Job consolidation process begins at Strattec
by Scott Godshaw
Due to our antiquated daywork system and many outdated job descriptions, job consolidation was included in the Contract at Strattec. Right now, the job consolidation process is under way, albeit in the infant stages.
The Joint Job Consolidation Committee was established with three Union members and three Company members. The Union members are, of course, the Bargaining Committee, Karl Schneider, Dennis Nowak and Al Belanger. The Company representatives are Dean Orley, Kathy Scherbarth and Chuck Snyder. They are currently meeting once a week for one or two hours a day. President Greg Gorecki and Tom Bishanell, the Union’s Compensation Analyst, are also involved in the process, as needed. Both parties may utilize the assistance of representatives or staff, as well as outside resource personnel, to support the activities of the Committee.
The purpose of the Committee is to study, analyze and address issues relating to job consolidation. The goal of the Committee is to expedite the movement to job consolidation.
The Company brought in a consultant, a retired professor, from Ohio State University, a guru, if you will, in this field. He introduced the Committee to a process called Dacum, which is short for developing a curriculum. The process includes job analysis, occupational analysis, process analysis and functional analysis. The Dacum philosophy is where experienced workers can describe and define the job more accurately than anyone else, define the tasks, look to what skill levels it takes to define the tasks, and divide the job into duties.
Ralph Schwieger, supervisor from Department 53 and Local 7-232’s Trustee from Strattec, has been earmarked and trained to be a facilitator for the Dacum process. The process will be used to break down every job in the plant. The Dacum process will also be used to evaluate training needs for job consolidation.
Job consolidation is where you take two similar jobs or a group of similar jobs and compare. One example of this is a statistical process control specialist and gage control specialist, both Labor Grade 15’s. The Dacum process, in this instance, would expose the differences of each job to identify what crossover is needed and establish training to mesh both jobs.
Other areas that are currently being looked at and analyzed are material handling, stamping and keys and assembly. The Company may establish and implement a new or revised job and establish a temporary rate within the labor grade structure for the new or revised job. However, it is agreed that no person in a new or consolidated job shall have their wage reduced.
Even though there have been disagreements between the Committees, the goal is to expedite a job consolidation understanding. Ultimately, the drive is to know exactly what jobs will be meshed so proper training will be explored and establish to the people what will be expected of them in the new consolidated job.
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