TYPOGRAPHICAL CONTRACT
between
DEPARTMENT OF PRINTING, STATE OF WASHINGTON, OLYMPIA
and
COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA,
THE NEWSPAPER GUILD
LOCAL 37082

7-01-2003 TO AND INCLUDING 6-30-2007

CONTENTS

Preamble

ARTICLE 1 – NONDISCRIMINATION/GENDER

Section 1.1 Nondiscrimination

Section 1.2 Gender

Section 1.3 Reasonable Accommodation

ARTICLE 2 – UNION SECURITY

Section 2.1 Recognition

Section 2.2 Membership Requirement

Section 2.3 Failure to Pay Dues of Initiation Fee

Section 2.4 Union Membership

Section 2.5 Miscellaneous

ARTICLE 3 – JURISDICTION

ARTICLE 4 – SUPERVISION AND PROMOTION

Section 4.1 Supervision

Section 4.2 Promotion

Section 4.3 Classification, Transfers and Shifting

Section 4.4 Hiring

Section 4.5 Temporary Help

Section 4.6 New Employees

ARTICLE 5 – HEALTH INSURANCE

ARTICLE 6 – STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT PROGRAM AND CWA/ITU NEGOTIATED PENSION PLAN

ARTICLE 7 – MISCELLANEOUS LEAVE

Section 7.1 Shared Leave

Section 7.2 Leave Due to Inclement Weather

Section 7.3 Leave Due to Unforeseen Child or Family Care Requirements

Section 7.4 Military Leave – Reemployment

Section 7.5 Military Leave – Active Training Duty and Active Duty

Section 7.6 Miscellaneous Leave

Section 7.7 Serious Health Condition

Section 7.8 Newborn, Adoptive or Foster Child Care

Section 7.9 Workers Compensation

Section 7.10 Leave Due to Power Outage

ARTICLE 8 – SICK LEAVE

Section 8.1 Purpose

Section 8.2 Accrual for Full-Time Employees

Section 8.3 Accrual for Part-Time Employees

Section 8.4 Personal Illness

Section 8.5 Family Care Law

Section 8.6 Illness of Children

Section 8.7 Illness of Relatives of Household Members

Section 8.8 Serious Health Condition of Spouse, Child or Parent

Section 8.9 Preventative Health Care of Relatives or Household Members

Section 8.10 Bereavement

Section 8.11 Inclement Weather

Section 8.12 Unforeseen Child or Family Care Requirements

Section 8.13 Reporting of Sick Leave

Section 8.14 Cash Payment for Sick Leave

Section 8.15 Reinstatement of Sick Leave

ARTICLE 9 – VACATION (ANNUAL LEAVE WITH PAY)

Section 9.1 General Provisions

Section 9.2 Employee Requests for Vacation

Section 9.3 Accrual

Section 9.4 Accrual Rates

Section 9.5 Maximum Accrual

Section 9.6 Cash out of Vacation Leave

ARTICLE 10 – HOLIDAYS

Section 10.1 Designated Holidays

Section 10.2 Observance of Holidays – Full-Time Employees

Section 10.3 Holidays – Eligibility

Section 10.4 Personal Holiday

ARTICLE 11 – HOURS AND WORKING CONDITIONS

Section 11.1 Time Basis

Section 11.2 Hours of Employment

Section 11.3 Full Shifts

Section 11.4 Lunch Period

Section 11.5 Training

Section 11.6 Weekends and Holidays

ARTICLE 12 – OVERTIME

Section 12.1 Overtime

Section 12.2 Call Back

ARTICLE 13 – WAGES/SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL

Section 13.1 Wage Scales

Section 13.2 Shift Premium

ARTICLE 14 – DISCIPLINE

Section 14.1 General

Section 14.2 Notice and Appeal

Section 14.3 Warnings and Reprimands

ARTICLE 15 – SENIORITY/LAYOFF

Section 15.1 Seniority and Apprenticeships

Section 15.2 Seniority List

Section 15.3 Shift Assignments

Section 15.4 Order of Layoff and Reinstatement

Section 15.5 Notice of Layoff

Section 15.6 Loss of Seniority Rights

ARTICLE 16 – GRIEVANCE, CONCILIATION, AND ARBITRATION PROCEDURE

Section 16.1 Purpose

Section 16.2 Grievance Procedure

Section 16.3 General Provisions

ARTICLE 17 –APPRENTICES

ARTICLE 18 – TERM OF AGREEMENT

APPROVAL CLAUSE

EMPLOYEE LIST

APPENDIX A – CLASSIFICATION AND WAGE SCALES

Preamble

THIS AGREEMENT, made and entered into this, 1^st day of July, 2003, by and between the WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF PRINTING, through its authorized representatives, hereinafter referred to as the Employer, and COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA, THE NEWSPAPER GUILD, LOCAL 37082, by its officers or a committee duly authorized to act in its behalf, hereinafter referred to as the Union, shall be effective, 7-1-2003 to and including 6-30-2007.

ARTICLE 1 – NONDISCRIMINATION/GENDER

Section 1.1  Nondiscrimination.  The parties to this Agreement agree to continue their policy that no discrimination shall be exercised, threatened, or promised by any person in the employ of the Department of Printing against any applicant or employee in employment, promotion, working conditions, rate of pay, acceptance into union membership, or selection for apprenticeship openings, on the basis of race, color, national origin, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, veteran status, the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability, or any other status protected under applicable local, state or federal law, or on the basis of membership or participation in the Union.

Section 1.2  Gender.  Where the masculine or feminine gender has been used in any job classification or in any provision in this Agreement, it is used solely for the purpose of illustration and shall not in any way be used to designate the sex of the employee eligible for the position, or the benefits of any other provision.

Section 1.3  Reasonable Accommodation.  The parties agree to comply with all state and federal laws requiring reasonable accommodations to ensure against discrimination for individuals and applicants, as well as those already employed, whom have disabilities as defined by state or federal law.

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ARTICLE 2 – UNION SECURITY

Section 2.1  Recognition.  The Department of Printing recognizes the Communications Workers of America, The Newspaper Guild, Local 37082, as the exclusive bargaining representative for the employees working in the classifications listed in Appendix A.

