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Agreement Between

NABET-CWA, AFL-CIO

AND

WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION

2005 - 2008

(Electronic Reproduction***)


AGREEMENT

This Agreement is between the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO (hereinafter called the Union) and the WGBH Educational Foundation (hereinafter called the Employer).

 

ARTICLE I

RECOGNITION AND WARRANTY

1.1 The term "employee " as used in this Agreement applies to all regular full-time, regular part-time, temporary and freelance employees employed at the Employer's Allston, Massachusetts location, classified as engineers within the jurisdiction of this Agreement as hereinafter defined, but excluding all other employees, professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the National Labor Relations Act. The Union represents and warrants, and it is the essence hereof, that it represents for collective bargaining purposes, a majority of the employees. The Employer accepts and recognizes the Union as the exclusive bargaining agent of and for the employees of the Employer as herein described, with reference to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment and other terms and conditions of employment.


ARTICLE II

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND NO DISCRIMINATION

2.1 It is the policy of the Employer and the Union not to discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race , religion , color , sex , sexual preference , age , national origin , military service or disability (except in the case of handicap where such handicap would prevent employee from meeting the bona fide requirements of the job). Additionally, the Employer and the Union will take positive steps to insure that protected class employees are in no way obstructed from advancement and receive equal opportunities for transfer, promotion, layoff , recall , training , education, and compensation . As used in this Agreement, and except as otherwise clearly required by their context, the masculine, feminine and neuter import one another.

2.2 All employees are encouraged to refer to the Human Resources Office protected class applicants believed to be potential candidates for existing and/or future openings.

2.3 The Employer will not discriminate against any Employee for legal conduct in furtherance of the policies and aims of the Union.

2.4 The Director of Human Resources will provide copies of all job postings throughout the Foundation to the NABET-CWA Local President or his designee as the openings are posted.


ARTICLE III
EMPLOYMENT

3.1 As a condition of employment, all employees referred to in Section 1.1 shall, thirty (30) days after the date of execution of this Agreement, or in the case of new employees, thirty (30) days after the date of hiring, become members of the Union and remain in good standing in the Union during the term of this Agreement.

3.2 For the purposes of this agreement the term "days" shall be deemed to mean calendar days except where otherwise specified.

3.2 (a) The Employer will, within five (5) working days after receipt of proof from the Union, discharge any employee who is not in good standing in the Union by virtue of having failed to tender the uniform membership dues and initiation fees, as required by the preceding paragraph. Employees terminated pursuant to this provision shall not be entitled to notice, or severance payment, under Article XVIII hereof.

3.2 (b) Regular full-time, regular part-time, freelance and temporary employees shall have the option, with reference to initiation fees, of discharging the obligation in one lump sum payment or six (6) monthly installments.

3.3 The Employer agrees to refer all employees hired hereunder, within seven (7) days after the commencement of work, to the Local Officers of the Union for information and advice as to the Union Shop requirements of the Agreement and to notify the Local Union of such hiring as soon as possible but no later than the expiration of the seven (7) day period. The notice to the Local Union shall be in writing, and shall include the new employee's name, address, telephone number (unless unlisted), and whether a Regular Full-Time, Regular Part-Time, Temporary or Freelance Employee.

3.4

(a) All new employees hired after the effective date of this Agreement will be subject to a probationary period of ninety (90) days unless that period is reduced by the Employer. That period may be extended for an additional ninety (90) days with the mutual agreement of the Employer, the Union and the Employee.

(b) Days lost due to sickness or accident shall not break the consecutive period of an employee's probationary period, and such probationary period shall be extended by the number of such days.

(c) During his/her probationary period, the employee may be discharged in the sole discretion of the Employer, and such discharge shall not be subject to the grievance and arbitration procedure of this Agreement.

3.5 Definitions of Employees.

(a) Regular Full-time Employees - An employee who is occupying a permanent full-time position. Such employee is eligible for all benefits defined in this Agreement.

(b) Regular Part-time Employees -An employee hired for an indefinite period of time scheduled for at least eight (8) hours and up to twenty-five (25) hours per week which hours may be scheduled in increments of any number of hours on any given day during the week. Employees employed as of March 1, 1999, and new employees hired to staff overnight air operations (Master Control and VTR/Media Prep) may be scheduled to work up to thirty hours on a part-time basis. The limits on maximum part time hours in a week will not apply during holiday weeks or during weeks when the employee is needed to cover for a vacationing staff member. Part? time employees who are regularly scheduled to work sixteen (16) or more hours per week for more than six (6) months per year will be eligible to receive health benefits on the same basis as full-time employees and will receive vacation benefits and salary continuation equal to one half the benefit available to full-time employees with equivalent length of service. For purposes of this provision, a day of vacation and salary continuation shall be equal to the number of hours the employee would have worked on the day the vacation/salary continuation is taken. No other benefits apply, and part-time employees do not acquire seniority or become eligible for severance pay.

(c) Temporary Employees - An employee hired for the purpose of supplementing the regular employees. Temporary employees are subject to all work rules but shall not be eligible for benefits, including severance pay, and shall not acquire seniority. Temporary employees will be hired, on a weekly basis, at no less than the minimum of the applicable wage scale set forth in Section 7.3 hereof, and will be given a minimum of one (1) week's notice prior to termination, or transfer, unless such termination, or transfer, of employment was specified at the time of hire. If the complement of regular full-time employees under this agreement is less than forty (40), the number of temporary employees will be limited to not more than the number of employees absent due to long term illness , leave of absence , or vacation . If the complement of regular full-time employees under this agreement is forty-five (45) or more, the number of temporary employees will be limited to the number of employees absent due to long term illness, leave of absence or vacation plus an additional number of temporary employees not to exceed ten percent (10%) of the number of active regular full-time employees. Such additional temporary employees may be hired for a period not to exceed thirteen (13) weeks.

