Thanks
to swift action by Stewards Greg Axlen and Lynn Dolan, Boeing
was forced to abide by our contract and retain an hourly employee
rather than transferring a salaried employee into an hourly job
title he had never held, which would have displaced one of our
members.Business Rep Susan Palmer, who assisted in educating management on this particular contract language noted, "If this language had not been strengthened in the 1999 contract, management could have proceeded with their plans and allowed the salaried employee to keep the hourly job -- resulting in one of our members getting laid-off. Every contract the Union works to improve this language, but few members realize the significance of these gains - especially during a surplus."
In fact, many members are not even aware of the provisions in Article 22 that protect our members from just such management moves. Thankfully, Steward Greg Axlen was well aware of the language. He heard management was going to move the 22-year salaried employee into the Everett wire shop to a position he had not held, while hourly members were scheduled for layoff. He spoke with his third level supervisor, who responded he was "willing to take the heat for the decision."
Greg objected and noted, "I told him the transfer would violate our contract and the rights of a member who was paying union dues. Therefore, the Union would challenge such an action if the Company proceeded."
Greg alerted wire shop Steward Lynn Dolan of the situation and sure enough on Monday, December 17th (the first workday following the layoff) the salaried employee reported to work in the wire shop. Lynn immediately notified HR that the employee should be removed from the hourly job because the contract states salaried (non-management) employees can only be placed back into bargaining unit jobs they previously held (if they do not violate Category A rights of other employees).
By the end of the shift, the HR rep had met with the 22-year salaried employee, admitted it was a contract violation and laid-off the employee. The Union is still attempting to gain one-day's pay for the top Category A member in that job title.
Lynn noted, "Management claimed they were doing the right thing by placing the 22-year employee. I told them they needed to do the right thing for the hourly employees and abide by the contract. I also pointed out Boeing could still do the right thing by finding the employee a job in the salaried payroll."