Section 2.2  Membership Requirement.  It shall be a condition of employment of all employees of the employer covered by this agreement, who are members of the union in good standing on the execution date of this agreement, shall remain members in good standing and those who are not members on the execution date of this agreement shall be on the thirtieth day following the execution of this agreement, become and remain members in good standing in the union.  It shall also be a condition of employment that all employees covered by this agreement and hired on or after its execution date shall on the thirtieth day following the beginning of such employment, become and remain members in good standing in the union.

Payroll deductions of union dues shall be instituted, on an individual basis, upon authorization by the employee member.  Any employee may cancel payroll deductions within thirty (30) days written notice to the employer.  Payroll deduction rights also extend to those employees who because of religious tenets pay a nonassociation fee, or employees who pay a representation fee.

Section 2.3  Failure to Pay Dues or Initiation Fee.  Should an employee fail to pay dues or initiation fee as assessed by the Union, it shall be the responsibility of the Union to notify the employer in writing of such failure and to request the dismissal of the employee. 

Section 2.4  Union Membership.  Employees shall not be disciplined or discharged for participating in lawful Union activities.

Section 2.5  Miscellaneous.  Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be construed to interfere with the operation of any rule of either the Union or the chapel for the conduct of its own affairs not in conflict with law or this Agreement.  Any time lost in attendance at chapel meetings during working hours shall be made up.

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ARTICLE 3 – JURISDICTION

The jurisdiction of the union shall cover all functions presently performed by the employees and all additional work which may from time to time be assigned to them.  Jurisdiction of the Union and the appropriate unit for collective bargaining is defined as including all composing room work and includes classifications listed on Appendix A.

The union is recognized as having jurisdiction on the employer’s computers when used for composing room work.  Jurisdiction includes the preparation of input and the handling of output, operation of the computers and all input and output devices when used for composing room work.

Programming and maintenance for the computers which, because of its nature is provided by the manufacturer or lessor as a standard service for the lease or purchase of the equipment and editing and modification of programs by experts which are necessary to make the program operational will be permitted.  However, the employer agrees to make arrangements for the training of a sufficient number of employees covered by this agreement in programming and all other computer typesetting operations including maintenance.

In the event the Employer decides to introduce any new equipment, machinery or process which is a substitute for, or evolution of, present composing equipment, machinery or processes, employees covered by this agreement will perform all work within the jurisdiction of the Union regardless of the equipment or materials used.  The Employer agrees to provide employees with adequate equipment and full opportunity to become proficient on all such equipment, machinery and processes.  The Employer further agrees to notify the Union at least ninety (90) days in advance of the intended installation of any such new machinery, equipment or process.  The Union agrees to supply employees to carry out the purposes of this section.

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ARTICLE 4 – SUPERVISION AND PROMOTION

Section 4.1 Supervision.

(a) Supervisors shall make recommendations to management with respect to competency, hiring, supervision, promotion, discipline, and govern all employees within their supervision and give out and assign all work in accordance with this Agreement.

(b) Employees shall perform any and all work not in conflict with this Agreement as the supervisor directs.  In making this decision, the supervisor shall observe type of equipment, qualifications and seniority.

(c) Any employee required to oversee operations shall be defined as “lead.”  Employees shall be assigned as lead within a classification at management’s discretion based on qualifications and operational needs.  Management shall not exercise its discretion in an arbitrary or capricious manner when making or changing lead assignments.

Section 4.2  Promotion.  All job openings within the unit shall be posted for employee review.  Members of the unit shall, upon request, be considered for such positions.  Under extraordinary circumstances, the Director may forego the posting requirement after consultation with the Union.

Section 4.3  Classifications, Transfers and Shifting.  In no case shall the supervisor transfer an employee to a class of work with which they are unfamiliar, and then declare the person incompetent.  It is understood, however, that when an employee declares competency for a class of work, the supervisor shall be the judge of such competency.

Section 4.4  Hiring.  The Union will be informed whenever the employer needs to hire additional employees so that it has an opportunity to furnish applicants to meet the stated manpower needs.  The Union may recommend someone to fulfill the needs within a reasonable time (up to 24 hours) after receiving the request.  The employer will consider any recommended job applicant referred by the Union but retains the right to make the final selection.

Section 4.5  Temporary Help.  Temporary help may be added for up to 90 days without a break in service to cover peak business periods or medical absences of a permanent employee.  Extensions of a temporary employee’s employment for a second period of 90 days will be mutually agreed upon by the union and management.

Section 4.6  New Employees.  All new employees hired into the bargaining unit will be considered probationary for the purposes of training, development, and performance measures.  Employees separated during their first three (3) months of employment for performance-related issues shall not have the right to grieve the action past step two of the grievance process.

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ARTICLE 5 – HEALTH INSURANCE

The employer agrees to pay the maximum allowed towards premiums for health insurance as prescribed by State law.

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ARTICLE 6 – STATE EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT PROGRAM AND CWA/ITU NEGOTIATED PENSION PLAN

Section 6.1  The employer shall participate in the Public Employee’s Retirement System described in RCW 41.40[1] and the employer shall make payment on behalf of each employee to the Employee Retirement System in the maximum amount allowed by State law.

Section 6.2

(a) The Employer agrees to contribute to the CWA/ITU Negotiated Pension Plan (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the Plan) $7.00 per shift for each employee covered by this agreement, for the purpose of providing pensions on retirement, death benefits, and other related benefits for covered employees of the Employer and other contributing Employers. Contributions shall be made for any shift for which an employee receives compensation (e.g.: sick leave, vacations, holidays, disability insurance, bereavement leave, jury duty), with the amount of said contributions established as part of the total compensation and benefits package subject to good faith bargaining by the parties.  This plan is jointly administered by Trustees appointed in equal numbers by the Union and Employers under an Agreement and Declaration of Trust, and has been found by Internal Revenue Service to be entitled to exemption under the Internal Revenue Code.

(b) Contributions shall be made by check, money order or similarly recognized medium of exchange and shall be made payable and forwarded to the CWA/ITU Negotiated Pension Plan, P.O. Box 2380, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80901, no later than the 20^th of the following month, together with reports on forms to be furnished by the Plan.

