Portland Truck Manufacturing Plant

Last, Best and Final Economic Proposal

July 5, 2007

 

The Company reserves the right to withdraw or modify these proposals should the parties fail to reach agreement on all matters addressed by the parties during the negotiations.

 

Wages and Hours

 

Wages

 

2007:   $0.70 per hour to Top Rate only effective pay period ending July 7, 2007

 

2008:   $0.50 per hour to Top Rate only effective pay period ending July 5, 2008

 

2009:   $0.50 per hour to Top Rate only effective pay period ending July 4, 2009

 

Lump Sum Bonus

 

A lump sum bonus of $1,000 will be paid to all active employees on the payroll as of July 16, 2007.

 

Special Premiums

 

The classifications of Production Technician, Continuous Improvement Facilitator, and DCPS Implementation Team Member will receive a 5% premium above the top rate of their classification consistent with the letter on Daimler Production System/Total Productive Maintenance agreed to by the parties.  Employees currently holding temporary assignments in these classifications as acknowledged by the unions and the company and currently receiving a 10% premium will be grandfathered until such time that the assignment ends.

 

PDI Classifications- The Company has outlined its intent to include PDI employees in the 2007 bargaining agreement in a Letter of Understanding with the I.A.M.   The focus of the LOU is on maintaining operating efficiencies and flexibility and cost competitiveness.

 

Overtime Administration (I.A.M., Teamsters, and Painters)

 

If production needs warrant, the Employer may utilize up to 10 hours of mandatory overtime per month.

 

If overtime is required, the Employer will first seek volunteers in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement.  If the Employer does not find a sufficient number of volunteers, employees may be mandated in the inverse order of seniority until a sufficient number has been achieved.

 

Mandatory overtime shall be limited to 2 hours a day Monday – Friday only (excluding holidays).

 

If daily overtime is scheduled, then cancelled by the Employer, the hours scheduled will count towards the 10 hours of overtime per month.

 

If daily overtime is required, employees will be notified by the end of their prior shift. 

 

The provisions of the Article that restrict the right of the Company to mandate any overtime work may be suspended, by mutual agreement (of the designated representatives of each union party to this agreement), if operations are interrupted by emergency situations such as acts of God; because of major equipment breakdowns, government mandated work, regulatory training, and annual inventory.

 

Employees may not refuse scheduled work without a justifiable reason.

 

The attendance control program provisions will apply to employees who fail to report to work for mandatory, accepted voluntary, and accepted scheduled overtime.

 

Gainsharing Program

 

See attachment.

 

Holidays

 

The current Holiday Schedule is proposed without change.  Recognized Holidays are:

 

Good Friday

Memorial Day

Independence Day

Labor Day

Veteran’s Day

Thanksgiving Day

Day after Thanksgiving

 

In 2007 - 2008 Contract Year, the Employer agrees to recognize December 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31; and January 1

 

In 2008 - 2009 Contract Year, the Employer agrees to recognize December 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31; and January 1, 2

 

In 2009 - 2010 Contract Year, the Employer agrees to recognize December 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31; and January 1

 

Vacations

 

No change to current vacation schedule.

 

Health & Welfare

 

Active and Retiree health care costs represent a significant portion of overall labor costs.  Health care costs continue to increase at a pace higher than inflation.  Additionally, the market place continues to change in both the private and federal sectors.  Many new programs have been developed recently that, if taken advantage of, would assist in the reduction of health care costs. In an effort to address the labor cost issue at the Portland TMP, the following active and retiree medical proposals are put forth: 

 

1.  Active Employee Medical Program – plan modifications described below will become effective 30 days after the effective date of the contract unless otherwise noted.

 

Medical Plan

 

Increase office visit copayment from $10 to $15

 

 

Dental Plan

 

Maintain current program

 

Vision Program:

        Optometrist                                             Cover in Full (with $25 co-pay)

        Ophthalmologist                                      Cover in Full (with $25 co-pay)

        Single-vision Lenses                               $75.00 (Every 12 Months)

        Bifocal Lenses                                        $100.00 (Every 12 Months)

        Trifocal Lenses                                       $125.00 (Every 12 Months)

        Lenticular Lenses                                    $150.00 (Every 12 Months)

       

        Frames                                                    $75.00 (Every 24 Months)

        Contacts (Regular)                                 $215.00 (Every 12 Months)

        Contacts (Medically Necessary)            $250.00

        Frequency:

            All except frames                                Once Per Year

            Frames                                                Once Each 24 Months

 

Employee Premium Contributions

Single                 $25   Per Month (from $40)

2 –Person           $55   Per Month (from $90)

Family                $80   Per Month (from $130)

 

Note: Employer will continue to pay actual premium amounts above employee premium contributions.

