AGREEMENT

Exhibit 10.8

 

AGREEMENT BETWEEN

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF

ELECTRICAL WORKERS,

LOCAL UNION 294

AND

HIBBING ELECTRONICS CORPORATION

 

 

 

ARTICLE

1.

AGREEMENT

 

1.1. This Agreement is made and entered into this 22nd day of September, 2000, by and between Hibbing Electronics Corporation, located in Hibbing, Minnesota (hereinafter referred to as the “Employer”), and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 294, (hereinafter referred to as the “Union”).

 

1.2. The parties agree that they have bargained fully with respect to all proper subjects of collective bargaining and have settled all such matters as set forth in this Agreement.

 

ARTICLE

2.

DEFINITIONS

 

2.1. Throughout this Agreement, the terms “he”/”she” and “his”/“her” are to be used interchangeably. Use of the terms “he” or “his” shall be regarded as including both the masculine and feminine. Use of the terms “she” or “hers” shall be regarded as including both the feminine and the masculine.

 

ARTICLE

3.

PURPOSE, INTENT AND AGREEMENT EFFECT

 

3.1. This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding and agreement of the parties and supersedes all prior agreements and practices, oral and written, expressed or implied, except as provided in other provisions of this Agreement. The Agreement may be modified only by mutual agreement of the Union and the Employer. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as requiring either party to do or refrain from doing anything not explicitly and expressly set forth in this Agreement; nor shall either party be deemed to have agreed or promised to do or refrain from doing anything unless this Agreement explicitly and expressly sets forth such agreement or promise.

 

3.2. It is agreed that the Union shall have no right to demand of the Employer anything not provided in this Agreement. It is agreed that the Employer shall have no right to demand of the Union anything not provided in this Agreement.

 

It is, therefore, specifically agreed that all bargaining obligations, unless specifically reserved in this Agreement for future negotiation, are hereby waived by the parties with respect to all matters subject to collective bargaining during the term of this Agreement.

 

1

ARTICLE

4.

RECOGNITION

 

4.1. The Employer recognizes the Union as the sole collective bargaining agency with respect to wages, hours of work and other conditions of employment as specified in this Agreement for the employees within the unit certified by the National Labor Relations Board on August 2, 1994 in Case No. 18-RC-15611, as follows:

 

All full-time and regular part-time production and maintenance employees employed by the Employer at its Hibbing, Minnesota facility, including electronic technicians, machine operators, mechanical technicians, maintenance non-technical employees and maintenance technical employees; excluding office clerical employees and administrative technical employees, professional employees, support workers, tool and die technicians, administration nontechnical employees, student employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.

 

4.2. The Union makes this Agreement in its capacity as the exclusive collective bargaining agency of the employees identified in Section 4.1 above: The provisions of this Agreement constitute the sole procedure for the processing and settlement of any claim by an employee or the Union of a violation by the Employer of this Agreement.

 

ARTICLE

5.

MANAGEMENT RIGHTS

 

5.1. All prior management rights, authority and functions shall remain vested exclusively in the Employer except as specifically surrendered or limited by express provisions of this Agreement. None of the provisions of this Article shall supersede any of the other provisions contained in this Agreement.

 

5.2. Management rights reserved to the Employer by this Article include, but are not limited to: the full control, management and operation of its business and its facilities; the determination and scope of its activities, services to be provided, and all methods pertaining thereto; the scheduling of work hours, days and shifts of operations (including overtime); the location, size and number of all facilities or service areas; the determination of materials, parts, products, machinery and equipment to be acquired or utilized, and the layout and scheduling thereof; the establishment of quality standards, the establishment of productivity standards and services to be rendered; the rights to establish, change, combine or eliminate jobs, duties, job classifications (if any) and job descriptions; the right to establish wage rates for new or changed jobs or positions; the right to introduce new or improved procedures, methods, technologies, processes, facilities, machinery and equipment or to make other changes to promote efficiency; the right to add, remove or change equipment; the right to maintain order and efficiency and to issue, modify and enforce rules and regulations as provided by Article 9.1; the right to lay off

 

