Georgia Power Company
LABOR RELATIONS 2002 NEGOTIATIONS NEWS
RESUME 06/May 31, 2002
Please give a copy of this Resume to your Shop Stewards and members of the Unions negotiating committee as agreed to between Management and Union.
Management and Union sub-committees met this week, Thursday and Friday, May 30 and 31, 2002. Eight proposals were made and the committees reached tentative agreement on seven of them. They are listed on the following pages. Negotiations will resume Tuesday, June 4, 2002.
Tentative Agreement on Proposed Changes to Paragraph 13 (b)
May 31, 2002
Compensation, Benefits and Administrative Sub-committee
Changes are in bold
13(b). In the case of a personal illness or non-occupational injury where the employee is unable to report for duty, the employee shall be paid one working day for each day of accrued sick leave during such absences. Accrual of sick days will be as follows:
1. No days for the first six months of continuous employment
2. Five days upon completion of six months of continuous employment
3. Five additional days on the anniversary date of the first year of continuous employment for a maximum of 10 days for the first year of continuous employment
4. Thereafter, 10 days per calendar year to be credited January 1 of each year following completion of the first year of continuous employment, not to exceed the total days as provided in this sub-paragraph.
Unused sick leave may be accrued at the rate of 10 days per calendar year to a total of 140 working days. Employees who are away from work due to personal illness or non-occupational injury shall not be entitled to use their accrued sick leave once they have been away from work the number of days required to satisfy the waiting period for the Companys Long Term Disability Plan. Employees who return from long-term disability with accrued sick days shall be given credit for these days. Under no conditions shall an employee be entitled to more than 140 days' allowance, including allowance for the current year except when an employee with over five years' service with the Company exhausts all accumulated sick leave. An employee may be considered for additional pay for time not worked due to sickness or non-occupational injury if the employees past attendance record is satisfactory.
Up to five days (or 40 hours) per calendar year of an employees accrued sick leave can be used for the medically necessary care of an immediate family member. Immediate family members are defined as the employees spouse, children, and parents (not in-laws).
Sick report shall be made promptly in the event of absence from work due to personal illness or non-occupational injury. The employee or member of the employees immediate family shall advise the employees immediate supervisor of such inability to report for work before the start of the employee's work schedule or shift. Failure to do so shall forfeit the employees right to sick leave with pay unless it can be shown that it was impossible for the employee to give or cause such notice to be given to supervision. In the event of absence due to personal illness or non-occupational injury, Management may make such reasonable investigation necessary, and Management shall have the right at its option to require certification by a legally licensed physician as to an employee's illness if an employee is away from work due to illness or non-occupational injury for more than three consecutive days. Failure to supply a doctor's certificate as required shall forfeit all rights to sick leave with pay during absence from work.
An employee who leaves the job due to personal illness after starting work at the employees regularly scheduled starting hour will have sick leave charged in increments of not less than one hour. An employee may be docked for such time not worked or have the option of substituting sick leave to offset dock time. In no case shall an employee be paid more than eight hours of sick leave per day.
Employees desiring to use sick leave for doctor's appointments (including routine physical examinations, dental appointments, or eye examinations) must give reasonable notice to supervision.
The Union will cooperate with Management to prevent or eliminate abuses of sick leave and care of an immediate family member privileges. Any employee abusing sick leave, care of an immediate family member or non-occupational injury privileges shall be subject to discipline by Management.
A full-time active employee on the payroll as of July 1, 1977, shall be entitled to receive credit for up to 10 days per calendar year for each of the last five years as accumulated sick leave. Such accumulated sick leave shall be reduced by each day of sick leave for which an employee was paid up to a maximum of 10 days per calendar year.
The Company will continue its established practice on occupational injury leave and funeral leave.
TENTATIVE AGREEMTENT
May 31, 2002
Transmission and Distribution Sub-committee
Add the classifications of Winch Truck Operator and Light Equipment Operator to Section V, Repair Shop.
