I and J Shift Update

Sisters and Brothers,

As you know, the 36-hour work week was negotiated locally last fall when the Company approached the Union over a request to bargain over a new shift pattern, because of the downturn in production. The agreement had a provision for review after one year, to determine if there is still a need or if it could be removed. That one-year mark was reached October 28, and the Company and Union met to review. The Company stated that the need is still there for the I and J shifts. At that time, we expressed that we would like to talk about some possible adjustments to the agreement, particularly around Thursday extension of the work week. We understand that this has been a pain point, especially with the unpredictability of whether Thursday will be scheduled on a week-to-week basis. The Company had gotten into the habit of posting every Monday as a “just in case” and pulling down at the last minute if they decided they did not need the work. This causes issues for our members in planning things like childcare, second jobs, and really just anything else in your personal lives. 

We presented a couple of options to the Company to address the Thursday issue. The Company did agree to the following:

If Scheduled Thursday Work is Posted for production purposes by Local Management and then Scheduled Work Removed, all I/J Teammates impacted by Such Posting will receive payment of 6 Hours Pay based on this change. Extenuating Circumstance such as Machine Breakdown/Utility outage shall be the only circumstance requiring 3S/5S Cleaning Work on Extension of Work Week Thursdays.

What this means is that if the Company posts the Thursday work for your department, and then later pulls it down, they will owe you 6 hours of show-up pay for Thursday. This should be a deterrent to posting unless they absolutely know they need production on Thursdays. If they decide to cancel the production work, they can’t decide to just have you come in to clean to avoid paying the show-up pay. The rest of the agreement remains the same as the past year.

There have been some questions as to whether this applies to 5-day crews. It does not. The 36-hour work week is a separate, local agreement, while the 5-day language is Master CBA language that has been in place for decades. Any changes to that would need to be addressed at Master Bargaining.   

It is our hope that this modified agreement will offer more predictability for all of our members on the I and J shifts.

In Solidarity,

USW Local 310L Bargaining Committee