Local 727 Secures Retroactivity, Advance, and Due Process for Preventable Accidents in CDT Extension Agreement
Teamsters Local 727 and Cook DuPage Transportation, Inc., a subsidiary of National Express, met to continue negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement on Tuesday, November 19 and Thursday, November 21. Though PACE was expected to award the bid months ago, the Company informed the Union during the parties’ last bargaining sessions that PACE had once again delayed awarding the work at its November meeting. CDT also stated that it did not believe that it would have any definitive answer from PACE by the end of the year. As a result of this further delay, the Local 727 bargaining committee proposed an additional extension agreement that would extend the current contract through March 15, 2020.
On Tuesday, December 3, the Local 727 bargaining committee met to discuss CDT’s counterproposal to the Union’s extension agreement. Ultimately, the parties have agreed to extend the current contract through March 15, 2020 under the following conditions:
- All wages, benefits, and other economic benefits will be retroactive to November 1, 2019;
- CDT employees will receive a $350 advance on any upcoming retroactive wage increases by no later than December 20, 2019;
- Two attendance points will be removed from all employees’ records, effective November 1, 2019;
- Unused sick/personal days from 2019 will be rolled over to 2020;
- CDT is required to notify drivers when they are charged with a preventable accident and the issue of whether an accident was preventable will be subject to the grievance procedure;
- CDT is required to notify in writing all employees who incurred a preventable accident prior to October 30, 2019 no later than January 15, 2020 and provide the list of all preventable accidents to the Union. The issue of whether these accidents were preventable will be subject to the grievance procedure and the Company will be required to set aside an adequate amount of time to review the subsequent grievances with Local 727 and Union stewards. Additionally, any employee who CDT believes incurred two preventable accidents prior to October 30, 2019, will be subject to the current policy that states 3 accidents in an 18-month span will result in termination. Once the accidents have dropped off the employee’s record, the employee will be transitioned to the new policy that states 3 accidents in a 24-month span will result in termination; and
- All employees will continue to receive the longevity increases included in the current contract.
Though the extension agreement would terminate in March 2020, the Union bargaining committee remains optimistic that a fair agreement can be reached before the deadline.
“Nearly all non-economic matters have already been agreed upon,” said John Coli, Jr., Local 727 Secretary-Treasurer. “While the Local 727 bargaining committee is very proud of the progress that has been made and we remain eager to dive into economic negotiations, we want to ensure our members receive the best contract possible. That means remaining patient and aligning our negotiations with the Company’s long-awaited PACE bid.”
The Union will continue to update members as contract negotiations proceed.
Members with questions should contact Local 727 Business Representative Donnie Von Moore at (773) 403-1032 or [email protected].
Nothing in this article should be read as the union’s waiver of any legal argument, position or grievance(s), or as a waiver of any rights, arguments, or defenses under any contract, collective bargaining agreement, or applicable law. The union does not forfeit its right to make any and all supplemental arguments.
Category: PARATRANSIT
