1.02 Employee Defined
A. The term "employee" wherever used herein, whether singular or plural,
means and applies only to those employees of the District included within this
bargaining unit, and that this Agreement covers only these employees.
B. The term "Operator", wherever used herein in reference to employees covered by this Agreement, shall mean "employee" as defined in 1.02A above.
C. Words appearing in the female gender include the male gender and words
appearing in the male gender shall include the female gender.
1.03 Non Discrimination 1.04 Non-Discrimination in Promotion 1.05 Union Membership 1.06 New Employees Employees covered by this Agreement shall have the right of first refusal for
work that is determined to be similar to the duties and functions presently being
performed by Bus Operators, provided that the employees meet the qualifications
outlined in Article 9.02.
In the event that there is a dispute as to whether the duties being performed
by these employees are or will be similar to the functions or duties presently being
performed by Bus Operators, that dispute shall be resolved in accordance with
Section 98162.5 of the Public Utilities Code, District rules, ordinances and
applicable State laws and regulations and these District rules and ordinances which
shall remain unchanged while the dispute remains unresolved.
The obligation that rests with the District to provide, and upon the employees
of the District to render, honest and efficient service, is recognized. A spirit of
cooperation between the employees and the District is essential to efficient
operation, and both parties should so conduct themselves as to promote this spirit.
The responsibility for success rests equally with the District and the employees. In
this spirit, the District and the Union are entering into an Agreement which will:
3.01 Agency Shop Each new employee hired on or after the date of ratification of this
Agreement (or who is hired before the date of ratification but had less than thirty
(30) days with the District on the date of ratification) shall within thirty-one (31)
days after employment be or become a member of the Union and shall remain a
member in good standing unless on or prior to the date the employee pays to the
Union, in full, the initial Organizational Service Fee thereafter due at the times and
in the manner hereinafter described.
The initial Organizational Service Fee shall be an amount equal to the Union's
standard initiation fee plus one month's dues and any general assessments payable
at the time the initial service fee is due. Thereafter the service fee shall be in an
amount equal to the regular monthly dues and general assessments of members of
the Union in good standing.
B. Membership in the Union, or timely payment of the initial Organizational
Service Fee and subsequent service fees due, shall be a condition precedent to
continued employment with the District. The employee who is obligated to pay the
Organizational Service Fee shall do so in the following manner:
C. Notwithstanding paragraphs A and B, any employee who demonstrates in a
manner satisfactory to the Union that she is a member of a bona fide religion, body
or sect which has historically held conscientious objections to joining or financially
supporting public employee organizations shall be excused from joining the Union
or paying the Organizational Service Fee to the Union.
Any dispute between the Union and an employee on the interpretation of this
section, including whether an employee meets the eligibility requirements for the
Religious Exemption from paying dues or service fees, shall at the request of the
Union or the affected employee, be decided by the final and binding arbitration
under the rules of the American Arbitration Association. The employee and the
Union shall each bear one half of the cost of the arbitration, including the fee of
the American Arbitration Association and the arbitrator. The cost of a certified
transcript of the proceedings shall be paid by the party requesting the transcription
service. The District will not protest or interfere with any final and binding decision
under this section.
D. In the event an employee fails to make payments as required in this
Article, the Union may give written notice of the failure to pay to the District and to
the affected employee setting forth the dates and amounts due the Union, any
amounts paid by the employee, and enclosing a copy of this Article. In the event
the notice is given, the District shall provide the employee and the Union with a
Notice of Intent to Discharge. After the response deadline set in the Notice of Intent
to Discharge, the Union may request in writing that the employee's employment be
terminated. Upon receipt of the request, the District shall discharge the affected
employee within five (5) working days of receipt of the request.
E. Employees designated by the District as supervisory, management or
confidential shall be excluded from the provisions of this Section.
