eight (8), ten (10), or twelve (12) hour shift to a daily shift schedule of differing length, i.e. eight (8), ten (10), or twelve (12) shift.

C.A new job which is scheduled to last 90 calendar days or less shall be considered long-term if over 30 days, and short term if 30 days or less, and filled in accordance with the applicable provisions herein. All other types of vacancies shall be considered permanent vacancies and posted for bid in accordance with the terms of Section 8.9.

D.It is the intent of the parties to use temporary vacancies as opportunities to train for equal or higher paying jobs within the affected department. When additional employees are to be trained through the process of filling temporary vacancies, the next senior qualified employee (and then successively less senior qualified employees) on the shift who indicated his desire will be upgraded until the proper number of employees are trained. The fact that an employee has been trained by upgrading does not in any manner take away any of the rights to bid and be awarded a permanent vacancy from any other employee with the necessary qualifications.

E.A junior employee who temporarily fills an equal or higher job vacancy shall not be given preference to the job based on such experience if the job is eventually permanently filled.

F.Production employees drawing a lower wage or employed in a lower class of work may be used temporarily at the option of the Company for a higher class of work, provided, however, that if such work exceeds one (1) hour the employees shall draw the higher wage scale applicable to such work for one-half day. If such work exceeds four (4) hours, the employees shall draw the higher wage scale applicable to such work for time actually worked, at the higher scale; if less than one hour is worked, only time actually worked is paid. Such employees may be returned to the lower wage scale when returning to the lower class of work, provided, however, that if the temporary move-up is due to the fact that another employee comes in late or leaves early, the payment of the higher rate will be limited to actual time worked at the higher paid job.

G.When an employee is assigned to work with another employee for training purposes, the employee under training shall work at his regular rate of pay. This provision shall not apply when the Company steps up to fill a vacancy and no employee is available to train on the higher job.

 

Section 8.7:Training

 

Opportunities to train shall be posted within the department for fifteen (15) calendar days. Training opportunities shall be provided in accordance with Department Seniority. Employees who fail to bid for a training opportunity shall not be required to fill that job when it is temporarily vacated and shall not be recognized as a qualified bidder if the job is permanently vacated. In the event a junior employee receives more training time than a senior employee, he shall not be given bid preference to the job based on training time or experience. This provision could result in a senior employee requiring additional training after being awarded the job. A junior employee who is training for a job shall not be used to deprive a senior employee of an overtime opportunity.

An employee who refuses training opportunities must sign a form refusing training, and shall not be recognized as a qualified bidder to that job.

Section 8.8:Straight Shifts

A.The Company will make a good-faith effort to accommodate employees in shift preference when filling non-bid jobs as long as the efficiency of the operation is not affected. When a temporary vacancy becomes permanent or a permanent vacancy occurs with respect to production employees, Department Seniority shall determine shift preference.

B.There is no shift preference for filling temporary vacancies of less than one week.

C.Maintenance Department employees shall have the right to exercise their Department Seniority for shift choice when there is a schedule change.

D.For purposes of this section of the contract only, a schedule change in the maintenance department as used in paragraph "C" above shall be confined exclusively to the area of maintenance in which the change is actually being made. The separate areas of the maintenance department are: mechanical maintenance, electrical maintenance, mobile maintenance, machine shop, storeroom, maintenance utility, baghouse, and lubrication. A schedule change in any one area does not affect or instigate a schedule change in any other area.

 

Section 8.9:Job Posting/Bidding Procedure

 

A.Probationary employees may bid for plant-wide jobs only.

B.All department and plant-wide bid jobs will be identified by position and shift. When a new job occurs, or when a permanent vacancy occurs in an existing job, the vacancy shall be posted for a period of ten (10) calendar days. The name(s) of the successful bidder or bidders will be posted within five (5) calendar days. An employee returning from vacation, leave of absence, or any other authorized leave covered by this Agreement may bid a job awarded in his absence within seven (7) calendar days after his return. Bid lists are valid for thirty (30) days. Department bids will be posted in the respective department, and plant-wide bids will be posted at the main entrance gate, employee parking lot gate, and posting site near the Health & Safety bus stop.

C.If work schedules change, or are expected to change, for a period in excess of thirty (30) calendar days, the changed crews shall be bid using the shotgun method. For purposes of this provision, a schedule change shall be defined as a change in days off, and for ten (10) and twelve (12) hour shifts a change shall be defined as a schedule different from the four (4) on, four (4) off schedule.

D.Should an entire crew be added to a Department, all positions in the Department shall be bid by the shotgun method.

E.Vacant Utility positions shall be posted for bid in accordance with the provisions of this Section 8.9 on the first Monday of every odd numbered month, with the intent to move employees into the respective bid positions before the end of that month.

F.Department bid awards shall be in accordance with Department Seniority. Plant bid awards shall be in accordance with Plant Seniority.

G.Selection

1.Selection of an employee to fill a permanent vacancy will be made from employees who timely bid on the basis of Department Seniority among the employees who are in the department where the vacancy exists and who have the qualifications to perform the job.

2.If no selection can be made as provided in Section 8.9(G) (1) above because there are no qualified bidders from within the department, a new plant bid will be posted at the main entrance gate, employee parking lot gate, and posting site near the Health & Safety bus stop for ten (10) days, after which the bid job will be awarded to the bidder having the most Plant Seniority.

