ONLINE GRAPEVINE 4/20/99 We had a good turnout at last Sunday's union meeting. There were about 22 folks there. I explained what had happened on the grievance about converting PTFs to regulars. Several members suggested I send it out so everybody would know what happened. I'll make a hard copy for the bulletin boards & post it at our website. The grievance arose when management converted two level 4 PTFs to two level 4 residual vacancies. In the process they bypassed five level 5 PTFs with more seniority. They had been advised by the union several times that the new contract clearly specified that seniority prevailed in these type conversions since the level 4 and level 5 PTF rolls were merged into one. In spite of that they improperly made the conversions to be effective 3/27/99. A first step grievance hearing was held on 3/30/99 and it was denied. My involvement began when Loren asked me to do the step two hearing with the Plant Manager. When I saw what relief had been asked at the step 1 hearing I asked him to call our business agent and see what he thought about the grievance. The relief sought included fines of $1000 and creation of an additional 5 jobs, Sunday premiums, Holiday pay, and out of schedule pay. Several of these were unrealistic and I knew if it went to arbitration we would be wasting our time and members dues dollars. Carl Casillas, our national business agent, replied with a fax which I circulated at Sunday's meeting. It read in part...."you should reword the corrective action to give all 5 PTFs the option to be converted to the level 4 positions. It's doubtful that we could get additional conversions of the level 5s. We basically would be seeking to have management correct the error retro-actively which may mean that the level 4s that were converted would be placed back as PTFs. We also would not be successful in getting a $1000 "fine" per quarter for missed o.t.". Casillas has been a national business agent for nearly 20 years. He handles more arbitration cases in a month than we'll see in our lifetime. He knows what relief you can expect at arbitration. Armed with that counsel and my own experience with arbitrators, I had step 2 hearing meetings on the case April 5, 6, & 7th. LMOU negotiations caused some scheduling problems. The outcome was that the Plant Manager agreed to do the procedure correctly & we signed off on a step 2 decison on April 8th. She further agreed that the correct procedure would be followed in the future. The two level 4 positions were offered by seniority to the PTFs on the merged PTF roll. Two of the level 5 PTFs with more seniority than the previously converted level 4 PTFs accepted the positions. Thus the two improper conversions which caused the grievance were rescinded. I was proud of the decision I got in this grievance. I still am. I got exactly what Casillas said I should go for. The improper procedure was done because "Little Rock" said that was the way to do it. The plant manager over ruled them and did the right thing: the first time in my 9 years as a union steward in Fayetteville that I've seen that. The error was fixed and the proper procedure will be followed. There has been an additional conversion since this decision and it was done properly. Another one will happen shortly. Had I tried to get any other resolution of this case it would not have been settled and would have gone to arbitration. While waiting for it to be heard (probably years) the improper procedure would have continued and possibly dozens of PTFs would have had their seniority rights violated. Sorry this is so long but it seems there is a lot of misunderstanding about what transpired in this grievance. If anyone has any questions, please contact me. Thanks, Jake