F. The Union shall charge a service fee equivalent to Union dues applicable to the classification covered.
G. The Union shall prepare a detailed written financial report in the form of a
balance sheet and operating statement and make it available to the District, and to
members of the bargaining unit annually. It is the intent of the parties that the
Organizational Service Fee may be applied to all expenditures in furtherance of
activities which relate to the Union's representational duties and obligations toward
employees represented by the Union. If, upon examination of the Union's financial
report, the District shall be of the good faith opinion that the Organizational Service
Fee has been applied towards expenses outside of the intended purpose, the District
may within thirty (30) days of receipt of the financial report from the Union file a
written objection with the Union, setting forth the amount and nature of the
expenditure objected to and the basis for the objection. The amount agreed upon,
which is not expended in furtherance of the representational activities, shall be
refunded to each affected employee.
3.02 Notification of Entering and Leaving 3.03 Entering or Leaving Military Service 3.04 District to Inform and Refer Operators 3.05 Payroll Deduction of Dues and Service Fees B. The designated officers or representatives of the Union shall submit to the
District at least ten (10) days before the end of the payroll period, designated by
the District as the period in which deductions will be made, a deduction list
showing necessary detail and on a form as approved by the District.
C. No deduction shall be made from the pay of any employee for any payroll
period in which the employee's net earnings for that payroll period, after all other
required deductions, are less than the amount of dues to be deducted.
D. Errors in the deduction list shall be corrected by the Union by adjustment
included in the subsequent deduction list furnished by the Union to the District.
Questions arising as to the correctness of the amount shown on the deduction list
will be handled directly with the Union by the employees. The Union's treasurer
shall be authorized, after having submitted the original payroll deduction
authorization, to modify deductions for changes including but not limited to dues,
assessments, insurance, and the Transportation Political Education League.
3.06 Authorization for Deductions B. In order to be effective for a particular month, an individual deduction
authorization, or revocation thereof, must be in the actual possession of the District
not later than the date established for the receipt of the regular monthly deduction
list for that particular month. The District shall have the right to refuse to accept or
act upon any authorization or revocation which is illegible or which is not fully or
properly executed, or which fails to adequately identify the employee involved. The
District shall not be responsible for failure to terminate a deduction for which it
does not receive a revocation of deduction authorization on or prior to the tenth
day after ratification of this Agreement.
3.07 Hold Harmless 4.01 Release Time for Union Representatives The Union recognizes that the business of the District is to provide service to
the public, and agrees that requests for release time from duty for Union business
under this Article will not unduly inhibit the business of the District. Requests for
release time must be submitted as early as possible, and not later than 11:00 A.M.
of the day prior to the time requested. An employee granted release time from
service as a Bus Operator to attend meetings identified within this Article shall not
be disadvantaged with respect to the compensation she would have received had she worked.
A. Two Union Officers or Committee members per day will be allowed release
time from duty without loss of compensation for meeting and/or negotiating with
the District on matters within the scope of representation, or for attending standing
joint Labor/Management committee meetings. Base Representative(s) and the
Chairperson (or designee) will be released from duty without loss of compensation
for time spent at the Policy and Finance meetings and District Board of Directors
meetings. Base Representative(s) referred to in Article 4.02C shall be considered part
of the two representatives released per day.
B. Upon request by the Union, up to five (5) Union Representatives will be
allowed release time without loss of compensation for other Union purposes.
If necessary, the Chair of the Committee of Adjustment will be allowed release
time upon request, not subject to the time lines prescribed in the previous paragraph.
The District will bill the Union (called Bill Back) for each of these requests.
The Union will reimburse the District monthly for the charges. Reimbursement shall
include but not be limited to wages paid, and employer contributions to PERS,
State Disability Insurance, State Unemployment Insurance and any other mandatory
payroll taxes. It is understood that Operators released from work under this paragraph
shall not be considered under the course and scope of District employment for the
purposes of Workes Compensation and other liabilities.
4.02 Union Business on District Property
4.02 Union Business on District Property A. The District shall recognize the duly elected and/or appointed
representatives of the Union. These Union representatives shall be allowed to
transact Union business on the premises of the District, but at no time shall delay
the scheduled work assignments of the employees. The Union representative will
notify an authorized representative of the District upon entering the District facility.