(d) Freelance Employees

(i) May be utilized by the employer on a full- or part-time basis, to augment the full-time staff, then actively employed, to meet requirements in numbers or skills that may be occasioned by resignations, increased work loads, or any other condition that may create a short term staffing need. Freelance employees are covered by all work rules of this Agreement, but are not eligible for severance pay or benefits , and shall not acquire seniority hereunder.

(ii) Freelance employees shall be hired on a five (5) hour per day minimum basis and will be compensated at an hourly rate of pay not less than one hundred ten percent (110%) of the top of the scale set forth in Article 7.3(a) rounded to the next highest dollar. Free lance employees will be eligible for overtime for any hours worked in excess of eight, or in excess of ten (10) in case of a ten hour call.

(iii) The parties recognize that full-time staff employees desire opportunity to work on special productions and assignments which provide an opportunity for variety and work experience and professional growth opportunities. It is also recognized, however, that it is essential for the station to maintain and project the highest possible quality levels if it is to continue to provide work opportunities for bargaining unit employees. In order to maximize the above objectives to the greatest extent possible, the parties are agreed as follows:

(a) It is agreed that regular full-time staff employees who, in the opinion of Production Services Management, are equally qualified to perform a given special assignment, and who are acceptable to the executive producer (or, in the case of an outside client, its designated representative), or his or her designee, responsible for the work, such employees will be preferred over freelance employees.

(b) In addition, it is agreed that if the producer responsible for the work in question requests the assignment of a regular full-time staff employee to a particular project which would otherwise be filled by a freelance employee, and the regular full-time employee is, in the opinion of Production Services Management, qualified to perform the same, the full-time staff employee shall be given preference to such assignment.

(c) It is understood that, in either case, such assignment will not be required if it will result in any additional cost to the Employer, including, but not limited to, penalties, turnaround or additional overtime.

(1) The Employer agrees that if a regular full-time staff employee requests, in writing, opportunity to work on a particular assignment and such request is rejected, the party rejecting the employee will, upon the written request of the employee that it do so, furnish the employee and the Union with a written statement as to who made the decision to reject such application and the reasons for such rejection.

3.6 Full Crew Provision.

The Employer and the Union are agreed that neither regular part-time, nor freelance employees , nor any combination thereof, shall be utilized in such a manner as to substitute for, or to displace from full-time employment , a regular full-time employee by causing a layoff of such an employee who is then actively working, or by avoiding or deferring the recall to full-time employment of such an employee who is then on layoff subject to recall.

For the purposes of this provision, full-time employment is any work which the employer undertakes which can reasonably be scheduled to provide work for a regular full-time employee, as defined in 3.5 (a), over a period reasonably expected to involve ten (10) or more weeks of continuous employment. Employees offered recall to full-time employment, as above defined, who accept the same, shall be guaranteed work, or pay in lieu thereof, for a minimum of ten (10) weeks, and such employee shall not be returned to laid off status at or after the expiration of such period unless the notice requirements of Section 18.1 of this Agreement have first been satisfied.

3.7

(a) Employment Preference for Laid Off Regular Full-Time Employees.

(i) Employment Preference for Laid Off Regular Full-Time Employees. The Employer agrees that employees who are on lay off with recall rights will be offered the opportunity to return to regular part time, freelance and/or temporary employment within their primary job assignment, giving preference to seniority, subject to the senior employee's qualifications to perform the work constituting the subject of such assignment to the Employer's standards.

(ii) Primary job assignments for purposes of this Article will be:
Maintenance, Studio Crew, EFP Camera Operators, Editors, Audio Post Production Operators, Master Control Operators, Tape Floor, Radio Maintenance Engineers, FM Engineers and World Engineers.

(iii) The parties will designate the employee's primary job assignment at the time of the lay off.

(iv) In the event of a recall opportunity that is expected to provide a mix of duties associated with multiple primary job assignments, the work will be offered, in order of seniority, to laid off employees who are in the primary job assignment which is expected to provide the predominant amount of work for the shift in question.

(v) The minimum daily call for laid off employees performing free lance, part time or temporary work shall be:

A five- (5) hour minimum call per day for regular part-time employment, and for freelance opportunities outside the - employee's primary job assignment

An eight- (8) hour minimum call per day for freelance
employment within the employee's primary job assignment.

(vi) A laid off employee who has rejected four (4) offers of employment within his primary job assignment shall not, again, be considered for further offers unless the employee has notified the Employer of his willingness to accept the same and shall, be assigned, to the bottom of me seniority list for the purpose of such assignments.

(vii) The Employer agrees, however, that any employee accepting, or rejecting, an offer of employment under this provision does so without affecting his layoff status or his severance entitlement and mat an employee may remove himself from the "offer" list for a specified period of time, by advance written notice to the Employer, without penalty.

(b) The Employer agrees that when there are regular full-time positions available, for which there are no regular full-time employees on layoff who accept recall, preference among equally qualified applicants for such position will be given to the then currently employed regular part-time employees. As between equally qualified regular part-time employees applying for such position, the employee with the greater accumulated number of hours with the Employer will be preferred. A regular part-time employee hired for such a position shall be credited with his accumulated part-time hours, (on the ratio of 170 hours equals one month) toward his/her probationary period under Section 3.4 above, except for the final two (2) months thereof. For purposes of applying the foregoing, it is agreed that in any situation in which the scope and requirements of the regular full-time position are essentially the same as the scope and requirements as the position occupied by a part-time employee, such part-time employee will be presumed, subject to the application of the probationary period set forth above, to be equal in ability to new hires unless such new hire can demonstrate significantly superior ability for such regular full-time position.


ARTICLE IV
CHECK-OFF

4.1 Upon receipt of a signed authorization of the employee involved, in the form set forth in Section 4.4, the Employer shall deduct from the employee's pay check the Union initiation fee and the dues payable by him to the Union and, at the option of the Local Union, the dues payable by him to the Local Union, during the period provided for in said authorization.

