All,
I hope everyone is having a great week. I do have a few things of note to update you on this week so try to make it all the way through this one.
New CPC Line
I am meeting with whoever our OM is (currently unknown but it will eventually be Alliston) on Tuesday to discuss where to put the new line that we have no the FG is certified. Per the MOU we have until May 2 to get the new CPC line done. My goal is still to fill April's line but we will see what they agree to.
New Sector 36 Frequency
This is still a ways off, scheduled to happen June 12. Apparently 121.4 interferes with WADS and they carry a bigger stick than us so we are changing our frequency. There will be more to follow on this, just wanted to give you what I know now. There are 4 sites that need changing. King Mountain and North Bend will go down at the same time then Horton and Harness Mountain after that. The actual chart change will be 19th of July. The new frequency will be 127.55. More to follow in the coming weeks on that.
OT Return to RDO
The language in our MOU has caused some confusion on how we handle return to RDO requests from an OT assignment. If you are on the volunteer or "yes" list and assigned an OT, you will not have an automated return to RDO put in. You will need to make that request yourself. If you are on the non-volunteer or "no" list and you are assigned OT, you will have an automatic request to return to your RDO put in.
Meaning if you are on the "yes" list and you are assigned an OT that you do not want, you will need to put in a request to return to your RDO and it will be dealt with in the order it was received. This does not preclude mgmt form cancelling an OT as long as they still follow Article 38 Section 9 of the contract which says: Overtime shall not normally be canceled without seven (7) days notice.
Scheduling Policies
Since I took over as rep I have struggled to set a good policy for exactly how we will handle schedule moves. We have general rules that we follow but because building the schedule is an imperfect process when abnormal things come up we have to improvise and then we find ourselves in a spot where we may be inconsistent next time something abnormal comes up. So what I have done here is try to write down a general guideline for how we handle schedule moves. This is not meant to be a decree and if you have a suggested change please let me know and we will discuss it as a group to find the best way to handle our scheduling.
Main Goal is Preserving the Cascading Line
The later you are in your workweek, the more likely you are to be moved earlier if an earlier shift is needed.
First and foremost above all else, the first return to shift request will be the one subjected to the biggest move. Example being if you get moved from a day to a mid or swing, you will be first to go back to your shift over a 6 to a 7. Same with swing to day.
Second to that is what day of your week you are on. If on your 5th day you get moved later, your request to return to shift will be ahead of a 4th day that got moved later, provided that the move is the same distance. (0700 to 0800 and 0600 to 0700)
If a swing shift is needed, we will draw from those people who are working their first day shift of their workweek. An example of this is Bill’s schedule (Sat/Sun straight 0700s). If someone needs to get moved from the day to the swing on Monday, the competition for moving will be between Bill and the Thurs/Fri crew since all of them are working the first day shift of their work week. Again, making every effort to preserve a cascading line.
If a day shift is needed, we will draw from those people who are working the furthest swing shift into their workweek. An example of this is Jason Cruz’s schedule (Sat/Sun straight swings). If someone needs to get moved from the swing to the day on Friday, the list of people who could be moved is Jason Cruz and anyone on a standard Tues/Wed line.
If we can move an AWS (10 hr line) line 2 hours forward or backward while still maintaining a cascading schedule, we will do that first as opposed to moving day to swing or swing to day.
Also, midshifters are not in the rotation for third swings but they are in the rotation for later day shifts. (As late as an 1100)
If 2 get moved from an 8 to a 7 from the same crew, whoever has been moved most has their request to return in first. No difference in whether the total number of moves were earlier or later since we don’t know what you do and don’t like.
Tracking resets every year and to initially establish it, lowest seniority moves first.
In the past the policy on moving someone’s shift when they have a leave request in has been unclear. The policy moving forward will be that we will only NOT move you if your leave can be approved at posting time. Exceptions to this will be the 4 shifts that make it more difficult to get leave from. (1600, 1530NF, Mids, 0600)
Example:
If someone has a 4 hour EOS request off of a 1500 and it is their turn to get a 1600, the only way they get passed for that 1600 rotation is if either the leave can be approved prior to publishing OR we can publish at guides (or above) and give the FLM the opportunity to approve it.
Example:
If someone has an entire shift requested off and it is their turn to get forced to a mid we will only skip them them in the rotation for that mid if the leave can be approved at posting OR we can publish at guides (or above) and give the FLM the opportunity to approve it.
Getting skipped in the rotation for a shift means the person who got it is racking up the tally marks for shift moves and it will decrease their likelihood to get moved in the future.
As far as smaller moves go (like a 0700 to an 0800 or 1330NF to a 1500), first priority still goes to protecting the cascading schedule.
Example: Two Thurs/Fri people have 0700s on Tuesday. Bill also has a 0700 on Tuesday. If we need to move someone to an 0800, to protect the cascading schedule, Bill would only be in the rotation on Tuesday if he had a shift that was an 0800 or later on Monday.
Dreamlines are also first to go.
Example: I have a 1230 Dreamline from a 1330 on Thursday. If a 1330 is needed for coverage later into the night, it will be me that is moved, not someone from the day shift.
That pretty much covers it. If you have any questions or concerns with how I have chosen to handle this moving forward, please let me know. We've spent so long with "hand-shake" agreements and "best guesses" of how to handle stuff so I am making an effort to specify these policies. Like I mentioned, this is an imperfect process so even with these rules in place something will still come up that is not covered here but at least with have a guideline. Hit me up on slack or email with any questions.
In Solidarity,
Drew