American Red Cross (NEPA Region): 2010 Tentative Agreement

Click here to read PDF version of the 2010 Tentative Agreement between CWA and American Red Cross - NEPA Region.

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN AMERICAN RED CROSS,
NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA REGION AND COMMUNICATION WORKERS
OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO

This Memorandum of Agreement summarizes the changes made to the 2007-2010 collective bargaining agreement between the American Red Cross, NEP A Region (the "Region") and Communication Workers of America, AFL-CIO (the "Union"). Contract language not addressed herein will remain the same as currently exists in the 2007-2010 agreement.

1. Article 1 Subsection (c) - Add "except that for purposes of BenefitsAdvantage only, full-time means an Employee who is regularly scheduled to work at least 35 hours per week" at the end of the sentence.

2. Article 1 Subsection (d) - Add "except that for purposes of BenefitsAdvantage only, part-time means an Employee who is regularly scheduled to work at least 20 but less than 35 hours per week"

3. The June 27, 2004 Automated Collections Side Letter will be replaced with the following: "If and when the NEP A Region opens a new facility at which bargaining unit employees will work, it will meet and discuss with the Union the effects on Employees."

4. Delete Article 3, Section 3.6

5. Article 4, Section 4.1 - Change "they actually join" to "he/she actually joins" in the last sentence

6. Article 8, Section 8.2 - Change "HR Director" to "HR Manager" in 2 places

7. Article 8, Section 8.5 - Change "HR Director" to "HR Manager"

8. Article 1 0, Section 1 0.4 - Change "Human Resources Director" to "Human Resources Manager" in 2 places

9. Article 11, Section 11.1 - Change "HR Director" to "HR Manager (or desgnee)"

10. Delete Article 23, Section 23.3

11. Article 13 - Add "his or" in the second sentence between "end of' and "her probationary period." Delete "grievance and" in the second sentence.

12. Article 14, Section 14.1 - Change the first sentence to read as follows: "The NEP A Region will post notice of vacancies of all bargaining unit positions for seven (7) working days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays."

13. Article 17, Section 17.3(a) - Add the following at the end: "Employees who request leave at least 4 months in advance in accordance with this paragraph will be notified of the approval or denial of their leave request at least ninety (90) days before the scheduled start of the requested leave."

14. Article 20, Section 20.1 - Replace the second sentence with the following: "Thereafter, if there is a change in the schedule, the NEP A Region shall post such changes in writing where accessible to a majority of staff." Delete "the schedule book" from the third sentence.

15. Article 24, Section 24.8 - Delete "Effective July 1,2004." Add at the following at the end: "If an employee is not scheduled to serve as interpreter but is required to act as an interpreter on an as-needed basis, the Employee will receive an extra $2.00 for the day."

16. Article 24, Section 24.10 - Add a new section as follows: "Employees who are required to attend a staff meeting on their scheduled day off will be credited with no less than two (2) hours work time for attendance at the meeting. Employees shall be paid for the actual time spent attending the meeting if it lasts more than two (2) hours."

17. The parties agree to the attached side letter re driving by collection technicians.

18. Article 17, Section 17.3(d) - Add a new section as follows: "It is the intent of the NEP A Region that employees on scheduled day at a time PTO leave will have their normal scheduled workweek reduced by the number of PTO days taken. Employees may volunteer for additional scheduled hours."

19. Article 24 Section 24.1 - Increase the minimum and maximum rates by 2.5% on the first full pay period on or after July 1,2011 and by 2.5% on the first full pay period on or after July 1,2012.

20. Article 24 Section 24.3 - Delete

21. Article 24 Section 24.4 - Rename "Wage Increases" and replace with the following:

(a) "Effective the first full pay period on or after July 1,2011, all employees who have completed their probationary period will receive an across-the-board increase of 2.5% without regard to the maximum rates specified in Section 24.2.

(b) Effective the first full pay period on or after July 1,2012, all employees who have completed their probationary period and who are below the maximum rate will receive a 2.5% across-the-board wage increase, up to but not above the maximum rate. All Collection Specialist classifications and all others above their maximum rates will receive an equivalent lump sum payment. (An employee who will reach the maximum with less than a 2.5% increase will move to the maximum and receive the remainder in an equivalent lump sum.)

(c) Probationary employees will not receive the wage increases specified above until after they complete their probationary period."

22. Provided that the Agreement is ratified by January 16,2011, all full-time bargaining unit employees on the payroll as of the date of ratification shall receive a one-time ratification bonus of $750. This amount will be pro rated for part-time and per diem employees.  This payment will be made within 30 days of ratification. If the Agreement is not ratified by January 16,2011, no ratification payment will be made.