B. The District shall provide desk space to the Union at each Operations base
and allow the Union to install its own telephone system. The Union shall be
responsible for the installation, maintenance and billing charges for that system.
C. The District shall schedule one Union designated Base Representative per
weekday per Operations Base at her regular rate of pay for Union representation at
disciplinary hearings, grievance hearings, Labor-Management Committee meetings,
and other matters within the scope of representation. When not engaged in these
activities, the Base Representative shall be available for service as a Bus Operator.
D. The Union Base Representative shall work from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
Any changes to these general hours shall be mutually agreed upon by the Union
and the District prior to each bid cycle. The Union Base Representatives shall be
required to submit notice of daily changes in scheduled sign-on time and sign-off
time no later than 11:00 am of the day prior to the time requested, indicating
scheduled Union/District meetings. The Union shall designate one representative for
each Base, except for necessary replacements for extended absences.
E. Union Base Representatives shall be the last available point Operators when
not attending meetings or conferences.
The Union Base Representative shall not normally leave the Base on Union
business except to attend joint Labor-Management meetings or to accompany the
Operations safety representative on route or safety investigations or as authorized by the Manager of Operations.
5.01 Payment on Minute Basis 5.02 Operator Base Wage Rates of Pay 5.03 Base Wage Rates and Regular Wage Rates A. Base wage rate: The hourly rate identified by one of the steps in this Article.
B. Regular wage rate: The hourly rate actually paid to an Operator. This rate
includes all premium pay provisions such as but not limited to, bilingual pay and
any other FLSA required inclusion. When more than one premium is applicable,
each premium shall separately be added to the Operator's base wage rate. The
Operator's regular wage rate shall be used to compute overtime.
5.04 Longevity Bonus 5.05 Training and Probation 5.06 PERS B. The District shall pay 6.0% of the 7.0% Operator share of PERS.
C. An Operator shall have a payroll deduction for an equivalent amount exceeding
3.235% of the "employer share" (determined by PERS). An Operator’s contribution of
up to six percent (6%) will be applied toward the "Operator’s share".
6.01 Length of Probation A new Operator shall be on probation immediately upon date of employment and
continuing for 180 calendar days. A new Operator will be considered to have completed
training and advance to the next pay step when she is certified by the District
for operation in revenue service without the guidance of a Supervisor or Line
Instructor.
If, at the end of the normal probationary period, an Operator's performance
is unsatisfactory, the probationary period may be extended an additional thirty (30)
days at the discretion of the District. A new probationary Operator may be
disciplined or discharged at the discretion of the Districtand without appeal rights.
The new probationary Operator and the Union shall receive written notification of disciplinary action or
discharge.
6.02 Probationary Operators on Leave 6.03 Benefits for Probationary Operators B. A Trainee or Probationary Operator shall be entitled to holidays in accordance with Article 12.
C. An Operator on probationary status shall receive uniforms in accordance with the provisions of Article 37.12.
The District and the Union agree that no employee shall be discriminated
against on account of Union membership, non-membership, race, ancestry, religion,
national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, color, marital status, medical condition,
or disability, or for any other unlawful reason, except where physical capability is a
bona fide occupational qualification and reasonable accommodation as required by
State and Federal Law cannot be made. The Union agrees to work with District
Management to provide reasonable accommodation to an employee as may be
required under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This section of the Agreement
shall not be construed to conflict with the employee qualification provisions
appearing elsewhere in this Agreement.
No employee shall be discriminated against for promotional purposes on
account of Union membership, non-membership, race, ancestry, religion, national
origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, color, marital status, medical condition, or
disability, or for any other unlawful reason, except where physical capability is a
bona fide occupational qualification and reasonable accommodation as required by
State and Federal Law cannot be made.
The Union recognizes that no employee is required to join the Union, but that
every employee has the right to choose of her own free will whether or not she will
or will not join the Union.
It is expressly agreed that in the event that the District shall engage
exclusively or jointly in the providing of other types of transportation service in
addition to those being provided, the District shall recognize the Union as the
bargaining agent for those classifications of District employees whose functions or
duties are similar to those of a Bus Operator.
