Burleigh/Menomonee Falls Plant, Second Shift

By Jesse Edwards

Bereavement during holiday period

    In the event that any member has the misfortune of having family member die during the holiday period, they must beware of restrictions on when they can take bereavement leave for that death.
    The member involved should take the bereavement leave immediately following the holiday period. They should call the ACCT System and report that they are taking bereavement on the one or three days attached to the holiday period.
    Do not report to work after the holiday period if you are entitled to bereavement. If you do, you will forfeit your eligibility to the bereavement leave. Bereavement must be at, or attached to, the time of death or burial.
    Claim for payment for bereavement should be presented to the timekeeping department in the plant in which the employee works. This claim must be made within two weeks following the employee’s return to work and must be supported by satisfactory proof showing the name of the deceased, the name of the employee, and the employee’s relationship to the deceased.

Voluntary Layoff

    Voluntary layoff will again be possible after January 1st. The period for voluntary lay-off ends on July 1st.
Whenever your department is cutting back and laying off, your foreman should post for volunteers. Members with 5 years that would like to take a voluntary layoff should obtain and complete a voluntary lay-off card from their foreman.
    These cards are available year round and may be completed even before a layoff is posted. Beware that cards submitted and not withdrawn will be considered by seniority for all voluntary layoffs during the year.
Back-charge Vacation
    January 1st begins a new year of eligibility for members whose seniority entitles them to three or more weeks of vacation per year to back charge up to three vacation days per year. These days may not be used the day before or the day after a holiday.
    Members using back-charge vacation must call in to the ACCT System as usual for any reason on the day off. On the next day that they are returning to work, they must again call in to the ACCT System during the period beginning two hours prior to the start of their shift and ending at the end of their shift. On this call the member should enter Code 38 to change the prior day to Back-charge Vacation. These absences will not result in points in the attendance system.

MED North

There are many rumors going around that there will be layoffs after the holidays. I asked management about these rumors and was told they will review production schedules during December and decide if layoffs are needed.
Whenever the Union receives information on planned layoffs, we will inform the members as soon as possible.

Die Cast

    The Union is continuing to meet with management from the Die Cast Components Division about the many problems we have in that area.
    The most recent meeting was on November 21st. At that meeting we focused on the disputes we have regarding daily transfers and job preference. The company is misinterpreting the contract language and past practice on these issues. The Union has two grievances scheduled for arbitration about these issues.
    There are several other issues we also need to address in this division.

Holiday Greetings

I want to take this opportunity to wish all the members and retirees of Local 7-232 a Happy Holiday with my best wishes for Happy, Blessed, Safe and Healthy New Year for them and their families.

In Solidarity,
Jesse Edwards