Article 14: Vacation

Section 14.1: Eligibility Requirements

A. Each hourly rated employee on the payroll of the Company who has attained the years of continuous service with the Company indicated in the following table in any calendar year during the term of this Agreement shall receive a vacation corresponding to such years of continuous service provided the employee has worked 1200 hours and has passed his anniversary date.

YEARS OF CONTINUOUS SERVICE	VACATION
1 or more	1 week
2 or more	2 weeks
6 or more	3 weeks
10 or more	4 weeks
20 or more	5 weeks

B. A first year employee who will complete one year of service any time after January 1 of a calendar year will be eligible for vacation upon completion of one year of continuous service. For example: (Employee hired November 1, 2000 who completes one (1) year of continuous service on November 1, 2001 would be eligible for one week vacation on or after November 1, 2001).

C. A second (2nd) year employee who will complete two (2) years of continuous service any time after January 1 of a calendar year will be eligible for a second week of vacation upon completion of two (2) years of continuous service. For example: (Employee hired October 1, 2000 who completes two (2) years of continuous service on October 1, 2002 would be eligible for a second week of vacation on or after October 1, 2002).

D. The sixth (6th), tenth (10th), and twentieth year employees will be treated by the same formula as set out in B and C above.

E. A one (1) week vacation shall consist of seven (7) consecutive days, a two (2) week vacation of fourteen (14) consecutive days, a three (3) week vacation of twenty-one (21) consecutive days, a four (4) week vacation of twenty-eight (28) consecutive days, and a five (5) week vacation of thirty-five (35) consecutive days; provided, however, that a two (2), three (3), four (4), or five (5) week vacation may be taken in a week or weeks or separate periods if such arrangements can be mutually agreed between the employee and the Company.

F. The number of years of continuous service for any employee, for the purpose of this Article, shall be his aggregate number of years of continuous employment with the Company.

Section 14.2: Computation

For each week of vacation to which an employee is entitled the Company will make vacation payments computed by multiplying 40 times the employee's regular hourly rate on the day his vacation starts.

Section 14.3: Unscheduled Vacation Time

Employees who have accrued vacation time may utilize said time when needing to miss work unexpectedly, with the following conditions:

A. The employee will notify the Company as soon as possible of their inability to show up for work at least one (1) hour prior to the start of the shift, unless prevented from doing so because of a bona-fide emergency, in which case the employee will then notify the Company as soon as possible.

B. By utilizing unscheduled vacation, the employee who meets the above notification requirement avoids incurring an incident. However, employees who have exhausted vacation time will incur an incident unless the time off is for a legally mandated leave, in which case verification from the employee must be provided to the Company.

C. Unscheduled vacation time not approved in advance does not count as time worked for overtime purposes. In order for vacation time to be counted towards overtime, advanced written approval must be obtained from the employee's supervisor.

D. Short notice, unscheduled vacation time shall be approved by the Company on a first come first-granted basis. Nothing in this section requires the Company to approve short notice vacation time if, in the judgment of the Company, proper staffing levels cannot be maintained in a Department.

Section 14.4: General Rules

A. Employees shall have vacations granted at times most desired by employees, so far as possible without disrupting the orderly operation of the plant, in accordance with the following rules:

1. Vacation pay will only be given for vacation taken and no employee will be permitted to waive his vacation and receive vacation pay in addition to pay for days worked.

2. The vacation year for vacation from work is the year starting January 1 and ending December 31. A vacation week is a normal work week. This does not imply that vacations shall be equally scheduled throughout the year. Vacations shall be scheduled in such a way as to assure orderly operation of the plant. The Company shall try to accommodate the desires of the employees.

3. Each employee will be expected to file a written request with management for the period of vacation he desires to take in the next vacation year. Such notice shall be signed by the employee and delivered to management no later than December 1 of the preceding year. The employee may list a first (1st), second (2nd) or third (3rd) choice of the period or periods he prefers as his vacation from work.

4. Management will promptly examine the written requests for vacations and will post the annual vacation schedule as soon as possible in every department, and will furnish a copy to the Union of the entire vacation schedule. Any changes from the posted schedule will be in writing between the Company and the employees involved.

5. In the event two (2) or more employees in the same department request vacation periods in the same periods of time and all cannot be spared from work at the same time, preference shall be given to senior employee(s) on the basis of his departmental seniority. (In the event an employee fails to file his request for vacation pursuant to section C.4 above, he forfeits his right to preference on the basis of seniority.)

6. Employees who wish to trade vacation periods which have been finally allocated may do so only with the written consent of the Company and the Union.

B. It is the intent of the parties in agreeing to this vacation plan, that the purpose of this Section is that employees will actually take time off for vacation and that the Company will grant vacations in accordance with the provisions of this Article to the extent of their ability to do so.

Employees are asked to use their vacation before December 31 of the year following the year in which the vacation was vested. In the event an employee does not use his vacation within the following calendar year, his vacation balance will not be forfeited but the supervisor will attempt to mutually agree with the employee as to when the vacation will be used. It is intended that vacation carried over will be used in a timely manner. Any refusal or postponement of requested vacation dates shall be for just cause.