IMPORTANT Local 1069 News and Info
December 10, 2014
Brothers & Sisters,
As we wind down to the end of the year, there are always things that come up in our dealings with the Company and this year is no different. I’ll run through them here. Please take note so you are not left out or forget to do something.
But first, let me send out thanks to the Women’s Committee and the Community Services Committee for the great job done by them for this year’s Local 1069 Christmas Party, held this past Saturday. The party is held each year for members of Local 1069 to participate in our Toy Drive and is sponsored by the two committees. The toys collected for the party are distributed to local domestic abuse shelters. Families forced to spend their Christmas holiday in a shelter face difficult times. Your generosity, with more than 4 tables full of toys, was amazing. Your good works not only brighten up Christmas for the children in the shelter, but for the parents there that face dark times. They see that there are good people in the community that care about them, and that’s each of you. Thanks again for your help!
On the Community Services Committee front, don’t forget that the Christmas Canned Food Drive gate collection is tomorrow and Friday. Continue your generous giving by helping our members out on a disability LOA. They’ll face a tough Christmas without your help!
Reminder: The Voluntary Separation Plan (VSP) sign-up window opened yesterday, Dec. 9th. I strongly urge any eligible member with even a passing thought about signing up to do so. Even if you sign up, you are not obligated to take the VSP package until later in the process. The window closes Jan. 9th, so anyone not signed up by then will miss out on the negotiated 3 additional years of pension credit at $95 per credited year of service and the 1 week per year of service severance pay. Remember, the pension number does not increase until 1-1-16 for members not in the VSP process.
IMPORTANT NEWS REGARDING CHRISTMAS VACATION TIME CHARGING
In order to prevent a lockout by the Company on January 2nd, we negotiated with the Company to keep the plant open for our members wanting to work that day. Consequently, we received this message from the Company about the upcoming holiday vacation and their expectations for members regarding taking time off prior to and after the holiday.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014 and January 2, 2015
Employees are expected to work a full day unless they have been pre-approved for vacation by their manager or their manager allows them to leave early and charge their time appropriately. Employees leaving early with management approval will not receive an attendance infraction on either of these days. Also, an employee must have worked or have approved vacation time, bereavement, jury duty or legitimate sick leave on these days to receive holiday pay. An employee recording eight (8) hours of LWOP on either day will not be eligible for Holiday pay and will receive an attendance infraction. (UAW Local 1069 italics)
In order to plan for the work on January 2, 2015 and to be able to provide the appropriate level of support personnel, we expect employees to make vacation requests for January 2, 2015 as soon as possible and would prefer the request be made by Tuesday, December 16. In addition, please input your vacation time into ETS for January 2, 2015.
Sick Leave Requirement (Article XIV, Section 4)
As a reminder sick leave is not a form of vacation and is to be used for illness only. Article XIV of the CBA requires an employee (or a designated representative) wishing to use sick leave, and receive pay for such sick leave, to notify their manager prior to the start of their shift. Employees taking sick leave need to notify their manager through the use of the employee Attendance Line (888-400-2345) and provide the reason for their absence.
Make sure that your plans for the days before and after the holiday are properly administered so you don’t lose your holiday leave pay!
Reminder: Be sure to fill out a transfer slip for any job in the Bargaining Unit you may be interested in. This step is crucial if the job opens. The job(s) will be filled using the Promotion Review List (PRL) process. If you are not on the PRL for that job, you will not be considered for that job, regardless of you qualifications.
Reminder: If you haven’t already filled out a sick leave carryover request, do it today! Today, the 10th, is the closing date for that. If you have previously completed a sick leave carryover request in past years, you do not need to do it again.
Reminder: We have been emphasizing this issue for the good of our members. Please remember that you are able to call for an inspector to come check your work. With the safety of our customers in our Armed Forces being at the forefront of our work, it is critical that everything we do be right. Quality is an important part of our work, so we recommend that you get an inspector to check your work every time!
GET AN INSPECTOR TO CHECK YOUR WORK!!!
Yours in Solidarity,
Chris Owens, President
UAW Local 1069