4.2 Deductions shall be made on account of initiation fees from the first pay check of the employee after receipt of the authorization of in accordance with the schedule of payments provided for therein. Deductions shall be made on account of Union dues from the first paycheck of the employee after receipt of the authorization and bi-weekly thereafter. Deductions of Union dues and Local Union dues shall not be made from severance pay .

4.3 Deductions for Local Union dues shall be remitted to the Local Union and deduction for initiation fees and union dues shall be remitted to the International Office of the Union in each case no later than the tenth (10th) day of the month following the deductions. The Employer shall furnish the International Union and the Local Union, at least monthly, with an alphabetical record of those for whom deductions have been made and the total amount of each deduction. In the case of dues withheld from freelancer's compensation , the Employer will also provide the gross earnings and social security number of the freelancers for whom dues are forwarded.

4.4 The parties agree that the check-off authorizations shall be in the following form:

Name__________________________ Dept._________________________

(Please Print) (Please Print)

I hereby authorize the WGBH Educational Foundation to deduct bi-weekly from my wages a sum equal to (provide for percentage to be deducted) of my total earnings for the previous bi-weekly period including all overtime and penalty payments on account of membership dues in NABET-CWA. I further authorize the Foundation when notified in writing to do so by the Local Union to deduct from my wages on account of Union Initiation Fee the sum of ___________________ Dollars which shall be paid (provide for period and number of payments). I further authorize the Foundation to deduct from my wages on account of dues payable to the Local Union (provide for amount or percentage to be deducted). The sums thus to be deducted are assigned by me to NABET-CWA and are to be remitted by the Foundation to the Union and the Local Union.

I submit this authorization and assignment with the understanding that it will be effective and irrevocable for a period of one (1) year from this date, or up to the termination date of the current collective bargaining agreement between the WGBH Educational Foundation and NABET-CWA, whichever occurs sooner.

This authorization and assignment shall continue in full force and effect for yearly periods beyond the irrevocable period set forth above and each subsequent yearly period shall be similarly irrevocable unless revoked by me within ten (10 ) days prior to the expiration of any irrevocable period hereof. Such revocation shall be effected by written notice by registered mail to the Foundation and the Union within such ten (10) day period.

Signature_______________________________Date_____________________


ARTICLE V
WORK SCHEDULES

5.1 The Week :

(a) The week for full-time employees shall consist of, and the schedule shall reflect, four (4) consecutive work days and three (3) scheduled days off or five (5) consecutive work days and two (2) days off, as hereinafter provided.

A day off scheduled as an overtime day shall also be reflected on the Schedule.

(b) The week begins at 12:01 A.M. on Monday and continues until 12:00 Midnight on the following Sunday. Subject to overtime assignments pursuant to 5.2(g) and 5.2(h) hereof, for employees on a four (4) day schedule at least two (2) of the three (3) days off shall be scheduled in each week so as to be consecutive, and no single days off shall be scheduled, except that the Employer and the affected employee may agree to single days off to expedite the employee's return to a Monday through Friday schedule. Sunday and Monday shall be considered consecutive for the purpose of scheduled days off.

(c) Should there be less than four (4) hours separating consecutive shifts, this time shall be considered contiguous to the previous shift, as if time worked.

(d) There shall be a minimum of twelve (12) hours turnaround between the time an employee leaves work on any day and the time he reports for work on the next day, as a turnaround period. Assignments during the turnaround period shall be compensated for, in addition to the applicable rate, in an amount equal to one-half (1/2) the employee's straight time rate per hour for the portion of such assignment which encroaches on the period specified above (not including, however, any time not worked but paid for pursuant to (c) above.) The foregoing shall not apply if the employee has been off work for one hundred sixty-eight (168) or more hours. In the event of a scheduled turnaround of less than eight (8) hours, employees will be eligible for reimbursement for the cost of a single motel room and overnight parking (not to exceed the current cost of a single room plus parking at the Company's corporate rate at the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel on Storrow Drive). Employees will be required to produce receipts to substantiate any claim for reimbursement.

(e) The Employer agrees that all employees hired prior to August 31, 1980 shall remain frozen in their work schedule, (as between five eight (8) hours days and four ten (10) hour days), as it existed at that time, unless they volunteer to change the same. With respect to employees hired thereafter and prior to the date of execution of this Agreement and any new employees hired in the future, with the understanding that they are subject to this provision, the Employer may assign such employee to work a five (5) day work week with, subject to overtime assignments pursuant to 5.2 (g) and 5.2 (h) hereof, two (2) consecutive days off, each day consisting of eight (8) straight time hours. The employee will be given at least two (2) calendar weeks prior notice of assignment to a 5/8 week from a 4/10 week, or vice versa. An employee working under this provision shall receive overtime pay after eight (8) hours work per day, shall qualify for a meal period provided for herein, and the hours of work referred to in Section 5.2(b) and (c) shall be seven (7) and (8) rather than the nine (9) and ten (10) specified therein for employees working a four (4) day schedule.

In any given week, the Employer will offer an opportunity of a four (4) day work week to a sufficient number of employees to insure that the total number of employees who were offered such work (including all grandfathered employees and employees on vacation who normally work a four [4] day work week) shall not be less than fifty percent (50%) of the regular full-time and full-time temporary force then actively employed.

(f) The shifts of Employees who are primarily assigned to air operations , except for employees who have picked a shift under the provisions of side letter F, will be rotated on the first Monday of April, August, and December. Employees who have picked a shift under the provisions of side letter F will not be rotated, and the shifts they have picked will not be available to employees who are rotating. Employees working air operations (Master Control and VTR /Media Prep ) shifts beginning on Friday or Sunday and overnight shifts will not participate in rotation.

5.2 The Work Day

(a) There shall be no split shifts .