(c) Title to all monies paid into the Plan shall be vested, and shall be held exclusively by the Trustees in trust for use in providing the Benefits under the Plan and paying its expenses.

(d) The Employer recognizes that in addition to the Union’s right to enforce this Section, the Union shall have the right in their discretion to take any legal action necessary to collect any contributions or monies due and owing to the Plan and to secure delinquent reports.  The Employer further agrees that the prevailing party shall have the right to collect reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred in connection therewith.  The Employer shall supply to the chapel chairman a copy of either the Union representative’s copy of Negotiated Pension Plan remittance form or a copy of the Employer’s printout form on a monthly basis.  The parties agree that the State Department of Printing’s only responsibility and liability is limited to the administrative role of completing such forms as may be required and forwarding such forms and contributions to the CWA/ITU Plan.

(e) Unless otherwise explicitly agreed to in writing, benefits provided by contributions to the CWA/ITU Negotiated Pension Plan pursuant to this Section shall be in addition to all other benefits heretofore provided by the Employer and/or by a Plan or Trust to which the Employer has made contributions.

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ARTICLE 7 – MISCELLANOUS LEAVE

Section 7.1  Shared Leave.

The purpose of the state leave sharing program is to permit state employees to donate vacation leave, sick leave, or personal holidays to a fellow state employee who is suffering from, or has a relative or household member suffering from, an extraordinary or severe illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition which has caused or is likely to cause the employee to take leave without pay or terminate his or her employment.  Eligible employees covered by this Agreement may request participation in the shared leave program in accordance with 41.04 RCW.  Requests for shared leave are subject to Director approval.

Section 7.2  Leave Due to Inclement Weather.  Absence due to an employee’s inability to report for scheduled work because of severe inclement weather or conditions caused by severe inclement weather shall be charged to the following in the order listed:

(a) Any accrued vacation leave;

(b) Accrued sick leave up to a maximum of three days in any calendar year; or

(c) Leave without pay.

Although the types of paid time off shall be used in the alphabetical order listed above, and each type of paid time off shall be exhausted before the next (in alphabetical order) is used, employees shall be permitted to use leave without pay rather than paid time off at their request.  Tardiness due to an employee’s inability to report for scheduled work because of severe inclement weather or conditions caused by severe inclement weather will be allowed up to one hour at the beginning of the workday.  Inclement weather tardiness in excess of one hour shall be charged as provided above.

Section 7.3  Leave Due to Unforeseen Child or Family Care Requirements.  Absence due to an employee’s inability to report for or continue scheduled work due to unforeseen childcare requirements shall be authorized in any of the leave categories listed below at the employee’s request.  No advance approval shall be required; however, the employee shall notify the agency at the beginning of absence.  Only the first day of such leave will be considered “unforeseen” for the purposes of this section.  Leave for this purpose shall only apply to care of the spouse, or to the employee’s/spouse’s son, daughter, stepchild, grandchild, foster child, child in the custody of and residing in the home of the employee; parent or grandparent, brother, sister, niece, nephew, aunt, uncle, first cousin, and persons who reside in the same home who have reciprocal and natural and/or moral duties to and do provide support for one another.

(a) Vacation leave.

(b) Accrued sick leave.  Such use of sick leave shall be limited to a maximum of three days in any calendar year, unless extended by the Director.

(c) Leave without pay.

Section 7.4  Military Leave – Reemployment.  Any person who is a resident of this state and who voluntarily or upon demand vacates a position of employment other than temporary to determine physical fitness to enter or who actually does enter upon active duty or training in the Washington National Guard, the armed forces of the United States or the United States Public Health Service shall be reemployed under the conditions prescribed in RCW 73.16.031 through 73.16.061.  Such persons must:

(a) Provide written notice to the agency within ninety days of the date of separation or release from training and service (rejected applicants must apply within thirty days from date of rejection);

(b) Furnish a receipt of honorable discharge, report of separation or certificate of satisfactory service or other proof of satisfactorily completed service (rejected applicants must furnish proof of orders for examination and rejection);

(c) Return to employment within three months after serving four years or less provided that any additional service imposed by law will not affect their reemployment rights.

Section 7.5   Military Leave – Active Training Duty and Active Duty.  Employees ordered to active training duty or active duty shall be given military leave of absence, provided confirmation of the orders have been provided to the agency.  Such employees are allowed up to 15 working days paid leave each calendar year for such military leave.  Military leave in excess of 15 days shall be charged to any annual leave or similar leave with pay accrued by the employee before the commencement of such service, or to leave without pay, at the employee’s request.

Section 7.6  Miscellaneous Leave.  Leave with pay may be allowed to permit an employee to take an examination for a State position, receive assessment from the employee advisory service, serve as a member of a jury or perform other civil duties.  Employees on miscellaneous leave shall receive their basic salary and, in addition, shall be allowed to retain any compensation paid to them by their civic-duty employer.  Civic duty is defined as a duty or obligation to serve the needs of government as a civilian in a matter not related to the personal life and/or monetary situation of the employee, even if subpoenaed. 

Section 7.7  Serious Health Condition.

(a) A total of 12 work weeks of appropriate paid leave or leave without pay in a 12-month period may be designated under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for eligible employees.  An eligible employee is an employee who has worked for the state for at least 12 months and for at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12-month period.  Leave may be granted for the following reasons:

(1) As a result of the employee’s serious health condition;

(2) To care for an employee’s parent, spouse or child who has a serious health condition; and/or

(3) To provide care to an employee’s newborn, adopted or foster child as provided in Section 8, below.

(b) The agency will designate absences which meet the criteria of FMLA.  Paid or unpaid leave, which is used for that designated absence shall be counted towards the 12 weeks FMLA entitlement.

(c) The employee may choose to use appropriate accrued paid leave or leave without pay for absences granted in accordance with FMLA.

(d) Employee absence granted for (2) (a) and (b) of this section shall be granted an intermittent or reduced schedule at the employee’s request when medically necessary.

(e) Following absence granted in accordance with FMLA, the employee shall return to the same or equivalent position held prior to the absence.

(f) The employer shall continue an eligible employee’s existing employer-paid health insurance benefits during leave granted in accordance with FMLA.

