6.1 Grievance Procedure. The Union will be represented in the grievance procedure as follows:

There may be one (1) steward and one (1) alternate steward for each Steward District set forth in Section 6.5.3. Each steward and alternate steward shall be a nonprobationary employee working in the Steward District. The alternate steward shall only function as a steward when the steward is absent from work.

The stewards, during their working hours, without loss of time or pay, may in their own district, in accordance with the terms of this Section and the terms of the grievance procedure, investigate and present employee grievances to the Employer, upon having received permission from their supervisor to do so. The supervisor will grant permission and provide sufficient time to the stewards to leave their work for these purposes subject to necessary emergency exceptions. The privilege of stewards leaving their work during working hours without loss of time or pay is subject to the understanding that the time will be devoted to the proper handling of grievances and will not be abused; and stewards will perform their regularly assigned work at all times, except when necessary to leave their work to handle grievances as provided herein. Any alleged abuse by either party will be a proper subject for a Special Conference. The President of the Union shall be given released time with pay for participation in the meetings between the Employer and the Union as specified in the grievance procedure.

6.2 Bargaining Committee. There will be a bargaining committee of five (5) members who shall be nonprobationary employees. The committee shall be elected in a manner determined by the Union. The Employer shall also recognize alternate members of the committee who shall function only when the committee person is absent.

Members of the bargaining committee shall be given released time with pay for attendance at regularly scheduled negotiation sessions once negotiations to modify this Agreement as specified in Section 16.1.2 have begun. However, no overtime will be paid for attendance at negotiations unless otherwise agreed to by the Employer.

6.3 List of Representatives. The Union shall furnish the Employer with a list by Steward District of the stewards and alternate stewards and members and alternate members of the bargaining committee. Any change in the list shall be reported promptly in writing by the Union to the Employer. The Employer shall not recognize any employee as a steward or alternate steward or member or alternate member of the bargaining committee without such notice.

6.4 Union Affairs. Designated officials of the Union shall be allowed released time with pay for official business of the International Union, provided that the employee has given the employee's supervisor and the Director of Human Resources or the Director's representative written notice of not less than five (5) working days, and further provided that the employee's absence from the job will cause no undue hardship on the operation of the employee's department. Such released time shall not exceed a combined total of twenty (20) days per fiscal year (July 1 through June 30) for all union officials and shall be granted to not more than four (4) employees at any one time. Additional unpaid released time may be granted for official union business provided that written notice of not less than five (5) working days is given to the supervisor and the Director of Human Resources or the Director's representative and further provided that such absence will cause no undue hardship on the operation of the department or the University.

6.5 Representation Districts

6.5.1 The number of representation districts in the unit shall be agreed upon by the Employer and the Union. Unit wide, as used in this Agreement, shall mean the total bargaining unit. The Employer and the Union may redistrict the unit from time to time by agreement. Districts, as used in this Agreement, shall mean an agreed upon area of the Employer for the purposes of establishing steward representation districts. One (1) steward shall represent one (1) district.

6.5.2 It is mutually recognized that the principle of proportional representation which reflects the increase and decrease in the work force is a sound and sensible basis for implementing this section of the Agreement.

6.5.3 Current representation districts are:

6.6 The Employer shall recognize authorized representatives of the International Union for the purpose of participating in negotiations and representing the Local in connection with other matters under this Agreement.

7.1 Temporary Employees. The Employer and the Union agree that it may become necessary to hire temporary employees on a full- or part-time basis. The determination that such action is necessary shall rest in the independent judgment and complete discretion of the Employer. However, it is recognized that it is not the intent of the Employer to use temporary employees for the purpose of eroding the bargaining unit.

7.2 Definition. The term "temporary employee" shall mean any individual or individuals whose employment is limited in duration to not more than four (4) consecutive full-time months and is established for:

7.3 In the event that a vacated position is filled by a temporary employee, the Employer will make a concerted effort to provide the Union President with the name of the person assigned, starting date, department, previous incumbent, job assignment, and which subsection of 7.2 [(a) - (c)] applies. If conditions warrant continued employment in a bargaining unit position beyond four (4) months, the position will be posted in accordance with Section 12.3. The four (4)-month period may be extended by mutual agreement between the Union and the Employer.