(b) The work day for engineers assigned to Broadcast operations (Transmitter , Master Control, VTR operator ) shall be either seven (7) or nine (9) hours and the engineers will eat on the job. In the event an employee remains after his completed broadcast shift on overtime in a non-broadcast assignment the 8th or 10th hour of pay will be counted as time worked for purposes of subsequent meal periods . An employee who remains on overtime in a broadcast assignment will qualify for one hour of pay for time not worked on the second shift provided he or she works a total of not less than sixteen (16) hours on the two (2) shifts.

(c) The work day for all other full-time employees shall be eight (8) or ten (10) hours including a one (1) hour paid meal period.

(d) If the Employer requires such functions to be performed, fifteen (15) minutes' time shall be allowed at the end of the work day for the purpose of minimum strike, equipment normalization and cleanup of work areas.

(e) The weekly work schedule shall be posted not later than 3:00 P.M. Tuesday (or Wednesday if Monday is a holiday, observed as such by the Employer's clerical personnel) for the following week. If not, each employee affected thereby shall receive a fee of fifteen dollars ($15.00). If the affected employee's schedule is not posted by Tuesday or Wednesday at 3:00 P.M., as above provided, and he notifies the Scheduling Office, an additional penalty fee shall be paid for each 24-hour period thereafter until such employee's schedule is posted or the work performed.

(1) The schedule posted on XYTECH shall be considered the official schedule.

(2) Work schedules for transmitter engineers may be communicated by telephone for posting on the transmitter bulletin board subject to the same deadlines and penalties.

(3) When a remote takes place on the day the schedule is posted, it will be the responsibility of the Employer to notify employees of their posted schedule.

(4) Employees shall be at the work place assigned on the schedule at the designated time on each work day ready to perform the assigned work.

(5) The daily assignments of all bargaining unit employees will be posted on XYTECH.

(6) When reporting to work at a production location within the. Boston Area Core Zone, the employee shall be paid from the actual start time until dismissed. When reporting to work at a production location outside of the Boston Area Core Zone, the employee shall be paid at their rate in effect for all time traveling to and from the production location, measured from the principal place of business of WGBH to the production location.

Employees working on co-productions may also be scheduled to start and end work at a production location outside the Boston Area Core Zone, provided that the location is within a forty mile radius of the principle place of business of WGBH.

Unless transported by the Employer, employees traveling to any production location outside of the Core Zone shall be paid a mileage allowance calculated at the IRS reimbursement rate per mile to and from the production location, measured from the principle place of business of WGBH to the production location.

The Boston Area Core Zone includes all the cities and towns generally within a distance of twenty (20) miles from the Massachusetts State House. Cities and towns progressively farther from Boston up to and including the following outer tier are within the Core Zone: Beverly, Wenham, Danvers, Middleton, North Reading, Wilmington, Billerica, Carlisle, Concord, Sudbury, Framingham, Sherborn, Medfield, Walpole, Sharon, Stoughton, Brockton, Whitman, Rockland, Hanover, Norwell, and Scituate.

(f) When an employee's call is changed, the employee will be personally notified by Production Services Management. A note on the bulletin board, or a written change on the schedule, which has been posted not later than the end of the employee's prior work day, shall constitute personal notification. This paragraph does not release every employee from the responsibility of checking the bulletin boards at the beginning and end of each work day.

(1) Notice of daily schedule changes which affect reporting time (other than a daily schedule change consisting of the addition of overtime to the scheduled work assignment) shall be given at least forty-eight (48) clock hours in advance (twenty-four (24) hours in advance on remote productions involving at least one overnight). Such changes with less than the applicable notice specified herein may be made upon payment of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each such change.

(2) Engineers assigned to broadcast operations shall be paid a twenty-five dollar ($25.00) penalty if they do not receive personal notification of a change in their scheduled release time before the end of the previous day's shift. Exempted from this penalty are changes in scheduled release time resulting from late-breaking news, live or delayed hearings and public events, etc.

(3) Changes in scheduled days off in any week will not occur following the posting of the applicable weekly work schedule except by consent of the employees affected.

(4) A freelance shift which has been scheduled on the official post may not be canceled with less than forty-eight (48) hours notice in advance of the scheduled start time, except with the consent of both the Foundation and the employee.

(g) Production Services Management may request overtime of an employee by listing it on the schedule when posted in the preceding week. When such posted overtime is not desired by the employee, the employee must notify the Production Services Management within twenty-four (24) hours of posting. Allowance will be made for those unable to see the schedule. In the event such posted overtime is rejected by the employee initially assigned, it will be offered to any other employee, designated by the Employer, equally qualified to perform the work involved who has indicated to Production Services Management his willingness to accept such overtime. It is understood that the Employer shall not be required to offer such work to employees who are (or would become, by accepting the same) eligible for the double time rate under Section 8.3 hereof. If no such employee is available, or if none can be determined by Friday of the week preceding the week in which such overtime is to be performed, the Employer shall schedule the qualified employee to perform the same who has worked the least number of overtime hours in that month including overtime hours worked under Section 5.2(h) hereof. It is understood that except as provided in 5.2(h) any overtime in excess of twenty (20) hours per month by an employee shall be voluntary on the part of that employee. It is further understood that when all available qualified employees have worked their twenty (20) hours of mandatory overtime and there is insufficient voluntary overtime available to fill the Employer's needs for Pledge and Auction production periods, then the Employer may offer this work to part-time employees regardless of the twenty-five (25) hour limit set forth in 3.5(b).

(1) If overtime is to be requested after the schedule is posted, Production Services Management must obtain the approval of the employee, except as provided in 5.2(h).

(2) There shall be no discrimination because of salary when overtime assignments are made and every reasonable effort will be made to divide overtime equally consistent with the assignment and the capability of the employee, to the extent that reasonable scheduling requirements permit.

(3) When Production Services Management has requested and the employee affected has accepted an overtime assignment, the Employer shall thereafter be obligated to furnish overtime work in the scheduled amount or its monetary equivalent to such employee. Hours paid for but not worked pursuant to any provision of this Agreement will be credited to the twenty (20) hours per month per employee under the preceding provisions of this subsection (g).