Section 7.8  Newborn, Adoptive or Foster Child Care

A total of 12 work weeks of appropriate paid leave or leave without pay in a 12-month period for an eligible employee may be designated under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for newborn, adoptive, or foster child care or serious health condition or a combination of both.  An eligible employee is an employee who has worked for the state for 12 months for at least 1,250 hours and who is the parent of a newborn, adopted, or foster child.

(a) The employee shall make the request for leave for childcare in writing and indicate the duration of the leave.  The duration of such leave shall be no more than six (6) months, and such leave must be utilized within the first 12 months of birth, adoption or foster child care.  The employee shall make every attempt to give the agency at least 30 days’ notice, if possible.  If both parents are state employees and both have requested child care leave, except for purposes of serious health condition as described above, the agencies may limit the employees to a total absence of 12 work weeks for child care which they may share.

(b) The agency may deny requests for childcare beyond 12 weeks on the basis of operational necessity.  Denials shall be in writing to the employee.

Section 7.9  Worker’s Compensation.  The following procedures shall be followed for any employee who suffers a work related injury or illness and files an application for worker’s compensation in accordance with 51.28 RCW.

(a) Employees who suffer a work related injury or illness and are unable to work due to such injury or illness may elect to receive time loss compensation exclusively, leave payment exclusively, or a combination of time loss compensation and paid leave.

(b) Employees who elect to use sick leave during a period in which they receive worker’s time loss compensation under the industrial insurance provisions for a work related illness or injury shall receive full sick leave pay, less any industrial insurance payments for time loss during the sick leave period.

(c) Until eligibility for worker’s compensation is determined by the Department of Labor and Industries, the employee may elect to use accrued sick leave provided that the employee shall return any subsequent overpayment to the agency.

(d) Sick leave hours charged to an employee who receives worker’s compensation as a result of the time loss, shall be proportionate to that portion of the employee’s salary paid by the Department during the claim period.

(e) When an employee elects to receive pay for vacation leave, compensatory time off, or exchange time and also receives worker’s compensation for time loss, the employee is entitled to both payments without any deduction for the time loss payment.

(f) When an employee receives pay for a holiday and also receives worker’s compensation for time loss, the employee is entitled to both payments without any deductions for the time loss payment.

(g) Employees who suffer a work related injury or illness and are unable to work due to such injury or illness may request such leave be designated, or the agency may designate such leave, in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act.

(h) Should an employee apply for time loss compensation and the claim is then or later denied, accrued leave may be used for the absence.

Section 7.10  Leave Due to Power Outage.  When power has gone out during the shift and employees are sent home, the employee will be paid for the entire shift.  When power remains off the following day, employees should take leave in accordance with Section 2, above.

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ARTICLE 8 – SICK LEAVE

Section 8.1  Purpose.  Sick leave credits are granted as a form of insurance to minimize the loss of compensation to employees due solely to reasons specified below.

Section 8.2  Accrual for Full-Time Employees.  Employees shall be credited monthly with one day of sick leave under the following conditions:

(a) The employee must be employed for fifteen (15) calendar days or more during the month;

(b) Any leave without pay taken during the month will not be counted toward the fifteen calendar day eligibility requirement; and

(c) Holidays for which the employee is otherwise eligible that fall within the qualifying fifteen days count toward the minimum requirement.

Section 8.3  Accrual for Part-Time Employees.  Sick leave credit for other than full-time employees shall be computed and accrued in an amount proportionate to the time the employee is in pay status during the month to that required for full-time employment.

Section 8.4  Personal Illness.  Accumulated sick leave shall be granted when an employee is required to be absent from work for any of the following reasons:

(a) Illness or injury of the employee or for preventative health care;

(b) Exposure of the employee to contagious disease when attendance at work would jeopardize the health of others;

(c) Disability of the employee due to pregnancy or childbirth;

(d) The serious health condition of an eligible employee as provided in Article 7, Section 7.

When a condition listed under section 4(a) or (c) arises while the employee is on vacation leave, the employee shall be granted accrued sick leave  as provided above for the condition (in lieu of the approved vacation leave) provided that the employee requests such sick leave within fourteen (14) days after return to work.

Section 8.5  Family Care Law (WAC 296-130-010).  Employees may use any or all of their choice of sick leave, or other paid time off to care for:

(a) A child of the employee with a health condition as defined in WAC 296-130-020(10); or

(b) Spouse, parent, parent in law, or grandparent of the employee who has a serious health condition or emergency condition as defined in WAC 296-130-020(11).

Section 8.6  Illness of Children.  Accumulated sick leave shall be granted when an employee is required to be absent from work to provide care to a child under the age of eighteen with a health condition requiring treatment or supervision.  For the purpose of this subsection, “children” shall be limited to the son or daughter of the employee or the employee’s spouse.

Section 8.7  Illness of Relatives or Household Members.  For purposes other than serious health condition as provided in Article 7, Section 7 above, up to five (5) days of accumulated sick leave shall be granted for each occurrence (unless extended by the Director) when an employee is required to be absent from work to provide care to a member of the employee’s household or relatives of the employee or the employee’s spouse who experience an illness or injury.  For the purpose of this Section, “relatives” shall be limited to:

(a) Spouse;

(b) Son or daughter, eighteen years of age or over, grandchild, or foster child;

(c) Grandparent or parent.

Section 8.8  Serious Health Condition of Spouse, Child or Parent.  Accumulated sick leave shall be granted when an eligible employee is required to be absent from work to provide care to the employee’s spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition as provided in Article 6, Section 7.

Section 8.9  Preventative Health Care of Relatives or Household Members.  Up to one day of sick leave shall be granted for each occurrence or as extended by the agency when an employee is required to be absent to provide care or transportation for a relative of the employee or the employee’s spouse or for a member of the employee’s household obtaining preventative health care.  For the purpose of this Section, “relatives” shall be limited to:

(a) Spouse;

(b) Son, daughter, grandchild, or foster child;

(c) Grandparent or parent.

For the purposes of Sections (6) and (8) above, “members of household” means “persons who reside in the same home, who have reciprocal and natural and/or moral duties to and do provide support for one another.  This term does not include persons sharing the same general house when the living style is primarily that of a dormitory or commune.”