23. Article 20 Section 20.6 - Revise to read as follows: "MUAs will be scheduled to report for work 15 minutes before departure on any collection, except that they will be scheduled to report one half hour before the departure on any bus collection. In addition, MUAs will be scheduled to work 30 minutes after a collection returns, except that they will be scheduled to work forty-five minutes after the return from a bus collection and 15 minutes after the end of a station collection. MUAs, like all other Employees, will be paid only for time worked. MUAs will receive a premium of $1.00 per hour for all hours assigned to drive the bus."

24. Article 24 Section 24.6 - Revise to read as follows: "Due to the nature of the NEP A Region's operations, it may be necessary from time to time that the NEP A Region assign staff to work as an Acting Team Supervisor or to assign Automated Collections staff to work as an Acting Automated Collections Team Supervisor. When the NEPA Region makes such an assignment, the Employee shall receive an additional $1.25 per hour for all hours worked as an Acting Team Supervisor or as an Acting Automated Collections Team Supervisor.  An additional $1.00 per hour rate will apply for all hours a General Maintenance Technician is assigned to work as the Acting General Services Supervisor."

25. Article 23 Section 23.1 - Revise to read as follows: "Bargaining unit employees hired before July 1, 2009 participate in the American National Red Cross Retirement System, as amended from time to time at the sole discretion of the American National Red Cross.  The parties agree that any changes or amendments to the plan automatically apply to bargaining unit employees to the same extent that such changes or amendments apply to the non-bargaining unit employees. The Union will be provided advance notice of changes or amendments to the plan that substantially modify any benefits."

26. Article 23 Section 23.4 - Revise to read as follows: "Employees will receive non-pension benefits at retirement, including retiree health, retiree life insurance and retiree gifts, on the same basis as such benefits are provided to hourly non-represented employees of the NEP A Region. The NEP A Region reserves the right to amend those benefits from time to time. The Union will be provided advance notice of changes or amendments to the plan that substantially modify any benefits. Employees who take a normal retirement before June 7, 2013, will receive a monetary gift as follows: (a) 1 week's gross pay for continuous service ofless than 20 years but more than 10 years; (b) 2 week's gross pay for continuous service ofless than 30 years but 20 or more years; or (c) 3 week's gross pay for continuous service of 30 or more years. (This paragraph is eliminated effective June 7, 2013)."

27. Section 23.6 - Revise as follows: "Employees in the bargaining unit are eligible to participate in the NationaI40l(k) Savings Plan on the same basis and under the same terms and conditions as hourly non-represented employees of the NEPA Region. The terms of the 401 (k) Saving Plan may be amended by the American Red Cross at any tim.e in its di~cretion.  The Union will be provided advance notice of changes to the plan that substantially modify any benefits."

28. Article 21 Section 21.1 - Add the following to the list of relatives in the first sentence: "domestic partner, other legal dependent, person who has served as the employee's parent, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law."

29. Article 19 Section 19.2 - Add the following at the end of the existing language: "It is the Region's intention to provide employees with a 30 minute unpaid meal break on all collections of six hours or more."

30. Article 19 Section 19.6 - Add the following at the end of the first sentence: "except that this sentence shall not apply to employees who are on a "40 in 4" schedule with the understanding that Mobile Unit Assistants and General Maintenance Technicians will not be required to work on a "40 in 4" schedule."

31. Create new section as follows - "The parties will create a Drive Committee to discuss possible solutions to perceived problems regarding logistics of mobile unit operations. This could include reviewing issues that have arisen with sites for mobile unit operations in the past and reviewing upcoming mobile unit operations with an eye towards identifying and avoiding potential problems. The Committee shall consist of three (3) bargaining unit members selected by the Union and three (3) management representatives selected by the Region, one of whom will come from the Donor Recruitment Department. The Committee shall meet at least quarterly for the first year following ratification of the collective bargaining agreement at mutually agreed upon times, places and durations, and thereafter on a schedule determined by the Committee. Employees shall be paid for time spent attending Committee meetings. The Committee shall develop recommendations to be presented to the Region for its review."

32. Article 12 Section 12.3 - Add the following sentence at the end of paragraph (a): "For purposes of this Section 12.3(a) only, the corresponding Collection Specialist and Technician classifications shall be considered one job classification."