2

employees as provided by Article 17; the right to discipline or discharge employees as provided by Article 20; the right to contract or subcontract subject to Section 5.6 below; the determination of which facility or facilities, or part thereof, shall be operated, relocated, shut down, sold or abandoned; the right to terminate, merge, consolidate, sell or otherwise transfer its business or any part thereof; the determination of the number of employees; the assignment of duties to employees, including the right to assign bargaining unit work to non-unit personnel as provided by Section 5.3 below; the manning of equipment and the right to change, increase or reduce the same; the right to direct, control, assign and reassign the work force; the right to hire or refuse to hire and to be the sole judge of applicants for employment; and the right to train employees.

 

5.3. The Employer and the Union agree that non-unit personnel will be able to perform bargaining unit work in (a) emergency situations, (b) for purposes of training or to maintain their job skills and knowledge, (c) temporarily as needed to maintain an orderly flow of production or to meet customer demands, or (d) in accordance with past practice.

 

5.4. If a new job is created or an old job is so changed as to constitute a new job during the term of this Agreement, the Employer will initially determine the rate for the new or changed job, put it into effect, and notify the union. The Union shall have fifteen (15) days from the date of such notification during which it may negotiate or initiate arbitration procedures of the Agreement. The arbitrator shall have the authority to determine the wage rate for the new position. If the problem is resolved, either by negotiation or through the arbitration procedure, and a new rate results, such rate shall become effective as of the date it was originally established.

 

5.5. The Employer’s failure to exercise any prerogative or function hereby reserved to it, or the Employer’s exercise of any such prerogative or function in a particular way, shall not be considered a waiver of the Employer’s right to exercise such prerogative or function or preclude it from exercising the same in some other way not in conflict with the express provisions of this agreement.

 

5.6. The Employer shall notify the Union of any decision to permanently subcontract new or existing products if the decision is made with the intent to and also has the effect of laying off bargaining unit employees. The parties may meet in an effort to retain the products at Hibbing Electronics Corporation. In the absence of a mutual agreement, the Employer can continue with its plan to subcontract the product.

 

3

ARTICLE

6.

UNION MEMBERSHIP AND SECURITY

 

6.1. The Employer agrees that for the term of this Agreement all present employees who are members of the Union shall remain members of the Union as a condition of employment; and that all present employees who are not members of the Union shall become and remain members of the Union thirty-one (31) calendar days on or after the later of the successful conclusion of their probationary period or the execution of this Agreement as a condition of employment; and that all new employees shall become and remain members of the Union thirty-one (31) calendar days after the successful completion of the employee’s probationary period.

 

6.2. For purposes of this article, a Union member is an employee who has made current payment on that portion of Union dues attributable to the Union’s representational activities.

 

6.3. Effective with the date of this Agreement and upon receipt of a voluntary written authorization from an employee, the Employer shall deduct from the authorizing employee’s wages, on a pay period basis, the dues uniformly required of all Union members. The Employer shall transmit on a monthly basis, no later than the 15th day of the calendar month following the month in which the payroll period ends, to the financial secretary of the Union the aggregate sum collected together with an itemized list showing the names and amounts deducted from each employee. The Union will submit to the Employer authorizations as they are obtained from the employee who has authorized the deductions. If an employee has insufficient earnings to equal the dues deduction, the deduction shall be made in the next payroll period in which the employee has sufficient earnings.

 

6.4. The Union shall indemnify the Employer and hold it harmless against any and all suits, claims, demands and liabilities (including reasonable attorney’s fees) that shall arise out of or by reason of any action that shall be taken by the Employer for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this article.

 

6.5. Employees transferred out of the certified bargaining unit shall be automatically dropped by the Employer from the check-off authorization rolls. The Union shall be notified of such transfers.

 

6.6. The amount deducted from any authorized employee’s wages shall not exceed two (2) months’ dues.

 

6.7. The Employer will fax and send to the Union office the names and addresses of all new hires within five (5) working days of the employee’s first day of work.

