Changes in Employee Placement,
Relocation Allowances Increased
Your UAW bargaining team successfully negotiated improvements to the employee placement process that will increase money available to workers who relocate and remove the disadvantage to workers in locations with a lack of excess employees. Offers will now be made in seniority order.
In the event of a permanent opening at a GM facility, the existing procedure will be used. However, area hire applicants will be accepted from active workers from plants with or without excess employees.
Workers who transfer on extended area hire will receive the new $30,000 relocation, regardless of whether excess exists.
Option 1 – Enhanced Relocation
The union was successful in gaining an increase in the relocation allowance to a maximum of $30,000, of which $6,000 will be provided as a signing bonus to cover miscellaneous up-front cash expenses. An additional $16,000 will be paid to the relocated employee at the new location.
After one year of employment, the relocated worker will receive $8,000 if he or she continues to be employed at the new location.
Option 2 – Basic Relocation
The union gained elimination of the relocation allowance based on mileage from the relocated plant to the new location. All workers accepting this option will receive $4,800, regardless of mileage.
Employment Placement System Upgraded to Web-based
The parties have agreed to upgrade the Employee Placement System that will be housed and maintained at the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources (CHR).
The Web-based placement system will provide much more information regarding the status of applications, openings and plant and community information. It will also speed up confirmation of applications filed and updating of employee applications. Separation of data for production and skilled-trades workers will also be accomplished.
Long-Term Temporary Employees
The parties discussed the need for employees to be hired on a long-term temporary basis (i.e., new product launch, Special Attrition Program transition).
It was agreed that long-term temporary employees may be hired for a period of up to one year. Long-term temporary employees hired into traditional jobs will be paid 70 percent of the traditional rate. Those hired into noncore operations will receive the noncore starting rate with progression available.
Long-term temporary employees shall accrue no credit toward acquiring seniority. However, in the event such employees become full-time, they shall receive credit for time worked and establish a plant seniority date as of their date of hire as a long-term temporary employee.
Such employees are not covered by the benefit or pension plans. The active health care plan for long-term temporary employees will be the same as the entry-level plan with these two exceptions: There will be no Flexible Spending Account and drug coverage is capped at $1,000/year per contract. When the enrollee hits the cap, he or she will be eligible for discounted drugs through Medco.
Requests for temporary employees (summer vacation replacements) and long-term temporary employees shall be made to the national parties for mutual approval. Both temporary employees and long-term temporary employees will be considered for entry-level job opportunities.