3.If no selection can be made as provided in Section 8.9(G) (2) above, the vacancy will be filled by assigning the most senior utility employee to the bid. Any employee who is to be transferred from one job to another, incurring a shift change, will be given seventy-two (72) hours notice unless emergency conditions prevent the Company from doing so.

H.An unsuccessful bidder who has greater seniority than the employee awarded the job, and who feels that he has the qualifications to perform the job, may utilize the grievance procedure to register his protest within ten (10) calendar days of the bid award. If, at the conclusion of Step I there is still disagreement as to the qualifications of the protesting employee, then the grievance committeeman at Step II may request that the protesting employee be given a fair job-related trial or test of his qualifications. The department superintendent will arrange such trial or test of the qualifications for the protesting employee as soon as possible. The department superintendent will determine the type of job-related trial or test of his qualifications and the duration of the trial or test to be given. The department superintendent or his designee, the department grievance person, and, if necessary, a qualified employee on the job shall be present at such trial or test. If, after the trial the department superintendent determines that the employee has the qualifications to perform the job, he will be awarded the job. In the event the department superintendent determines that the employee does not have the qualifications to perform the job, the protesting employee will be so informed as soon as possible. If, after the employee has been informed that he is not qualified, and the grievance committee member feels that the protesting employee has the qualifications to perform the job, he may so inform the chairman of the grievance committee and the chairman of the grievance committee may continue the grievance into Step III.

I.Disqualification

A successful bidder may disqualify himself or be disqualified by the company within ninety (90) calendar days of his award. An employee disqualifying himself from a job may, at the Company's option, be held on the job until the completion of thirty (30) calendar days after he disqualified himself before returning him to his old classification. He may not bid the same job for ninety (90) calendar days from the date of the award after his first disqualification, and after his second disqualification he may not bid the job for nine (9) months. Where the job content is changed, this paragraph is null and void.

J.Department Self-Disqualification

1.For internal department bids where an employee is changing jobs and moving up in pay rate, the employee may self-disqualify up to two times per year. Declining a bid award before starting work at the job shall not constitute a bid refusal. The employee must submit a self-disqualification in writing within the first ninety (90) days of assuming the new position.

2.An employee may not self-disqualify from a shift-change-only bid.

3.For bids down in wage rate, an employee is allowed one self-disqualification per year. The employee must submit a self-disqualification in writing within the first thirty (30) days of assuming the new position.

4.For bids to lateral positions (different job, same rate of pay) an employee is allowed two (2) self-disqualifications per year. The employee must submit a self-disqualification in writing within the first thirty (30) days of assuming the new position.

K.Plant Self-Disqualification

For plant bids, an employee may self-disqualify up to two (2) times per year. The employee must submit a self-disqualification in writing within the first ninety (90) days of assuming the new position. Declining a plant bid award at any time after posting shall constitute a self-disqualification. On occasions where the employee is bidding for multiple positions at the same time, the employee must declare on the bidding sheets what his preferences are (first choice, second choice, third choice, etc.). If an employee does not indicate preference in writing and has the seniority to be awarded multiple bids, the Company will award the bid assignment that gives the highest wage rate.

L.When an employee is awarded a job as a result of his bidding on a posted job and is unable to fill the job satisfactorily or disqualifies himself, he shall be returned to the job from which he bid. An employee returned to a job under provisions of this paragraph shall have his Department Seniority reinstated in his original department.

M.Any employee returning to regular work from an absence because of an authorized vacation, absence due to illness, injury, or leave of absence will be returned to his former job. If the absence was for an authorized vacation for any duration or for illness, injury, or leave of absence of thirty (30) calendar days or less, the employee may bump to any job vacancy posted within the plant during his absence within forty-eight (48) hours after his return to work, provided he would have been awarded the job in accordance with Section 8.9 of this Agreement.

N.The Company will notify the Union of the establishment of a new job. A new job usually may be considered established if the job is actually worked over fifty percent (50%) of the time on one (1) given shift for a period of at least thirty (30) consecutive days. A permanent vacancy occurs when the incumbent of the job retains no seniority rights to the job, providing the job has not been discontinued.

O.Craft-level jobs in a department, if there are no qualified bidders, may be filled by hiring from outside the plant. Employees who bid a Journeyman position or a slot-in Apprenticeship opening are required to submit proof of established qualifications to the Human Resources Department. Bids will be awarded by qualifications. When filling permanent State-approved craft vacancies, senior qualified individuals shall be given the first opportunity to select a permanent job vacancy so long as the efficiency of the operations is not affected. If the senior qualified individual declines the opportunity, the opening will be offered to the next senior qualified person(s) until the opening is filled.

P.An employee must be eligible to bid a position on the date the posting period expires, otherwise said employee shall be deemed ineligible for that bid.

Q.Successful bidders will be assigned and report to their new bid awards within thirty (30) days after the bid closes.

 

Section 8.10:Utility Job Classification Rules and Procedures

 

A.Employees working within the non-bid utility job classification are subject to be assigned to any department and any shift without regard for seniority. However, during a layoff or reduction in force, those employees that are reduced out of a department into the labor pool will be given shift preference based on their plant seniority.

B.Employees assigned to the labor pool can only work up to 48 hours per week on 12-hour shifts and 40 hours per week on 8-hour shifts.

C.Labor pool employees shall only work more than 48 hours in a week under the following conditions:

1.As part of a regularly scheduled crew in a department; and,

2.As an employee of last resort for overtime or step-up positions in a department.

D.For the labor pool, plant seniority shall be used to determine all reductions in force and/or layoffs.