 

4

6.8. The Employer will permit a single Union representative to have up to two (2) hours per day, twenty (20) hours per month, released from work on an unpaid basis to attend to Union business. The Union shall identify the person to the Company one week in advance of the requested time, and the Company has the right to decline the particular individual requested based on production needs.

 

ARTICLE

7.

NON-DISCRIMINATION

 

7.1. Neither the Employer nor the Union will discriminate or tolerate harassment against any employee on the basis of race, religion, age, national origin, sex, disability, sexual or affectional orientation, veteran’s status or any other classification protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

 

7.2. Neither the Employer nor the Union will discriminate against any employee because of the employee’s membership or non-membership in the Union.

 

ARTICLE

8.

NO STRIKE - NO LOCKOUT

 

8.1. There shall be no lockout of Employees by the Employer during the term of this Agreement. There shall be no strike by the Union during the term of this Agreement.

 

8.2. The Union shall not call or otherwise approve in any way any concerted: strike, picketing, sympathy strike, slowdown, secondary boycott, work stoppage, sit-down strike, interruption or curtailment of work, or limitation of production or service of any kind whatsoever during the term of this Agreement. The Employer retains all rights to take all actions necessary to remedy any violation of this Article and subsection.

 

8.3. The Union shall immediately disavow any conduct or acts prohibited by this Article as being in violation of this Agreement, and the Union shall take immediate remedial action upon being notified of any such conduct or act. The Union shall notify the Employer within twenty-four (24) hours after it receives notice from the Employer of such conduct or act as to what actions it has taken to remedy same.

 

8.4. An employee shall not cause or take part in any way whatsoever in any act prohibited by this Article. An employee who engages in or causes such conduct or acts shall be subject to summary discharge or other discipline at the Employer’s discretion. The degree of discipline imposed, including discharge, shall be solely in the Employer’s judgment and discretion and shall not be grievable; the issue of whether or not the employee engaged in or caused the act or conduct, and only that issue, is subject to review under the grievance procedure. Discipline shall be imposed equally for the same conduct, giving due consideration to the employee’s previous activity regulated by this Article.

 

5

ARTICLE

9.

WORK RULES

 

9.1. The Employer shall have the right to make and enforce reasonable work rules.

 

9.2. The Union and the Employer expressly recognize that work rules include, but are not limited to, parking and parking lot policies.

 

ARTICLE

10.

WORKING HOURS

 

10.1. The standard work day shall be eight (8) or ten (10) consecutive hours, exclusive of the lunch period, and the standard work week shall be forty (40) hours per week.

 

10.2. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as a guarantee of hours of work per day or per week, or of days of work per week, for any employee.

 

10.3. Each employee shall be assigned, by the Employer, a thirty (30) minute unpaid meal period for each eight-hour work day actually worked by the employee.

 

10.4. The Employer shall assign a ten (10) minute rest period during the work hours before the meal period, and another ten (10) minute rest period during the work hours after the meal period. The Employer shall further permit an additional five (5) minute rest period after eight (8) consecutive hours worked. This Section does not prevent the Employer and any employee from agreeing to an alternative schedule for the designated rest periods relative to the meal period.

 

10.5. The Employer has the right to require each employee to work a reasonable amount of overtime. When there is overtime work to be performed in any classification or department, such overtime work shall be distributed as equitably as possible among employees. Records of overtime will be maintained and kept current and shall be posted in the area.

 

The Employer will post overtime sign-up sheets in the team and in each building on a weekly basis to allow for volunteers to express interest in overtime work. Qualified volunteers within the team will ordinarily be assigned available overtime first. If an insufficient number of qualified volunteers are found within the team, the Employer will ordinarily select qualified volunteers from the overtime sign-up sheets within the buildings, taking into consideration the skills and ability to perform the overtime work. If an insufficient number of qualified volunteers are found from the team’s and buildings’ sign-up sheets, the Employer has the right to require overtime work of other employees as provided by the Agreement. An employee who volunteers for and accepts an overtime assignment, or an employee who is otherwise assigned overtime work, and fails to report for the overtime work as scheduled will receive either a sick or tardy attendance incident.