Section 8.10  Bereavement.  Accumulated sick leave shall be granted up to three days for each occurrence or as extended by the agency for reasons of travel when an employee is required to be absent from work for any of the following reasons:

(a) Death of members of the employee’s household or relatives of the employee or the employee’s spouse.

(b) For purposes of the provisions of subsection (a) above, “relatives” shall be limited to:

i. Spouse

ii. Son, daughter, grandchild, foster child, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law.

iii. Grandparent, parent, brother, sister, niece, nephew, aunt, uncle, first cousin, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law, mother-in-law, and father-in-law.

Section 8.11  Inclement Weather.  Up to three days of accumulated sick leave shall be granted when the employee is unable to report for scheduled work because of severe inclement weather.  (Such use of sick leave shall be limited to three days in any calendar year and shall be used only after other sick leave has been exhausted, as specified in Article 7, Section 2 of this Agreement.)

Section 8.12  Unforeseen Child or Family Care Requirements.  Such use of sick leave shall normally be limited to a maximum of one day per incident, and to three days in any calendar year, unless extended by the Director, and shall be used only as specified in Article 7, Section 3.

Section 8.13  Reporting of Sick Leave.  Employees are required to report sick leave to their supervisor prior to the beginning of their work shift or as soon as reasonably possible and in accordance with the following procedures:

(a) Upon returning to work, the employee shall report the general reason or circumstances for the sick leave.  A medical certificate is required if the reason for taking the sick leave was personal illness and the illness continued for more than ten continuous work days.  Supervisors may require a medical certificate:

(1) At any time sick leave abuse is suspected;

(2) To assist in protecting employees from returning to work too soon following an illness or injury; or

(3) To protect fellow employees or clients from contagious illness.

(b) Sick leave shall be charged in one-half (1/2) hour increments.

(c) The accounting procedures established by the Office of Financial Management prescribed the payments of sick leave for the reasons found in Section 4 above so as to exclude the payments from the meaning of “wages” under the Federal Old Age and Survivors Insurance.

Section 8.14  Cash Payment for Sick Leave.  Employees shall be eligible to receive monetary compensation for accrued sick leave as follows:

(a) In January of each year, and at no other time, an employee whose sick leave balance at the end of the previous year exceeds 480 hours (420 for seven hour employees) may elect to convert the sick leave hours earned in the previous calendar year, minus those hours used during the year, to monetary compensation under the following conditions:

(1) No sick leave hours may be converted which would reduce the calendar year-end balance below 480 hours (420 for seven hour employees);

(2) Monetary compensation for converted hours shall be paid at the rate of 25% and shall be based upon the employee’s current salary; and

(3) All converted hours will be deducted from the employee’s leave balance.

(4) Hours which are accrued, donated, and returned from the shared leave program in the same calendar year, may be included in the converted hours for monetary compensation.

(b) Employees who separate from state service due to retirement or death shall be compensated for their total unused sick leave accumulation at the rate of twenty-five percent or as otherwise provided by law.  Compensation shall be based upon the employee’s wage at the time of separation.  For the purpose of this subsection, retirement shall not include “vested out-of-service” employees who leave funds on deposit with the Department of Retirement Systems (DRS).

(c) No contributions are to be made to the Department of Retirement Systems for payments described in either (a) or (b) of this subsection, nor shall such payments be reported to DRS as compensation.

(d) Employees who separate for any reason other than retirement or death shall not be paid for their accrued sick leave.

Section 8.15  Reinstatement of Sick Leave.  Former employees who are again employed within five years of their separation from service shall be granted all unused sick leave credits, if any, to which they were entitled at the time of separation for the purpose of sick leave for the reasons prescribed above.  Upon any subsequent retirement or death of a reemployed retiree, only that unused sick leave accrued since the original retirement minus that taken within the same period may be compensated per the conversion provisions described in Section 13(b).

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ARTICLE 9 – VACATION (ANNUAL LEAVE WITH PAY)

Section 9.1 General Provisions.

Full-time employees shall not use or be compensated for vacation leave credits until completion of six months continuous state service.

(a) All requests for vacation leave shall be in writing and must be approved in advance of the effective date unless used in lieu of sick leave or to respond to unforeseen child care requirements, or the supervisor chooses to approve the vacation leave on a retrospective basis.

(b) Vacation leave shall be charged in half-hour increments.

(c) When considering requests for vacation leave, the agency shall give due regard to the needs of the employee but may require that leave be taken when it will least interfere with the work of the agency.

(d) Vacation leave for religious observances shall be granted to the extent agency or program requirements permit.

(e) The agency shall make every effort to approve vacation leave requests.  If a request is not promptly approved, the supervisor shall discuss the request with the employee within 72 hours after the request is received.

Section 9.2  Employee Requests for Vacation.  A vacation calendar will be posted by April 1 of each year in a conspicuous place by the Department Supervisor for all employees to see, for the purpose of entering thereon the dates of each employee’s vacation.  The dates shall be scheduled from May 1 of one year to May 1 of the following year.  If two or more employees choose identical or overlapping dates for this portion of earned vacation, the decision will be made on the basis of individual employee seniority.  For purposes of vacation scheduling preference, seniority shall be based upon the employee’s original employment date.  Remaining days can be taken at the employee’s convenience with consideration being given to production demands, in periods of one, two, or three days adjacent to weekends or holidays; or as otherwise agreed to by the employee and the employer.

Section 9.3  Accrual.

(a) Full-time employees shall be credited monthly with the appropriate rate of vacation leave as specified in Article 9, Section 4 under the following conditions:

(1) The employee must be in pay status for fifteen calendar days or more during the month.

(2) Holidays for which the employee is otherwise eligible that fall within the qualifying fifteen days count toward the minimum requirement.

(b) Vacation leave credit for other than full-time employees shall be computed and accrued in an amount proportionate to the time the employee is in pay status during the month to that required for full-time employment.

Section 9.4  Accrual Rates.  The following rates of vacation leave shall be credited for each year of employment:

(a) During the first year of current continuous employment – twelve days per annum.

(b) During the second year of current continuous employment – thirteen days per annum.