7.4 Temporary employees are not entitled to Employer-paid fringe benefits.

7.5 Any person enrolled for at least six (6) credit hours in a degree granting program and employed under the work-study program or any other student employment program monitored by the Financial Aid Office, or performing services for compensation in order to fulfill an academic requirement, student internship, or graduate assistantship shall be considered a student employee. A graduate student is required to be enrolled for a minimum of four (4) credit hours in a degree granting program to qualify as a student employee.

8.1 When contemplating the displacement of an employee, the Employer will consider options, including retraining, which would enable the Employer to retain the affected employee.

When a reduction of the work force becomes necessary, first all temporary employees and then probationary employees will be laid off, provided that the available work can be performed by the remaining regular employees. In the event probationary employees are rehired into the same bargaining unit position with the same job classification within sixty (60) days after layoff, they will have their probationary period reduced by the number of probationary days already served; provided, however, they will in any event serve at least an additional thirty (30) probationary days.

8.2 Layoff. When, in the judgment of the Employer, a reduction of the work force in a classification and department becomes necessary, the employee with the least seniority in the affected classification shall be laid off first, provided the employees remaining in the classification and department have the ability to satisfactorily perform the work available. An employee scheduled for layoff who chooses to exercise seniority shall, subject to their current ability to satisfactorily perform the work available, and subject to their possession of the minimum qualifications for the job, exercise their seniority in the following order:

8.2.1 Employees replaced in accordance with the above shall exercise their unit seniority to replace another employee in the same manner. The final bump shall occur not later than the effective date of the original layoff notice.

8.2.2 A full-time employee may displace two (2) or more part-time employees, if such an arrangement is feasible and the part-time responsibilities can be fulfilled.

8.2.3 In applying Section 8.2, in the event a part-time employee has more seniority than a full-time employee, the part-time employee can exercise seniority to displace the full-time employee at least to the extent of the same number of part-time hours as the position previously held. If feasible, the University will divide the position affected into two (2) part-time positions so that the part-time employee has the same number of hours previously held and the full-time employee has the remaining hours of the position. The full-time employee can then exercise the employee's seniority under Section 8.2 above. If the above is not feasible, the part-time employee will displace the full-time employee.

8.2.4 The Union may request an employee not be required to bump into a different shift.  The Employer shall consider the request and reserves the right to deny or approve the request.

8.3 Recall. All full- and part-time employees with seniority on layoff because of a reduction of the work force will be recalled, conditioned upon ability to perform the work available with a normal orientation, and subject to their possession of the minimum qualifications of the job, in order of seniority prior to posting a regular job opening in the laid off employee's prior classification or lower classification. Recall rights are limited to the period specified in Section 9.6 (c).

8.3.1 Notice. Notice of recall shall be sent to the employee at the employee's last known address by registered or certified mail. If an employee fails to report for work within fifteen (15) working days of mailing, the employee shall be considered to have waived all rights to recall and to have voluntarily resigned. Extensions will be granted by the Employer in extenuating circumstances.

8.4 Temporary Layoffs. In the event nonprobationary employees are laid off due to a temporary discontinuance of operations, or any portion thereof, necessitated by the academic calendar or conditions, including financial, not immediately correctable by the University, temporary adjustments in the work force can be made without application of the Layoff or Recall Procedures. Such temporary layoffs will not exceed a total of seven (7) days per contract year or two (2) days per pay period, and the Union will be notified before such layoffs are implemented.

8.5 Notice to Union and Liability. Names of employees removed from a classification or laid off in a reduction of the working force and recalled to work shall be given to the Union in writing. A grievance alleging a violation of the layoff and recall procedures may be processed through the grievance procedure, provided such grievance is submitted in writing at Step Three within seventy-two (72) hours after the Union receives notification of a removal of layoff or a recall to work.

8.6 Definitions. For the purpose of this Article:

"Ability to perform the work" means present skills, including interpersonal, and knowledge, within the knowledge of the University from its records or as otherwise made known to the University, to perform the full range of duties of the position in question.