 

6

10.6. The Employer shall have the right to release employees from duty before the end of a scheduled work day or work week, on a temporary basis, without pay and without respect to seniority. The Employer may ask for volunteers when reasonably practical.

 

ARTICLE

11.

SHIFT AND WORK ASSIGNMENT

 

11.1. The Employer shall have the right to establish and change the days and shifts of operation. A shift with one-half or more of the scheduled shift between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. shall be classified as a “First Shift.” A shift with one-half or more of the scheduled shift between 3:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. shall be classified as a “Second Shift.” A shift with one-half or more of the scheduled shift between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. shall be classified as a “Third Shift.”

 

(a) Regular Shift Assignment : The Employer shall have the right to establish and change shift assignments. Seniority shall be given consideration in shift preference as provided by this section. Consistent with the ability to do the required work, including consideration of team assignment, volunteers will be the first to be assigned to any shift opening. If the number of volunteers does not match the shift openings, then the less senior employee in the classification will be assigned to the non-preferred shift provided the employee has the skill and ability to do the required work including consideration of team assignment.

 

(b)

Alternative Shift Schedule : Based on team recommendation and with employer approval, an alternative shift schedule within work teams may be used. An alternative shift schedule may involve a shift assignment to a non-preferred shift.

 

(c) Temporary, Shift Assignment : For temporary shift assignment of two weeks or less, based on the needs of the business, the employer will have the ability to make individual shift assignments. The employer shall use reasonable efforts to first select volunteers from within the group having the skill and ability to do the required work for the temporary shift assignment. If an insufficient number of volunteers meeting these requirements is identified then the employer shall use reasonable efforts to rotate temporary shift assignments among employees having the skill and ability to do the required work within the team assignment, giving due consideration to previous temporary shift assignments.

 

(c) Shift Staffing : Nothing in Section 11.2 shall be construed or implied to leave the employer without sufficient numbers of employees able to perform the needed duties on a nonpreferred shift.

 

7

11.2. In making changes to shift and work assignments, including flex time, the Employer shall give a minimum of three (3) work days’ notice, or such shorter notice period as is reasonable based upon customer demands, equipment problems or emergency situations.

 

11.3. The Employer and the Union expressly recognize their shared desire to provide for flexible work hours, within reasonable terms as follows:

 

(a) Starting Times: Each employee’s starting time will be determined by management based on customer requirements and considering the preferences of the team and the individual employees. An employee may request to change his or her regular scheduled start time by up to three hours (generally within the three hours immediately in advance of the established shift start time, but between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. for the First Shift), provided that the employee gives his or her supervisor reasonable advance notice of the request and the reason for the request, and the supervisor approves the request in advance. The supervisor will approve if customer demands and the company’s scheduling and production needs, including but not limited to the presence of a supervisor, can be met. The employer will make a reasonable effort to have supervisors available for changes in start time hours.

 

(b) Mid-Shift Appointments: An employee may also request permission to leave his or her scheduled shift for a maximum of three hours and may return to work to complete his or her scheduled shift, if work is available and a supervisor is present, without affecting his or her attendance record, but only for the following purposes: doctor or dentist appointments, court actions, or family or medical emergencies. For purposes of this Article, “family” is defined as the employee’s spouse, child, stepchild, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild. Employees have a responsibility to try to make appointments after scheduled work hours. An employee requesting Mid-Shift Flex Time must provide his or her supervisor with reasonable advance notice of the request and the reason for the request. The employer will make a reasonable effort to have supervisors available for changes in schedules and to accommodate requests that comply with this provision.

 

11.4. The abuse of flex hours is subject to the disciplinary process, and discipline may include the loss of flex time privileges for the employee.

 

11.5. The Employer and the Union expressly recognize their shared desire to provide for job sharing. An employee may request to participate in the job share program when two employees perform the same job function in the same team. Both employees would arrange to share one full time job. Both employees would work a minimum of twenty (20) hours per week. The request, including work hour arrangements must be approved by the Team Leader and the Human Resources Manager.