(c) During the third and fourth year of current continuous employment – fourteen days per annum.

(d) During the fifth, sixth and seventh year of current continuous employment – fifteen days per annum.

(e) During the eighth, ninth, and tenth year of total employment – sixteen days per annum.

(f) During the eleventh year of total employment – seventeen days per annum.

(g) During the twelfth year of total employment – eighteen days per annum.

(h) During the thirteenth year of total employment – nineteen days per annum.

(i) During the fourteenth year of total employment – twenty days per annum.

(j) During the fifteenth year of total employment – twenty-one days per annum.

(k) During the sixteenth year of total employment and thereafter – twenty-two days per annum.

Section 9.5  Maximum Accrual.  Vacation leave may be accumulated to a maximum of thirty (30) days (240 hours or 210 hours for 7 hour employees).  However, there are two methods which allow vacation leave to be accumulated above the maximum.

(a) If an employee’s request for vacation leave is denied by the agency, then the maximum of thirty (30) working days’ accrual shall be extended for each month that the leave is deferred, provided a statement of necessity justifying the denial is filed by the supervisor with the Director.

(b) As an alternative to (a) above, employees may also accumulate vacation leave in excess of thirty (30) days as follows:

(1) An employee may accumulate the vacation leave days between the time thirty (30) days is accrued and his/her anniversary date of state employment.

(2) Such leave accumulated shall be used by the anniversary date and at a time convenient to the Department of Printing.  If such leave us not used prior to the employee’s anniversary date, such leave shall be automatically extinguished and considered to have never existed.

(3) Such leave credited acquired and accumulated shall never, regardless of circumstances, be deferred by the supervisor filing a statement of necessity as described in (1) above.

Section 9.6  Cash Out of Vacation Leave.

(a) When an employee separates from service by reason of resignation, layoff, dismissal, retirement, or death, he or she is entitled to a cash credit or payment for any unused vacation leave.  The compensation shall be computed by using the formula published by the office of financial management.  No contributions are to be made to the Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) for lump sum payment of excess vacation leave accumulated under the provisions above, nor shall such payment be reported to the DRS as compensation.

(b) Employees may defer the payment of their accumulated vacation leave for which otherwise entitled for a period of thirty (30) working days if the separation resulted from a reduction in force and there is a reasonable probability of reemployment.

(c) Employees who separate and are paid for the accumulated vacation leave and who are reemployed within the period of time represented by the number of days for which vacation pay was received, must return the payment for the remaining vacation days.  Employees will be credited with the number of vacation days represented by the returned payments at the rate of their last salary.

(d) The separation cited in subsection (b) of this section will not be regarded as a break in service for purposes of computing the rates of crediting vacation leave prescribed in Article 9, Section 4.

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ARTICLE 10 – HOLIDAYS

Section 10.1  Designated Holidays.  The following days have been designated as holidays and shall be (with the exceptions cited below) considered paid non-working days for eligible employees.  Should the legislature declare any additional paid legal state holidays, these holidays shall also apply to eligible employees.

Section 10.2  Observance of Holidays – Full-Time Employees.

(a) When operational necessity requires that employees work on any holiday during legislative session, they shall be compensated at their applicable straight time rate and another day off, with pay, shall be granted to the employee.  The substitute day off shall be at a time that is mutually agreeable to both the employee and the employer, provided, however, the substitute day will be used by the employee prior to the use of vacation time.

(b) Employees terminating their employment with the Department shall be entitled to take any accumulated exchange time or to receive equivalent cash compensation.

(c) For full-time employees on a Monday through Friday work schedule:

(1) Whenever any legal holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be the holiday.

(2) Whenever any legal holiday, other than a Sunday, falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be the holiday.

Section 10.3  Holidays – Eligibility.  A full-time employee who would otherwise be entitled to a holiday but is on leave without pay will receive compensation for the holiday at a rate proportionate to the time in pay status during the pay period.

Section 10.4  Personal Holiday.  An employee may select one day as a personal holiday each calendar year and the agency shall release the employee from work on the day selected provided:

(a) The employee has been or is scheduled to be continuously employed by the state for more than four (4) months, and

(b) The employee has given not less than fourteen (14) days’ written notice to the supervisor, provided, however, the employee and the supervisor may agree upon an earlier date, and

(c) The number of employees selecting a particular day off does not prevent the agency from providing continued public service.

(d) The employee takes the personal holiday during the calendar year it is credited, otherwise, entitlement to the day will lapse.

(e) Employees must be in pay status to be eligible to request the personal holiday.  No employee shall be entitled to take the personal holiday while in layoff or any other type of leave without pay status.

(f) An employee shall be allowed to split the personal holiday only when donating a portion of the personal holiday to the shared leave program.

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ARTICLE 11 – HOURS AND WORKING CONDITIONS

Section 11.1  Time Basis.  Work shall be done on a time basis only.

Section 11.2  Hours of Employment.  A 40 hour work week is standard for all employees, except that employees hired prior to implementation of this contract working a seven hour shift may choose to retain the shift.  All new employees shall work an eight hour shift.

The work day shall be divided into three (3) shifts and shall be called: day shift, swing shift, and graveyard shift.  Five (5) shifts, Monday to Friday inclusive, shall constitute a week’s work.

(a) First shift shall be worked between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

(b) Swing shift shall be paid at the day rate, plus thirty-five cents ($0.35) per hour and shall start and be worked between 2:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.

(c) Graveyard shift shall be paid at the day rate, plus fifty cents ($0.50) per hour.  On Monday, the graveyard shift hours shall be between 12:01 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.; other graveyard shifts shall be between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.

(d) With mutual agreement, employees may be assigned to work a schedule of four (4) ten- (10-) hour days, instead of five (5) eight- (8-) hour days. Shift differentials shall be paid at the premium rate equivalent to the rate payable for the start time of the normal scheduled shift, as illustrated below:

All shifts during business hours will be covered from Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Management reserves the right to extend business hour coverage based on work volume and business needs. Management reserves the right to designate eight- (8-) or ten- (10-) hour shifts based on program need, with at least two weeks notice to the employee. All employees working 10-hour shifts will be required to take a minimum of a half-hour lunch period approximately midway through their normal scheduled shift.