(h) The provisions of Section 5.2(g) notwithstanding, employees may be required to work overtime where:

(1) overtime is required by unanticipated events over which the Employer had and exercised no control, including unanticipated absence of scheduled unit employees, and/or,

(2) for up to one (1) hour per work day for the purpose of completing work already in progress.

(i) To the extent reasonable scheduling requirements permit, the Employer agrees to give preference with respect to assignments bearing overtime premium (i.e. time and one-half or double time) to regular full-time staff employees where a choice exists between such employees and freelance , regular part-time or temporary employees with respect to such assignment. It is understood, however, that the Employer has no obligation to create work bearing such overtime premium if it is able to have the necessary work performed on a straight-time basis, by any other person whom the Employer is entitled to employ under the provisions of this Agreement.

5.3 Subject to the provisions of this Agreement, the Employer reserves the right to assign any employee to any shift and to any work considered to be part of this Agreement. The Employer will attempt to make assignments consistent with each employee's preferences and aptitudes, to the extent that reasonable scheduling requirements permit.

5.4 Employees may request or be requested to perform duties not covered by this Agreement, including work performed by contractors under Section 14.1(b), provided such an assignment is mutually acceptable to the employee and the Employer. An employee accepting such an assignment shall be deemed on leave of absence without interruption of seniority and upon completion thereof shall be returned to his or her bargaining unit position.

5.5 It is understood that the foregoing references to "posting ", "bulletin board " and the like are used to reflect current practices and do not restrict the Employer in substituting other means of communicating schedule changes such as electronic bulletins, terminals and the like. When any such substitution is made, the Employer will insure that the new system will continue to provide a protected permanent record of compliance with the provisions of this contract with respect to scheduling information.


ARTICLE VI
MEAL PERIODS

6.1 All meal periods shall be of one hour's duration and shall be paid at the appropriate rate.

6.2

(a) In the case of employees working a four (4) day ten (10) hour schedule, the initial meal period shall be scheduled so as to begin no earlier than the beginning of the fourth (4th) hour and not later than the beginning of the sixth (6th) hour of the work day. In the case of employees working a five (5) day eight (8) hour schedule, the initial meal period shall begin no earlier than the third (3rd) hour and no later that the beginning of the fifth (5th) hour of the work day . In the case of employees assigned to a single production for eight (8) hours or longer on a given day, the initial meal period need not be scheduled, but must begin between the above limits.

(b) In the case of employees working a four (4) day ten (10) hour schedule, employees will be entitled to an additional meal period of (1) one hour's duration following the 11th, 16th, 21st, etc., hour of the work day if work continues after such time. In the case of employees working a five (5) day eight (8) hour schedule, employees shall be entitled to an additional meal period of one (1) hour's duration following the 9th, 14th, 19th, etc., hour of the work day if work continues after such time. The meal may begin in a time period defined as beginning two (2) hours before the entitlement hour and ending on or before the beginning of the hour following the entitlement hour. For example, if an employee whose regular time work day is 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M., is required or scheduled to work beyond 7:00 P.M., he would be entitled to a second meal period beginning between 5:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M.

It is agreed that an employee's second and subsequent meals period shall begin not later than six (6) hours after the end of the preceding meal period

(c) In the case of employees assigned to the same production, post production or "transmission" team where the employees include employees working on both a four (4) day ten (10) hour and a five (5) day eight (8) hour schedule, the meal periods pursuant to the foregoing provisions (a) and (b) shall be those applicable to the majority of employees constituting such team. If employees on the different schedules on such team are equally divided, the meal hours applicable as set forth above to employees on a four (4) day ten (10) hour schedule shall apply.

(d) It is agreed that during live broadcasts or recording of non-recoverable events the meal period may be deferred for the purpose of completing the broadcast/taping.

(e) Under circumstances other than those specified in Section 6.2(d) above should the Employer request, and the employee agree, to take his meal period outside such times, a meal infraction fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) shall be paid. In addition, a meal infraction fee will be paid if a meal is deferred under subsection 6.2(d) for more than one (1) hour.

6.3 On all remotes , the producer may provide an adequate meal at the work site in lieu of travel time to and from the nearest restaurant and the meal allowance for such meal under Article XV hereof. If an adequate meal is not provided, reasonable travel time to and from an adequate restaurant shall be added to the meal period and the applicable meal allowance shall be paid. Employees traveling at the Employer's expense shall not be entitled to meal periods, meal allowances or meal infraction fees if they are provided a meal while traveling appropriate to the time of day and at least comparable to meals provided on scheduled trunk airlines.

6.4 It is agreed that events shall not be scheduled in such manner as to intentionally circumvent the terms of this Agreement.


ARTICLE VII
CLASSIFICATION AND WAGE SCALE

7.1 The term "Engineer " as used in this Agreement applies to all employees whose duties include work performed by engineers and studio technicians as those terms were used prior to March 4, 1987, including installations, set up, operation, adjustment and maintenance of the employer's electronic and electrical technical equipment used for broadcast; switching for master control and video switcher functions; the operation, including physical set-up where required, of electronic television cameras, video switchers , microphone booms, prompting devices , graphic and display devices, front/rear screen projectors, cranes and camera dolly-type devices, and includes studio and remote lighting and stage managing included under the jurisdiction set forth in this agreement.

7.2 All employees covered by this Agreement will be classified as engineers and will be available for assignment to any function within the jurisdiction of this Agreement, with the following exceptions:

(a) Employees who were employed prior to March 4, 1987, will be given adequate training prior to being assigned to work which was not within the classification to which they were assigned prior to March 4, 1987;

(b) Employees who have not been assigned to electronic maintenance work prior to March 4, 1987, will not be required to perform such work except those who are hired to perform such work or who voluntarily accept assignment to that work. It is recognized that there may be certain work assignments that employees who were hired as Studio Technicians or Engineers prior to March 4, 1987, will not be able to perform. Any claim that a former Studio Technician or Engineer does not have the ability or competency to perform a particular assignment that pertained to the classification to which he did not belong before March 4, 1987, after diligent and good faith effort to learn the elements of the work, may be brought to the attention of the Scheduling/Training Committee , and will be resolved under the procedure set forth in that Article.