 

8

Employees in a job share status must remain in this status for a minimum of six (6) consecutive months. The following benefits are effective for employees working a minimum of 20 hours per week:

 

Seniority: All time on job share status is accredited at 1/2 the time of regular status.

 

Vacation: Vacation time will accrue at 1/2 the accrual of regular status, providing the employee has one consecutive year of continuous service prior to job share status.

 

Insurance: Job share employees will not be eligible to participate in the group insurance plan (medical, dental, life and disability) due to group insurance contract eligibility.

 

Attendance: The number of days absent, tardy or lost time will be 1/2 that of regular status.

 

ARTICLE

11A

JOB POSTING

 

11A.1 The Employer shall post each vacancy in a bargaining unit classification, other than production worker, that it intends to fill. For purposes of this Article, a vacancy refers to a position in a bargaining unit classification other than production worker and does not include a temporary position.

 

11A.2 The job posting shall be open for five working days and shall include the classification and minimum qualifications for the job. Bargaining unit employees in different classifications shall be eligible to express interest in the bargaining unit vacancy by responding to the posting within the five day period and submitting a resume within two days thereafter.

 

11A.3 The Employer shall consider all qualified applicants who submit resumes for the bargaining unit vacancy. In filling the bargaining unit vacancy, the Employer shall consider the skill, ability to perform the work, experience (including but not limited to team assignment), and job performance of the qualified applicants. If and only if those factors are equal, the Employer shall fill the bargaining unit vacancy with the most senior of the equally qualified applicants.

 

11A.4 Employees receiving a position through the posting process will be on probation for a period of at least three months in the new job. If the Employer is not satisfied with the employee’s performance at any time during the trial period or if during the trial period the employee elects not to continue in the new job, the employee shall be returned without loss of seniority to his or her prior job (or, if not available, to any other open job in the bargaining unit) at the established pay for that job. Any employee who, within the trial period, has elected not to

 

9

continue in a job awarded under the posting system or who has been disqualified during the trial period shall be barred for a period of 12 months from posting for any new opening for the job awarded.

 

ARTICLE

12.

HOLIDAYS

 

12.1. As of the effective date of this Agreement, the following will be recognized as paid holidays each calendar year, subject to the conditions set forth below:

 

New Year’s Day Memorial Day

Independence Day Labor Day

Thanksgiving Day Christmas Eve Day Christmas Day

One (1) Employer designated floating holiday.

One (1) employee designated floating holiday, to be scheduled in the same manner as a vacation day.

 

12.2.

Holidays are considered 8 regular hours worked. Employees scheduled to work the sixth or seventh day of their work week will have the 8 hours for holiday considered as regular hours, making them eligible for overtime pay on the sixth and seventh days.

 

12.3.

Employees who satisfy eligibility requirements shall receive holiday pay as follows:

 

Full time employees — eight (8) hours at the employee’s straight time rate of pay.

 

Part time employees — six (6) hours at the employee’s straight time rate of pay.

 

Part time employees working a minimum of 20 hours a week —four (4) hours straight time rate of pay.

 

An employee working a part-time schedule will receive holiday pay in accordance with his or her work schedule — that is a day’s holiday for an employee whose schedule of work is six (6) hours per day shall be six (6) hours.

 

12.4. The employee must work a minimum of four (4) hours in his or her last, regularly scheduled shift prior to the holiday, or if absent, must have: excused illness with a doctor statement, prearranged vacation time, floating holiday, or if applicable, lack of work.

 

10

12.5. The employee must work a minimum of four (4) hours in his or her next, regularly-scheduled shift following the holiday, or if absent must have: excused illness with a doctor statement, pre-arranged vacation time, floating holiday, or if applicable, lack of work.

 

12.6. The employee must have successfully completed his or her probationary period to receive paid holidays.

 

12.7. If an employee does not satisfy holiday pay eligibility, he or she will not receive holiday pay for that particular holiday.

 

12.8. An employee terminating the last scheduled work shift preceding the holiday shall receive holiday pay provided he or she has given a minimum of two (2) weeks notice and he or she has unused vacation time accrued on his or her date of termination.

 

ARTICLE

13.

VACATION

 

13.1.

In recognition of servi