Section 11.3  Full Shifts.  Employees ordered to or beginning work on any day (including Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday) shall receive pay for a full shift unless:

(a) The employee at his or her own request has been excused from working the entire shift.

(b) Where an employee is discharged for cause, such employee shall receive pay for work performed.

(c) During legislative sessions, Saturday and Sunday shifts shall be a minimum of three and one half (3 ˝) hours.

Section 11.4  Lunch Period.  A lunch period of at least thirty (30) minutes and not more than one (1) hour shall be taken for each shift, unless otherwise mutually agreed to, provided not less than three and one-half (3 ˝) hours nor more than four and one-half (4 ˝) hours shall be worked before lunch time.  Such lunch time is not to be included in the number of hours specified for a shift.

Section 11.5  Training.  When an employee has been allowed to temporarily change shifts to allow him or her to attend outside training or college courses, the schedule change shall not be canceled except as necessary to prevent loss of business on a particular piece of equipment.

Section 11.6  Weekends and Holidays.  Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays (or days observed as such) shall be observed from the start of the regular shift of the employee of the day itself and continue to the start of the employee’s regular shift the following day.  Employees called to work on Saturdays shall receive time and one-half for the first three and one-half (3 ˝) hours and double time thereafter.  All work performed on Sundays shall be paid at double the straight time rate.  All work performed on a holiday shall be paid for at double the straight time rate in addition to holiday pay.

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ARTICLE 12 – OVERTIME

Section 12.1  Overtime.  All work performed in excess of the shift shall be paid for at the overtime rate:  time and one-half for the first 3.5 hours; double time thereafter.  The agency may require employees to work a reasonable amount of overtime.  Persons operating the equipment on which overtime is to be worked will get the first opportunity to work the overtime.  If the employee wishes to decline overtime, it will be offered to the next qualified senior employee.  Overtime will be distributed as equitably as possible among qualified employees.

Section 12.2  Call Back.  Employees called back after having left the work place shall be paid a minimum of two (2) hours overtime at their prevailing shift rate.

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ARTICLE 13 – WAGES/SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL

Section 13.1  Wage Scales.  Employees shall not be paid less than the wage scales set forth in Appendix A.

Section 13.2  Shift Premium.  Persons working on the second shift (swing shift) shall be paid at the day rate plus thirty-five cents ($0.35) per hour work; third shift (graveyard shift) shall be paid at the day rate plus fifty cents ($0.50) per hour worked.

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ARTICLE 14 – DISCIPLINE

Section 14.1  General.  Management may demote, suspend, reduce in salary, or dismiss a bargaining unit member only for just cause.

An employee working as a lead person may direct employees but shall refer any activities that may require disciplinary action to supervisors except in cases where there is a threat to the safety of individuals or harm to equipment.

Section 14.2  Notice and Appeal.  Employees who are disciplined as noted in Section 1 above, are entitled to written notice of the discipline, the opportunity to respond to allegations supporting the discipline, and may appeal any discipline through the Article 16 Grievance Procedure, of this Agreement.  Whenever discipline is imposed, a copy of the notice shall be sent to the Union at the same time it is delivered to the employee.  Probationary employees may utilize the Grievance Procedure only through Step 2.

Section 14.3  Warnings and Reprimands.  Journey-person supervisors or management may reprimand or warn employees, either orally or in writing, but such reprimands or warnings are not grievable disciplinary actions.  Reprimands or warnings must be given within ten (10) days of a relevant incident (or within ten (10) days of the day the employer becomes aware of the incident) and such reprimands or warnings shall be forwarded to the Union.

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ARTICLE 15 – SENIORITY/LAYOFF

Section 15.1  Seniority and Apprenticeships.  If any employee in a lower classification becomes an apprentice in a higher classification, that employee shall retain his or her seniority in the lower classification until such date that the employee has met the qualifications to become a journey-person in the higher classification at which time the employee shall then be transferred to the seniority list in the higher classification with the seniority date retroactive to the date that the apprenticeship commenced.

Section 15.2  Seniority List.  One seniority list shall be maintained for the purpose of vacation scheduling, layoff, and, as specified in Section 3 below, shift assignment.  The list shall be ranked by the employees’ original date of hire and show the date the employee entered his/her classification.

Section 15.3  Shift Assignments.  Except as necessary to enable management to make lead assignments within a classification, employees within a classification may exercise their classification seniority to fill openings in shift assignments, type of equipment to be operated, and qualifications to do the work to be taken into consideration.  Any employee entering a new classification as the result of a reduction in force in a higher class will be assigned to an existing open shift assignment, but will be allowed to exercise his or her classification seniority the next time there is an opening on another shift in that classification.

Section 15.4  Order of Layoff and Reinstatement.  In case of layoff from a classification, an employee shall be laid off in the inverse order of which he or she was hired, and recalled or reemployed in the reverse manner (in order of his or her seniority), type of equipment to be operated and qualifications to do the work to be taken into consideration.  When a reduction in work occurs within a classification, the most senior employee affected will be given a five (5) working day trial period during which he/she may demonstrate the competence needed to displace a less senior employee working on specialized equipment.

Section 15.5  Notice of Layoff.  An employee shall be informed of a pending permanent reduction in force (layoff) at least ten (10) working days prior to the effective date.  Employees shall be notified of a pending temporary reduction in force not to exceed two work weeks as soon as reasonably possible, but no later than the normal quitting time on the first day preceding the effective date.

Section 15.6  Loss of Seniority Rights.  All seniority rights shall be lost by virtue of (1) voluntary termination, (2) discharge for just cause, (3) layoff for twelve (12) months or more.

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ARTICLE 16 – GRIEVANCE, CONCILIATION, AND ARBITRATION PROCEDURE

Section 16.1  Purpose.  Should grievances arise between the employer and the Union or employees as to the interpretation, application, or compliance with the terms of this Agreement, there shall be no suspension or interruption of work on account of such grievance, and a diligent effort shall be made to settle the grievance as soon as possible after it has been presented to the other party.  Any employee or employer having a grievance shall submit same as promptly as possible, but no grievance shall be valid if not presented within fifteen (15) working days from the time the cause for complaint arose.