(c) No current employee, those employed prior to March 4, 1987, shall be laid off as a direct result of this agreement.

7.3

(a) Effective on the dates indicated below, minimum weekly wage scales for regular full-time employees shall be:

  02/21/05 02/20/06 02/19/07
Level One 705 726 748
Level Two 775 798 822
Level Three 833 858 884
Level Four 898 925 953
Level Five 964 993 1023
Level Six 1033 1064 1096
Level Seven 1097 1130 1164
Level Eight 1170 1205 1241
Level Nine 1259 1297 1336
Level Ten 1391 1433 1476

(b) It is recognized that in hiring employees the Employer reserves the right to do so at levels above Level 1 based on its appraisal of their prior experience acquired outside of the Employer's operations covered by this Agreement and that the Employer may, subsequent to hiring an employee and during his or her probationary period, revise its appraisal of the appropriate level to which an employee should be assigned. In either such event it is understood that the employee will progress thereafter on the time intervals provided for above between the various steps from the time of such hiring or revision of level assignment, unless the Employer, in its sole discretion, elects to accelerate such progression.

(c) The Employer, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to grant merit increases , appoint leaders, and designate "senior " positions. Further, the Employer's right shall extend to the amount of compensation (if any), the term of any appointment, the right to review and adjust any such grants, increases, or designations as necessary, at least annually. The need for a title change will not be necessary when merit increases are granted.

(d) The Employer agrees that it is not its intent to reduce any merit or "Senior" premiums in existence on the date of execution hereof so long as the employees receiving the same continue to perform the duties on which such merit premiums are based.

(e) The Employer further reserves the right to offer above-scale compensation to individuals in return for special skills and additional services (e.g., vehicle maintenance , etc.)

(f) The Union will be notified not less frequently than monthly of any hirings or of any revisions by the Employer in level assignment under the foregoing progression scale and any instances of above-scale compensation for any of the foregoing reasons to employees for work performed within the jurisdiction of this Agreement.

(g) The Employer may, at its discretion, negotiate separation agreements with selected employees on an individualized basis, without notice to the union, and without any obligation to offer such agreements, or similar terms, to other employees.

7.4

(a) The Foundation and the Union agree that it is desirable to maintain and enhance the technical ability of the staff and that training programs are an appropriate vehicle for doing so in certain cases. Therefore, a joint Scheduling/Training Committee will be established.

(b) The Scheduling/Training Committee shall be composed of two representatives selected by the Foundation, one (1) of whom shall serve as Chairperson, and two (2) representatives selected by the union. Each party may appoint an additional representative to address any specific issues calling for knowledge or expertise not possessed by members of the standing committee. There shall always be an equal number of Management and Union Representatives on the committee.

(c) The Committee will have the authority to consider general or specific issues regarding training. Union representatives shall not lose any regular pay for attending meetings (overtime and penalties shall not result from such meetings).

(d) Any member of the Advisory Committee may initiate a committee recommendation to the Director of Engineering and Director of Human Resources for the implementation of a specific training program. Any member or members of the committee who does not agree with a particular recommendation may file a notice of dissent which shall set forth the reasons why the member or members do not agree with the recommendation, and the alternative methods to accomplish the objectives underlying the original recommendations.

(e) The purpose of any recommendation will be to provide advice as to what would constitute appropriate training to insure that employees assigned to specific assignments will be able to perform those assignments in a manner which will maintain the Foundation's standards for technical excellence. Due consideration shall also be given to maintaining efficient and economic operations. Recommendations for specific training programs may encompass, where appropriate, classroom instruction, observation, hands-on experience, self instruction and/or factory familiarization, and should include specific recommendations as to the estimated amounts of time for employees to become qualified for a particular assignment, giving due recognition to the fact that the amount of time will vary depending on the trainee's experience.

(f) The Director of Engineering and Director of Human Resources will give good faith consideration to any recommendations received from the Advisory Committee and any dissents to those recommendations. The Committee will be notified of the decision as to whether or not to implement any recommended program, and any modifications in the recommended program. The decision shall not be subject to grievance or arbitration except as set forth in Section (i) of this Article.

(g) In addition to considering training programs the Scheduling/Training Committee will have the authority to consider claims by individual employees that they are being assigned to work which they have not previously performed without having been given adequate or appropriate training. The Committee will take appropriate action to determine the nature of the disputed assignment and the training which the employee has received. It shall report to the Director of Engineering and Director of Human Resources as to whether or not the employee advancing the claim has been provided with adequate training for the assignment and, if it concludes that more training would be appropriate, what the training should consist of. Any member or members who do not agree with the report shall file an explanation of the reasons for the disagreement. The Director of Engineering and Director of Human Resources shall review the recommendations and make a decision as to whether the employee advancing the claim has received adequate training.

(h) Any employee who invokes the procedures of Section (g) will be required to perform the work assigned. However, no discipline for inadequate performance of that assignment may be implemented until after the Scheduling/Training Committee has made its recommendation and the Director of Engineering and Director of Human Resources have reviewed it.

(i) Decisions of the Director of Engineering and Director of Human Resources shall not be subject to grievance or arbitration except that any employee who has invoked his/her rights under Section (g) and is subsequently disciplined for inadequate performance on the disputed assignment will have the right to advance claims of inadequate training in any proceeding challenging the discipline imposed.

(j) In addition to the above, the training committee will have a budget of $25,000.00 (twenty-five thousand dollars) for each year of this contract to pay expenses associated with training to provide the opportunity for employees with interest and aptitude to upgrade existing skills and acquire new skills that will enhance the quality and efficiency ofWGBH operations. Decisions regarding the funding of specific training programs or opportunities will be made following the procedures set forth in Paragraph (d), (e), (f) and (i) of this Section.