 

2.      Same-Sex Domestic Partner Benefits- Effective January 1, 2008, change health care eligibility to include same-sex domestic partners.

 

3.   Retiree Medical Program

 

In recognition of current trends in industry benefit plans and the introduction of new federal heath care programs, the company’s participation in post-age 65 retiree health care will be discontinued with the following exceptions: 

 

1)      Employees age 50 or older and who have at least 20 or more years of service as of July 1, 2010 will be grandfathered and continue to receive post-age 65 retiree health care benefits in retirement as a feature of this agreement.

 

2)      Employees retiring prior to January 1, 2008 will be grandfathered and continue to receive post-age 65 retiree health care benefits in retirement as a feature of this agreement.

 

3)      Employees who retired prior to July 1, 2007 are not affected by the above agreements.

 

Disability Plan

 

Increase weekly disability payment to $300 for the first 4 weeks and $350 for the next 22 weeks.

 

Voluntary Benefit Program

The company will offer a voluntary benefit program which includes a Long Term Disability option.  The program will be offered by January 1, 2008.

 

Pension Program

 

Increase Pension contributions as follows:

Year 1             $0.10 / hour increase effective July 7, 2007

                        $0.10 / hour increase effective January 5, 2008

 

Year 2             $0.10 / hour increase effective July 5, 2008

                        $0.10 / hour increase effective January 3, 2009

 

Year 3             $0.10 / hour increase effective July 4, 2009

                        $0.10 / hour increase effective January 2, 2010

 

 

Bereavement

 

Employees shall be excused with pay for five (5) days:

 

Spouse                        Stepchild

Parent                                     Brother

Child                            Sister

 

Employees shall be excused with pay for three (3) days for:

 

Stepmother                 Grandparents

Stepfather                   Grandchild

Father-in-law               Bother/Sister of Spouse

Mother-in-law              Son/Daughter-in-law

 

Employees shall be excused with pay for one day (1) for:

 

Great-Grandparent     Stepparents of spouse

Great -Grandchild       Spouse’s Grandparent

Stepbrother/sister

 

Safety Shoes

 

Increase safety shoe benefit to $90 per year.

 

Corrective (Prescription) Safety Glasses

 

Reimbursement for corrective/prescription safety glasses will be increased to a maximum of $125.00 per year.

 

 

 

 

Job-Related Physical Examinations

 

Employees required by the Company to report for job-related physical examiniations shall be compensated for actual time utilized at straight time rate up to a maximum of 2 hours.

 

Successor and Severance Pay

 

Add to the collective bargaining agreement the attached Successor and Severance Pay language.

 

Duration of Agreement

 

The new agreement is proposed to expire on June 30, 2010.

 

Tentative Agreement -Successors

 

This Agreement will be binding upon both parties, their successors and assigns.  In the event of a sale or transfer of the business of the Employer, or any part thereof, the purchaser or transferee shall be bound by this Agreement.

 

Tentative Agreement - Severance

 

As a result of discussions between the parties during 2007 negotiations, the Employer acknowledges its responsibility to advise the Union of its intent to close the plant if economic conditions or other significant factors impede the Company’s ability to produce a competitive product at a profit.

 

Both the Employer and the Union acknowledge that the future viability of the Portland plant and long-term job security for employees depends upon their ability to work cooperatively on matters which positively impact quality, efficiency and cost.  Further the parties understand the need for the products to be competitive for the Portland plant to be profitable.

 

In the event of a closure of the Portland Truck Manufacturing Plant, the Employer shall advise the Union and, in a timely manner, make a good faith effort to reach an agreement regarding severance payments.

 

 

 

LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING

GAINSHARING PROGRAM

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.        Objective

 

The objective of the program is to maintain focus on key business activities and empower employees by providing an opportunity to share in performance benefits related to specific business metrics.