Add the classifications of Winch Truck Operator and Light Equipment Operator to Section V, Repair Shop. Management agrees to grandfather employees who currently occupy the classifications of Apprentice Heavy Equipment Operator and Heavy Equipment Operator in Section V as long as they remain in their respective classifications.
TENTATIVE AGREEMENT
Proposed Change to Generation Exhibit "F"
May 31, 2002
Generation Sub-committee
Change in bold
EXHIBIT "F"
GENERAL GUIDELINES TO BE FOLLOWED FOR
THE ASSIGNMENT OF OVERTIME
In an effort to establish guidelines to determine who should work overtime, the following factors should be considered:
(1) The qualified volunteer with the least overtime should be contacted. In contacting the qualified volunteer, good faith and a reasonable effort will be exerted.
(2) If the volunteers with the least amount of overtime make a reasonable request not to work and other volunteers are available and desire to work, the overtime should be assigned to those who desire the overtime.
(3) After a reasonable attempt to contact the qualified volunteer or the number of qualified volunteers needed has been made and after determining that the volunteers contacted have made reasonable requests not to work, the volunteers with the least amount of overtime will be required to work absent a valid reason.
The low volunteers who do not have a valid reason for not working will have the option of finding qualified employees to work in their places provided the qualified employees notify their supervisors that they will replace the low volunteers assigned the overtime work.
In this situation, it will not be considered a violation of the Agreement if substitute employees are not the low employees on the overtime list. In this instance, the employees being excused and the substitutes will be charged with the amount of overtime worked by the substitutes. After being notified of the substitutions by the qualified employees, the supervisor will excuse the low volunteers from the assigned overtime. Until notified of the release, the low volunteers are responsible for working the assigned overtime. The provisions of this paragraph will only apply to a specific situation where the low volunteers do not have a valid reason for not working.
(4) An employee who volunteers for overtime will be considered as a volunteer for a full shift (eight hours).
(5) If there are no volunteers, the low non-volunteer will be assigned the overtime absent a valid reason for not being able to work.
The low non-volunteers who do not have a valid reason for not working will have the option of finding qualified employees to work in their places provided the qualified employees notify their supervisors that they will replace the low non-volunteers assigned the overtime work.
In this situation, it will not be considered a violation of the Agreement if substitute employees are not the low employees on the overtime list. In this instance, the employees being excused and the substitutes will be charged with the amount of overtime worked by the substitutes. After being notified of the substitutions by the qualified employees, the supervisor will excuse the low non-volunteers from the assigned overtime. Until notified of the release, the low non-volunteers are responsible for working the assigned overtime. The provisions of this paragraph will only apply to a specific situation where the low non-volunteers do not have a valid reason for not working.
(6) Each supervisor should be reasonably aware of all employees' total overtime and the list used to equalize overtime should be updated at least every two weeks and posted. The list will be updated and posted weekly consistent with the implementation of the Southern Time and Attendance Reporting System (STARS).
(7) If an employee changes classification, changes section, or transfers to a new location, the employee should be assigned a number of hours on the overtime list which represents the average overtime worked during the current year by employees in the same classification and section at that location.
(8) If a member of supervision, while making a good faith effort to assign overtime in accordance with these provisions, erroneously assigns the work to an employee who is not low, an equal amount of overtime work will be made available at a mutually agreeable time for the employee who was overlooked. This procedure will return the employee to the rightful place on the overtime list.
(9) Consistent with the Memorandum of Agreement, it is Managements and the Unions desire that a good faith effort should be made to assign the overtime to those employees who desire to work it.
(10) (Applies to Customer Operations)
TENTATIVE AGREEMENT
Paragraph 32 Issues
May 31, 2002
Generation Sub-committee
Statement to be included in package proposal, but not in the contract
Listed below are issues that management and the union agree pertain to the assignment of covered employees to non-covered positions as covered in paragraph 32 of the Memorandum of Agreement.