ARTICLE VIII
OVERTIME

8.1 The employee's hourly rate shall be computed on his base weekly wage rate divided by forty (40).

8.2 Overtime at the rate of 1.5 times the hourly rate will be paid for work in excess of the regular work day , on a scheduled day off, or in excess of forty (40) regular time hours in one (1) week .

8.3 Overtime at the rate of twice the hourly rate shall be paid for work in excess of twelve (12) hours in any work day, or in excess of fifty-nine (59) hours in any week.

8.4 Time paid for but not worked shall not, except for paid meal periods , illness , holidays , and vacation , be counted when computing total hours in a day or week.

8.5 Overtime not contiguous to a regular shift shall be not less than five (5) hours.

8.6 An employee whose work day includes more than two (2) hours between the hours of 12:00 Midnight and 7:00 A.M. shall be paid a penalty of fifteen percent (15%) of his pay for that work day.

8.7 All overtime payments shall be compensated on the basis of fifteen (15) minute segments .

8.8 Nothing in this Agreement shall be interpreted as requiring a duplication or pyramiding of holiday, daily or weekly overtime payments involving the same hours worked.


ARTICLE IX
SALARY CONTINUATION

9.1 Full-time employees who have completed their probationary period shall become eligible for salary continuation as below-defined during the balance of their first year of employment on the basis of pro-rata pay, to a maximum of forty (40) hours on the basis of 3.33 straight time hours for each full month of employment retroactive to their date of employment.

9.2 After completion of one (1) year of employment, the employee shall become eligible for salary continuation as below-defined, for the twelve month period following each anniversary date of employment according to the following schedule based on the employee's length of service from date of original hire:

1 year to 2 years 80 hours

2 years to 3 years 160 hours

3 years or more 240 hours

Unused salary continuation does not accumulate from year to year except that employees will be allowed to carry over up to one week of unused salary continuation per year, up to a maximum of four weeks, for use in the event of catastrophic illness or injury.

9.3 Salary continuation will be paid for absences due to:

Illness and Off Duty Injury . The Employer may, with advance notice, request an employee to produce a statement from a physician certifying the existence of an illness or injury, whether or not salary continuation is involved, in circumstances where the Employer has reason to believe that the employee has misused salary continuation. If such a statement is not produced upon request, the employee shall not be eligible for salary continuation with respect to such absence.

On Duty Injury . An Employee who is absent from work because of a bona fide on duty injury will be paid the difference between his or her regular salary and the amount of his or her Workmen's Compensation payment for the same number of weeks to which he or she is entitled based on the above schedule. Salary continuation is not applicable for absences due to any injury attributable to employment elsewhere for which compensation is or has been provided under the Workmen's Compensation Act.

Death in the Immediate Family. Up to five (5) days. The immediate family includes: Parents, spouse, daughter, son, sister, brother, or another person who makes his/her household with the employee. Death of grandparents, mother or father-in-law, brother or sister-in law, three (3) days for the purpose of attending funeral.

Other Good Cause. Subject to approval of the Director of Engineering or the Director of Human Resources.

Parental Leave . For the purpose of the above salary continuation, the term "illness" shall include that time an individual is unable to work due to pregnancy. In addition, parents of newborn children and newly adopted children under three (3) years old will be granted up to five (5) working days, parental leave to be taken within one month after the birth or arrival of the child . In an emergency situation where the parent's emotional or physical health is in danger, an extension may be granted with the approval of the Director of Engineering, the General Manager and the Director of Human Resources.

Employees who need to care for a member of their immediate family (as defined above) on an emergency basis may use up to five (5) days of their salary continuation each year for that purpose.

Up to five (5) days per year of salary continuation may be used for personal business. Such time will be taken in either half day or full day increments. No more than two (2) personal days may be used consecutively to each other. No more than one (1) personal day may be used consecutively to holidays or vacation unless additional days are approved by the Supervisor.

9.4 After ten (10) continuous working days of absence due to any single illness or injury the employer may require a physical examination to be conducted by a physician selected and paid for by the Employer. Such a requirement may be implemented as a condition for receiving continued salary continuation, granting or continuing an unpaid leave of absence , or as a condition for permitting the employee to return to work and/or all of the above.

9.5 In addition to salary continuation:

(a) An employee called for Jury Duty may be excused from work and will receive the difference between normal base pay and Jury Duty pay. This amount will be ascertained by the Human Resources Office upon evidence of the employee's check from the court. The employee is required to report for work for all or part of any day he is not engaged in Jury Duty. Employees on Jury Duty will be considered to be working a day shift (9:00 A.M. call ).

(b) An employee who is required to participate in two (2) weeks' annual training as part of a military reserve program will be paid the difference between his normal base pay and the pay he receives for reserve training; this amount to be ascertained by the Human Resources Office upon evidence of the employee's military pay voucher.

(c) Leave of Absence. Once an employee who has been continuously absent because of illness or injury has exhausted his /her salary continuation he/she may apply for a leave of absence for the remaining period of disability up to a maximum period of fifteen (15) months from the first day of the disability. Employees on leave of absence under this section are not considered to be on the active payroll and therefore do not accrue sick or vacation time and are not eligible for benefits except as specifically set forth in Article XII.

9.6 Leaves of Absence. Time off from work for any other purpose shall require written approval of the Director of Engineering or the Director of Human Resources, or their designees and shall be subject to any conditions set forth in said approval. Such time off, if granted, shall be considered leave-of-absence without pay .

9.7 For unpaid leaves-of-absence in excess of three (3) weeks, no time included in such leave shall accrue toward the employee's total length of service at WGBH, nor shall it accrue for any benefits (i.e., vacation, salary continuation, etc.). The length of time of the employee's extended unpaid leave shall be subtracted from the employee's length of service by adding an equivalent number of days to his Anniversary date.