 

B.       The Program

 

The program is designed to provide quarterly payments to employees based on the achievement of quality and productivity objectives. Each quarter quality performance will be measured by the Plant APA and EOL quality audit scores.  Performance on the plant APA and EOL quality audit score must be at or below the quarterly target to create the opportunity for a Gainsharing payment. Provided the APA and EOL quality audit score is at or below the quarterly target performance, the productivity metric will determine the actual Gainsharing payment.  Payments will be made consistent with a scale of productivity performance based on a quarterly Target, Threshold, and Maximum.  (see Appendix A) A set payment will apply to performance between Threshold and Target.  An increasing payment scale will apply to performance between Target and Maximum. 

 

Payments will be paid to eligible employees as defined in Paragraph D by the last pay period of April (Q1 results), July (Q2 results), October (Q3 results), and January (Q4 results).

 

C.       Definitions

 

1)  APA Quality audit score – required vehicle audits established by Corporate Quality Assurance for trucks deemed deliverable to the customer.

2)   EOL Quality audit score- required vehicle audits established by Corporate Quality Assurance for trucks produced from the end of the production line.

3)  Productivity – labor efficiency determined by combined direct and indirect labor hours worked measured against standard hours.

 

D.       Eligible Employees

 

1)  Bargaining Unit employees who have completed initial probation period.

2)  In the event of the death of an employee prior to Gainsharing payment, the payment   will be made to the designated beneficiary.

3)  Employees on Long-term and Short-term disability may be eligible for a Gainsharing payment based on date of disability.

4)  Retirees may be eligible for a Gainsharing payment based on date of retirement.

 

 

E.      Effective Date

 

The program shall become effective January 1, 2008 with the first eligibility for payment being on the first full quarter of the year (first quarter 2008 performance with payment, if applicable in April 2008).

 

PROGRAM GUIDELINES

 

A.    Partial payments to Employees

 

Employees who retire, die, or become disabled (Long-term and Short-term disability) during the program year will be eligible to receive a partial Gainsharing payment earned during the quarter based on the date of retirement, disability or death.

 

A complete calendar quarter is defined as 13 weeks.  In the event of death, disability, or retirement requiring a partial pro-rated payment, the employee will be given credit for the entire week in which the event occurred. 

 

Example: 

·      The calendar quarter begins on January 1, 2008.

·      Employee A is an active employee until February 13, 2008.

·      On February 14, 2008 employee A becomes disabled and qualifies for short-term disability until March 31, 2008. 

·      It is determined a Gainsharing payment will be disbursed to the workforce based on quality and productivity of the 1^st calendar quarter. 

·      Employee A is eligible to receive a partial payment in the amount of 7/13 of the total Gainsharing payment.

 

Should a new hire complete the probationary period during one quarter and their original hire date be in the previous quarter the payout will be retroactive back to the beginning of the quarter in which the employee completed the 45-day probation period.

 

B. Termination of Employment

 

If an employee terminates employment for reasons other than retirement or death, they will be ineligible for a Gainsharing payment.

 

C. APA and EOL Quality Audit Inspection and Scoring Procedure

 

Audit trucks will be selected at random for the APA and EOL quality audit by the auditors. The selected vehicles must be factory released but prior to PDI inspection.

 

A designated bargaining unit employee will perform the APA audit per the established APA audit procedures and inspection guidelines. The auditor will record all discrepancies found and load the inspection results into the APA audit system.  The system will automatically score the audit discrepancies based on the severity scoring weights.

 

Two (2) APA audits and one (1) EOL audit from each shift, each day of production will be audited for the gain sharing program. The percentage of model mix required to be audited for the gain sharing program will match the current build model mix.

 

Audit averages will be rounded down to the nearest tenth (1/10) of a point.

 

The audited trucks will be placed in a designated location for all employees to review. Audit results will be posted with the truck. 

 

 

 

 

D.  Plan Implementation

 

The parties recognize Gainsharing is a new concept for the Portland TMP.  In cases where a new concept is introduced, issues may arise which could not be anticipated by the parties during negotiations.  In light of this, management and the unions agree to make a good faith effort to resolve these issues.