· Employees must be returned to their covered classifications within the two-year period in order to reclaim their covered jobs.
· Upon return to a covered classification at the end of a two-year assignment, an employee will not be immediately reassigned to a non-covered job. A short break in non-covered assignments will not be used to circumvent the two-year limitation.
· When employees return to covered jobs from non-covered assignments, they will be placed at the average on the overtime list, the same as new employees and employees who have changed locations or classifications. An exception will be when the assignment is for less than one month, then the employee will be returned to the overtime list with the same number of hours as before the assignment.
· When employees are assigned to non-covered jobs, their vacation selections for the duration of the assignment are given up and will be posted if operating requirements can be met. Other vacation selections will remain in effect. If the employee is expected to return to a covered job before January 1, the employee will be allowed to select vacation with the other employees at that location. If the employee is not expected to return to a covered job before January 1, the employee will not be allowed to select vacation with other employees at that location and will be treated as a new employee for vacation selection upon returning to a covered job.
TENTATIVE AGREEMENT
Proposed Change to Generation Paragraph 37(a)
May 31, 2002
Generation Sub-committee
Change in bold
When, as and if necessary, some employees may be rescheduled, by classification seniority, for duty on temporary or permanent shift (or shifts) working outside their regular work period (and/or working days); if possible
TENTATIVE AGREEMENT
Proposed Changes to Generation Paragraph 40
May 31, 2002
Generation Sub-committee
Changes are in bold
40. Shift employees as defined in Paragraph 37(b) and employees working on jobs permanently staffed two shifts per day at least five days per week may by majority vote, in secret ballot, through an election conducted by the Union, determine whether rotating or fixed shifts, chosen by seniority, shall be practiced at their particular location. Shift employees who work on jobs that are staffed three shifts per day shall be the only employees allowed to vote on selection of type shifts for these jobs. Employees on jobs staffed two shifts per day will be allowed to hold separate elections for selections of type shifts to apply only to their jobs.
Even though the majority may vote for fixed shifts chosen by seniority, there may be instances where some employees may not at that time be competent to operate the shift they might choose, and until they are (in the opinion of Management) competent to operate such shift, Management reserves the right to assign such employees to some other shift.
During the life of this Agreement, elections to determine the type of shift at any location shall be held in the month of October. A shift selection will be completed by October 31 to become effective in January. Any associated selections will be complete by December 15. Elections to determine the type of shift at newly established locations shall be held at the time the shift assignments are to be made. The following schedules are to be used for the above shift selections:
Rotating No. 1-20 week schedule, Night-Day-Evening.
Rotating No. 2-10 week schedule.
Fixed No. 1-7 week schedule (Relief) Night-Day-Evening.
Fixed No. 2-7 week schedule (Relief) Night-Evening-Day.
Fixed No. 3-7 week schedule (Relief) Day-Night-Evening.
Fixed No. 4-4 week schedule (Relief) Night-Day-Evening.
Fixed No. 5-4 week schedule (Relief) Night-Evening-Day.
Fixed No. 6-4 week schedule (Relief) Day-Night-Evening.
Fixed No. 7-4 week schedule (Relief) Day-Night-Evening.
Additional shift selections (limited to one per quarter if necessary) will be made in a classification when:
1) new employees become qualified to perform the duties of this job,
2) the staffing per shift changes (employees are moved from one shift to another),
3) an employee is expected to be unavailable for shift for more than 3 months, or
4) an employee returns from absence of more than 3 months.
At each generating plant, Operating and multi-shift Fossil Fuel employees will be allowed to select on the basis of classification seniority, the shift they desire and the "column" that determines their work schedule (regular scheduled days and off days). Management will assign personnel to specific generating units at the employees' bid location.
If a sixth shift (miscellaneous/vacation relief) for Operating personnel at the Company's generating plants proves (in Management's opinion) to be necessary, it shall be exhausted for shift relief purposes prior to any fifth shift Operating personnel being assigned for relief.