ARTICLE 2
PURPOSE OF AGREEMENT
ARTICLE 3
UNION SECURITY/DEDUCTIONS
A. Each employee employed by the District in the bargaining unit covered by
this Agreement on the date of ratification of this Agreement (if she has been so
employed for thirty (30) days) shall be or become a member of the Union and shall
remain a member in good standing unless the employee pays to the Union, in full,
the initial Organizational Service Fee and continues making payments of the service
fee to the Union at the time and in the manner hereinafter prescribed.
The District shall forward to the Union within five (5) days of the occurrence,
the names of each person covered by this Agreement entering or leaving its
employ, together with the name of the Operations Base to which assigned, and
shall designate after each name the date employed or the date the employee left the service.
The District shall also provide the Union within five (5) days of the occurrence,
the name of each employee covered by this Agreement who is leaving or reentering
the service of the District from military service and shall provide the dates thereof.
The District shall inform each new Operator of the existence of this
Agreement. The District shall furnish each new Operator with the name and address
of the Union and refer her to the Union where a copy of this Agreement may be obtained.
A. The District will, each month, deduct from wages due all sums for periodic
Union dues and/or service fees, initiation fees and assessments (not including fines
and penalties) payable to the Union by employees of the District performing service
within the scope of this Agreement. The monies shall be remitted to the Union.
A. For each employee from whom deductions referred to in Section 3.05
above are to be made, the Union will furnish to the District the employee's
authorization to make the deductions, the authorization being directed to the
District. The authorization shall be furnished to the District prior to the time the
affected employee's name first appears on the deduction list referred to in Section
3.05B of this Article
The Union agrees that it will indemnify, defend, and save harmless the District
from any and all liability arising from entering into or complying with the terms of this Article.
ARTICLE 4
UNION REPRESENTATION
ARTICLE 5
RATES OF PAY
The following rates of pay will be calculated on a minute basis and converted
for payroll purposes to fractions of an hour. It is acknowledged that minutes are
currently converted to the nearest hundredth of an hour on a daily or a weekly basis.
The following base wage rates shall be in effect:
Length of Service Step 7/08/99 7/06/00 7/05/00
After 5 years 8 $ (These sections intentionally left blank)
After 4 years 7 $
After 3 years 6 $
After 2 years 5 $
After 1 year 4 $
After 6 months 3 $
Fully qualified 2 $
Upon date of hire 1 $ (These sections intentionally left blank)
For the purpose of determining an Operator's wage rate as used in this Agreement,
the following two terms or categories shall apply:
An Operator shall be paid a longevity bonus of $500 upon attaining ten (10)
years District seniority.
An Operator hired as a Bus Operator Trainee shall remain within the Bus
Operator Trainee classification for a maximum of ten (10) weeks. Following
successful completion of training and upon the first day of operation in revenue
service, an Operator will be placed in the second pay step. An Operator will not
advance beyond the second pay step until she has successfully completed probation.
An Operator returning from leave who has not completed her probationary period
shall not be paid at greater than the second pay step. Once an Operator has
successfully completed the probationary period, her rate of pay shall be based upon
length of service from her initial date of hire.
A. Classifications within the representation unit shall be enrolled in the Public
Employees Retirement System (PERS), including the third level of the 1959 Survivors
Benefits as allowed by PERS.
ARTICLE 6
PROBATION
The probationary period shall be a trial period during which the District is to
evaluate the ability, competency, fitness, and other qualifications of an Operator to
do the work for which she is employed.
It is understood that any unpaid period of absence during the probationary
period shall result in an equivalent extension of the probationary period. An
Operator who is granted a leave of absence during her probationary period may
have her probationary period extended for the same number of days that the
Operator was absent on leave.
A. An Operator on probationary status shall be entitled to receive the benefits
provided by Article 10 and to accrue Annual Leave and Sick Leave, but shall not be
entitled to take accrued Annual Leave until satisfactory completion of the
probationary period, except for an Operator who has had previous continuous
service with the District in a different classification and is serving a new
probationary period. Accrual rates and accruals of benefits to be received shall be
based on the original date of hire.
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