Section 16.2  Grievance Procedure.  When grievances arise, the following steps shall be followed each to be exhausted before resorting to the next:

Step 1.  An attempt must be made by the employer and the employee to resolve the dispute at the lowest level in the Department.  Issues that cannot be resolved by informal discussion with the supervisor shall be submitted in writing to the Plant Manager or his/her designee within ten (10) working days from the date the alleged grievance occurred.  The written grievance must contain the nature of the grievance, the contract provision(s) allegedly violated, and the relief sought.  The manager will have ten (10) working days in which to respond to the grievance, after receipt. 

Step 2.  Should the actions of the Plant Manager or his/her designee fail to resolve the dispute, the grievance must be submitted in writing to the Assistant Director – Operations within ten (10) working days after receipt of the response or date the response was due whichever is earliest.  The Assistant Director – Operations will have ten (10) working days in which to respond to the grievance.

Step 3.  Should the actions of the Assistant Director – Operations or designated representative fail to resolve the dispute, the grievance must be submitted in writing to the Director within ten (10) working days of the date the response was due or received, whichever is earliest.  At the request of the Union, the Director or designee shall convene a Joint Grievance Committee to hear the facts of the grievance.  If so convened, the Committee shall consist of the Director or Designee, and the local union president or designee, who will act as co-chairs, one management representative, appointed by the Director/Designee and one member appointed by the union or employee.  The Committee shall meet within ten (10) working days from the date the request is made.  The Committee shall render its decision within ten (10) working days from the date of the hearing.  A majority decision by the committee is final and binding on the parties.  Should no request for a hearing be made by the Union, the Director or Designee shall be free to render a decision based upon the written evidence presented in the grievance and any other information he/she has received during the course of his/her investigation.  Such a decision shall be rendered within ten (10) working days from the date the grievance is received.  Probationary employees shall not be entitled to process grievances past the second step. 

Step 4.  Arbitration.  Should the dispute remain unresolved, the grievance may be advanced to arbitration.  The request for arbitration must be submitted, in writing, to the Director or Designee no later than fifteen (15) working days after the Step 3 response is due or received, whichever is earliest.  Once the request is received, the parties will request the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to submit a panel of seven (7) names, one of which shall be selected by mutual agreement or, if this is not successful, by each party striking one name at a time from the list, on an alternating basis, with the party striking first determined by a flip of a coin.  By mutual agreement the parties may request a second list, or either party may request a second list.  The requesting party shall be responsible for the cost of the second list.

The power and authority of the arbitrator shall be strictly limited to determining the meaning and interpretation of this Agreement.  The arbitrator shall not have authority to add to, subtract from, or modify any of the express terms of this Agreement.

The proceedings and decision of the arbitrator shall not be governed by strict legal rules, but may be based upon any logical evidence which the arbitrator may deem to have probative value.  Said decisions shall be final and binding on both parties hereto.

Section 16.3  General Provisions.

1. Any step of the grievance procedure may be extended by a written mutual agreement between the parties.

2. Failure by the Employer to comply with the time frames or step procedures provided in this Article shall allow the Union to advance to the next step of the procedure without further delay.

3. Failure by the Employee or the Union to comply with the time frames or step procedures provided in this Article shall constitute automatic withdrawal of the grievance.

4. The cost of an arbitrator at Step 4 of this procedure shall be borne equally by the parties.  However, each party shall be responsible for the cost of their own witnesses.

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ARTICLE 17 – APPRENTICES

All provisions of this Agreement affecting apprentices or trainees shall be under the jurisdiction of this committee which shall have control of and be responsible for the selection of apprentices and trainees within the bargaining unit and shall be vested with authority to enforce all conditions outlined herein.

(a) A Joint Apprenticeship Committee composed by an equal number of representatives of the Union and employer shall be selected by the parties of this Agreement.

(b) Each apprentice must observe a designated training schedule as set forth by the Joint Apprenticeship Committee.

(c) Apprentices shall in all cases be governed by the same shop rules, working conditions, and hours of labor as journey-persons.

(d) Four (4) years shall constitute the overall training period for apprentice positions.  This time may be shortened if credit is given for experience. 

(e) When an apprentice is upgraded to journey-person status, he or she shall be paid the journey-person’s wage.  No apprentice shall be upgraded except by mutual consent of employer and the Joint Apprenticeship Committee.  No apprentice shall be considered a journey-person until recognized by the union.

(f) No apprentice shall work to the detriment of a journey-person at any time.

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ARTICLE 18 – TERM OF AGREEMENT

This Agreement shall be in force and remain in effect from the date it is signed through June 30 2007 and shall be considered self-renewing for a yearly period thereafter unless notice of intent to change or alter is filed in writing by either party with the other at least sixty days but not more than ninety days prior to June 30, 2007.  However, for purposes of continuity of employees’ participation in the CWA/ITU Pension Plan pursuant to Article 6, Sections 2(a) through (e) those sections shall be deemed to have been effective on July 1, 1992.  If either party serves notice, both parties may suggest changes and either party hereto may terminate this Agreement thirty (30) days after July 31, 2007, upon thirty (30) days’ written notice by registered mail upon the other.

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APPROVAL CLAUSE

                This Agreement is approved as being in compliance with the laws of the Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector, CWA, as limited by the Taft-Hartley Law, and the undersigned, on behalf of the Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector, CWA, hereby pledges as a matter of union policy only, its full authority under its laws to the fulfillment thereof without becoming a party thereto and without assuming any liability thereunder.

_____________________________________________________

President – Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector, CWA

COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 37082

Name/Job Class	Original Date of Employment
Joe Holmes   Image Assembler, Journey Person	09/12/69
Linda Darragh Elec Pre Press Spec	12/7/99
Paul Gisi      Elec Pre Press Spec	11/19/99
Dan Maygra Elec Pre Press Spec	10/16/01
Ralph Goeke Elec Pre Press Spec	04/09/01
John Smith    Image Assembler, Journey Person	02/01/99

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 APPENDIX A

Classifications and Wage Scales Effective August 1, 2003

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[1] Copies of all statutes and WACs referenced in this Agreement will be available in the Human Resources Office, or obtained upon request, for employees’ reference.