"Normal orientation" means the period of time to be, or to become, acquainted with those aspects of the position that the employee could not or would not otherwise know, as distinguished from training or learning the basic or special skills needed for a position.

A "vacancy" shall be defined as an open position which the Employer intends to fill.

8.7 Notice to Employees. At least thirty (30) working days prior to a layoff, other than a temporary layoff, the matter shall be discussed between the Director of Human Resources and the President of the Union and one (1) other representative of the Union. The employee who is scheduled to be laid off and the Union shall be notified in writing by the Director of Human Resources or other designated administrative agent at least thirty (30) working days in advance of the layoff. The written notice to the employee and the meeting with the Union may occur simultaneously. An employee's accrued annual leave days will not be used in lieu of this notice.

8.7.1 Normally, notice to final bumped employees shall be issued in writing by the Director of Human Resources at least seven (7) calendar days in advance of the layoff.

8.8 Where "minimum qualifications" are required in this Article, this requirement shall be waived by the University if the individual has demonstrated the ability to perform the available work.

9.1 Employees in the bargaining unit who have completed their probationary period shall be entitled to seniority rights under this Agreement.

9.2 A regular full-time employee in the bargaining unit as of October 27, 1975, shall have seniority dating from the date on the seniority list as agreed upon by the parties at the signing of this Agreement. An employee hired into a regular full-time or regular part-time position subsequent to October 27, 1975, shall have seniority from the date the employee reported to work.

9.3 Each new employee shall be considered a probationary employee for the first ninety (90) calendar days of employment. Upon satisfactory completion of the probationary period, the employee shall be placed on the seniority list of the bargaining unit and shall rank from the date of hire. The probationary period may be extended up to an additional ninety (90) calendar day period with the mutual consent of the Union and the Employer.

9.3.1 There shall be no seniority among probationary employees.

9.3.2 The Union shall represent probationary employees for the purpose of collective bargaining in respect to wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment as set forth in this Agreement. The Union shall not, however, represent probationary employees regarding layoffs and/or terminations, which are nongrievable.

9.4 An employee who transfers to a position outside the bargaining unit in the University, and who returns to the bargaining unit within two years,  shall retain the employee's seniority held at the time of the transfer.

9.5 An employee on layoff, except as limited in Section 9.6 below, shall retain and continue to accumulate seniority.

9.6 Seniority rights of an employee shall cease for any one (1) of the following reasons:

9.7 The Union President shall be furnished a master list of all employees in the bargaining unit showing the seniority date of each full-time and part-time employee. Such list shall contain the name, seniority date, classification of each employee in the bargaining unit, biweekly salary, and employee's mailing address. Revised master lists shall be furnished to the Union by the Employer monthly or as requested by the Union President. Any appeals from the master list shall be made within twenty (20) calendar days following the date the master list is provided to the Union.

9.7.1 The Union President shall be furnished information concerning the date of employment, rate of pay, and classification of an employee in the bargaining unit upon request and within a reasonable period of time.

9.8 Employees who are regularly scheduled to work one thousand five hundred and sixty (1,560) hours or more per year will accrue seniority on a full-time basis. Employees regularly scheduled to work twenty-one (21) or more hours per week but less than thirty (30) hours per week will accrue seniority on a three-quarter-time basis. Employees who work twenty (20) hours per week or less will accrue seniority on a half-time basis.

9.9 In the event that two (2) or more employees have identical seniority dates, seniority will be determined by the year of birth and the employee with the earliest date shall be deemed to have greater seniority. If the year of birth is identical, seniority will be determined by the month of birth. If the month of birth is identical, seniority will be determined by the day of birth.

9.10 Seniority of Union Officials. Members of the bargaining committee, while actively engaged in contract negotiations, shall have top seniority unit-wide for layoff and recall purposes only, provided they have the ability to perform satisfactorily the work available. Union stewards shall have top seniority in the jurisdictional districts they represent, provided they have the ability to perform satisfactorily the work available. The Union President and Chief Steward shall have top seniority unit-wide. Upon the expiration of their terms of office, the above Union officials shall revert to their respective original positions on the seniority list.