33. Article 23 Section 23.2 - Replace the existing language with the following:

"The NEP A Region will provide the same group medical, dental, vision, long-term disability, short-term disability, EAP and life insurance benefits for employees and their dependents, under the same terms and conditions, the same costs of coverage and with the same employee contributions as for non-represented employees in the NEP A Region. It is understood that the NEP A Region may change group insurance providers during the life of this Agreement and that the number and type of plans being offered (e.g., PPO) may change from year to year. It is further agreed that any changes or amendments to the planes) automatically apply to the bargaining unit to the same extent that such changes or amendments apply to the non-bargaining unit employees in the NEP A Region.

(a) If a full-time employee's spouse/domestic partner is eligible for medical benefits for which the employer of the spouse/domestic partner pays all or a portion of the premium, but the employee nonetheless elects to cover the spouse/domestic partner through a medical plan provided by the NEP A Region, then the employee will pay an additional $100 per month for those medical benefits so long as this surcharge is charged to non-represented employees in the NEPA Region on the same terms. This surcharge shall not be subject to the limitations of paragraph (b) of this section.

(b) For the term of the 2010-2013 Agreement only, the following terms shall apply:

     (i) There will be no more than a 10% annual increase in each of the deductibles, co-insurance, co-pays, out-of-pocket maximums or equivalents in any offered plan design (e.g., PPO, EPO) or participation category (i.e., Employee Only, Employee plus Spouse, etc.) over the amount in effect for that plan design for the previous year.

     (ii) The American Red Cross Medical Plan will apply to all bargaining unit employees for plan years 2011, 2012 and 2013 under the same conditions and with the same employee contributions as non-represented employees in the NEP A Region. However, the parties recognize that immediately bringing the employee contribution rates for all plans to match those of non-represented employees of the Region would cause a significant increase in rates in 2011 for some plans. In order to ameliorate those increases, the parties agree to the following limitations:

               (a) For 2011, the annual premium increase for each plan (i.e., PPO, EPO, etc.) and participation category (i.e., Employee Only, Employee plus Spouse, etc.) will be 15%, provided that the employee contribution shall be no greater than the employee contribution for non-represented employees in the same plan and participation category.

               (b) For 2012, the annual premium increase for each plan and participation category will be 15%, provided that the employee contribution shall be no greater than the employee contribution for non-represented employees in the same plan and participation category.

               (c) For 2013, the employee contributions will be same as the employee contribution for non-represented employees in the same plan and participation category, provided that the annual increase in the employee contribution for the base plan (i.e., PPO or equivalent) will be no more than 15% for the same participation category.

     (iii) For the term of this contract, and beginning with the development of the American Red Cross Medical Plan for the 2012 plan year, a designated representative of CWA Local 13500 shall meet with representative(s) of the American Red Cross to review, discuss and provide input regarding any planned redesign of the American Red Cross Medical Plan."

34. The parties agree to the attached side letter on health care.

35. The Union will withdraw with prejudice the three pending cases in which it has demanded arbitration.

36. Provided that the Agreement is ratified on or before January 16,2011, the Region agrees to forego its right to recoup the overpayments of which employees in the bargaining unit were notified on or about October 27, 2010.

37. The parties agree to the attached side letter on a collections incentive program.

38. The parties agree that the existing side letter on steel toed shoes will be added to the collective bargaining agreement.

39. The expired Apheresis travel expenses side letter will be removed from the collective bargaining agreement.

40. Article 27 Section 27.1 - Change May 31, 2010 to June 7, 2013.

41. The Union negotiation committee will unanimously recommend this Memorandum of Agreement to the bargaining unit for ratification.

Side Letter re Selection of Drivers Among Collections Staff
July 12,2010

In determining which Collection Technician or Collection Specialist assigned to a mobile collection site will drive a NEP A Region vehicle to and from the site, volunteers will be solicited first. If no qualified employee volunteers, an employee will be directed to drive in order of reverse seniority. An employee who asserts that he or she is fatigued as a result of a late ending time for a work assignment the previous night will not be required to drive, provided that there is a qualified staff member assigned to the mobile collection available to drive the vehicle.

Side Letter re Collections Incentives
December 16, 2010

Within ninety (90) days of ratification of the memorandum of agreement, the parties will meet to develop a collections incentive program. The program will take into account both volume and quality and will be designed to provide potential financial incentives equivalent to a .25% wage increase across the bargaining unit. The program will be implemented no later than July 1, 2012. Development of the program shall not be subject to the grievance and arbitration procedure.

Side Letter re Health Care
December 16, 2010

The parties agree Section 23.2(b )(i) shall not prevent the NEP A Region from implementing a high deductible health plan with a Health Savings Account.