Springfield: New 8.5.D Cease and Desist
Screenshot of the Pre-Arbitration Settlement
We just got one hot off the presses here, settled yesterday on March 11th. This is a grievance from April of 2023. Yeah, there’s a massive backlog at the Step B level nation-wide. If the latest information is to be believed, we have 16,000 grievances at Step B and 5,000 ready for Arbitration across the nation. Things are crazy. Without further ado, let’s get into this one real quick.
Firstly, this is a Pre-Arbitration settlement, meaning that the Union and management representatives at the Step B level agreed to settle it before it went to the final authority; an arbitrator. There are a lot of reasons why things get settled at that level, and frankly these settlements can be nuanced chess moves at that level. At worst they’re a bail-out of some kind. This one is not a bail-out.
Second, the parties agreed a violation took place of Article 8.5.D: management and the Union agreed to the violation, but now we needed to know what to do about the remedy to make it right. So, both parties agreed management will cease and desist from violations of Article 8.5.D. That language from the National Agreement is as follows:
“8.5.D If the voluntary “Overtime Desired” list does not provide sufficient qualified people, qualified full-time regular employees not on the list may be required to work overtime on a rotating basis with the first opportunity assigned to the junior employee.”
That’s fantastic. Cease and desist language is strong at Step B and Arbitration levels. That doesn’t mean that management on the workroom floor will actually cease and desist though. Is that frustrating? Yes. What do we do about it? We put it in our case file the next time 8.5.D is violated and show it’s an ongoing problem that needs an escalated remedy. We will only get compliance when we’re awarded a remedy that is enough incentive for management to not violate the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). If we get compliance right off the jump that’s wonderful: that’s really all we want.
Third, based on an Arbitration Springfield has from 2020, any carrier improperly mandated will be paid and extra 50% of their base pay for the time inappropriately mandated. This shows that carriers who are improperly mandated are being violated and remedied separately from the ODL carriers. This has been a point of confusion for some of the membership, thinking that only the ODL carriers get paid for the time: that’s not true, both ODL and the improperly mandated parties are remedied. The Union is seeking escalated remedies for carriers improperly mandated in an effort to make violations stop because we all know we are improperly mandated regularly.
Fourth, the ODL carriers are paid as a result of the improper mandate for the time they should have worked and gotten paid for. This is pretty expected and standard, so I’m glad it’s in here.
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Thanks for the read and the support. Until next time, enjoy some sunshine.