9.8 Family and Medical Leaves

(a) Employees who meet the statutory eligibility requirement will be entitled to the benefits of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA ).

(b) Each eligible employee is entitled to take up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave per anniversary year but in no event shall an employee take a continuous leave of more than 12 weeks in a calendar year.

(c) Eligible employees shall be entitled to FMLA leave for the following purposes:

(1) Birth of a child or to care for a newborn ;

(2) Placement of a child under the age of 18 for adoption or foster care ;

(3) Care for Employee's spouse, domestic partner , child or parent with a serious health condition;

(4) Absences due to a serious health condition that make the Employee unable to perform the functions of his or her job, as defined in the Act.

(d) Any leave taken under other provisions of this Agreement, under circumstances which would qualify for leave under the FMLA , will be counted toward the twelve weeks of leave available under the FMLA, provided that reasonable notice has been given to the Employee. For purposes of this section, notice will be considered reasonable only if it is given: (a) in advance of the leave; or (b) during the leave, in circumstances where the Employer had insufficient information to determine whether the leave qualified under the FMLA at the time it began, or ; (c) within two business days after the employee's return to work in circumstances where the Employer did not learn the reason for the absence until the employee's return.

(e) An Employee's available and applicable paid leave (e.g., vacation, parental leave , salary continuation , in the case of an Employee's own incapacity) may be substituted for unpaid FMLA leave at the discretion of either the Employee or WGBH.

(f) Any violation of the FMLA shall be subject to the grievance and arbitration provisions of this Agreement.


ARTICLE X
VACATIONS

10.1 Vacations

Full-time employees accrue vacation time from their first day of employment , but are not eligible to use said vacation time while on probation or during the probationary period.

10.2 Vacation time is accrued at the following rate for each calendar day of employment:

Date of Hire through the Tenth Anniversary of Date of Hire:
0.438561hrs/day (160 hrs)

From the Tenth Anniversary of Date of Hire through the Fifteenth Anniversary of Date of Hire:
0.4657543 hrs/day (170 hrs)

From the Fifteenth Anniversary of Date of Hire through the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of Date of Hire:
0.5753424 hrs/day (210 hrs)

From the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of Date of Hire:
0.6849315 hrs/day (250 hrs)

To illustrate the foregoing, Employee X is hired on January 1, 1970: From 1/1/70 through 1/1/80, the accrual rate is
0.4383561 hours/day

On 1/1/80, the accrual rate then changes to
0.4657543 hours/day

From 1/1/80 through 1/1/85, the accrual rate is
0.4657543 hours/day

On 1/1/85, the accrual rate then changes to
0.5753424 hours/day

From 1/1/85 through 1/1/95, the accrual rate is
0.5753424 hours/day

On 1/1/95, the accrual rate then changes to
0.6849315 hours/day

10.3

(a) Vacation periods may be taken throughout the year as long as the needs of the Employer to continue operating effectively are met. Vacation time accrued as of June 1 in any calendar year must be taken by May 31 of the following year. If for any reason an employee is unable to take vacation time due him by May 31, the company will pay him or her for unused vacation time, accrued since the prior June 1 or held over pursuant to subsection (e) below.

(b) There shall be two (2) seniority selection periods in each calendar year, as follows:

1. The period of February 15 through and including March 15 shall be the seniority selection period for vacations selected to begin between June 1 and November 30 of that year.

2. The period of August 15 through and including September 15 shall be the seniority selection period for vacations selected to begin between December 1 of that year and May 31 of the following year.

3. Requests for vacations in any given period will not be accepted until the appropriate seniority selection period opens.

4. Vacations selected during the seniority periods will be acted upon (granted or disapproved) by April 1 for the February 15 to March 15 period, and by October 1 for the August 15 to September 15 period.

5. When vacation requests properly filed within the seniority selection period conflict so as to make it impossible for the employer to grant all of the requests, preference shall be given to senior employees in accordance with the provisions of Section 17.1 of this Agreement.

6. A calendar of the applicable vacation weeks (June 1 to November 30 or December 1 to May 31) will be posted during the seniority selection periods. Employees will enter their names in their preferred weeks. Before the close of the seniority selection period each employee will have the option, in order of seniority, to change their selection.

(c) When the choice of vacation dates is made after the appropriate seniority selection period as defined above, and is made in writing and presented in person to the Associate Director of Engineering (or his designee) at least thirty (30) calendar days prior to the first requested vacation date, such vacation shall require approval in writing. Reasonable efforts will be made to notify the employee whether the request has been approved within seven (7) days of the receipt of the request.

In the event of conflict, the provisions of paragraph 5 of Subsection (b) above shall apply. The Employer is under no obligation to honor any vacation requests submitted with less than 60 days' notice.

(d) Once chosen and confirmed, whether pursuant to Subsection (b) or (c) above, the vacation shall not be changed except by mutual agreement between the Employer and the Employee.

(e) A maximum of forty (40) hours may be held over to the following year with written permission from the employee's supervisor .

10.4 Upon termination, accumulated vacation in the year is computed upon a pro-rated basis. Accumulated vacation is allowed regardless of the reason for termination.


ARTICLE XI
HOLIDAYS

11.1 All employees shall receive seven (7) holidays with pay. These holidays are Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Years Day, Martin Luther King's Birthday, Independence Day and Veterans day (to be celebrated the day after Thanksgiving).

11.2 In addition to holiday pay , employees who work on a holiday shall receive time and one-half (1-1/2)their regular rate of pay for time worked unless the paid holiday is also the employee's scheduled day off, in which event, the employee shall receive double his regular hourly rate for time worked in addition to pay for the holiday. All work on a holiday in excess of the regular work day shall be paid at two and one half (2 1/2) times the regular rate of pay unless the paid holiday is also the employee's scheduled day off, in which event, the employee shall receive three (3) times his regular hourly rate for such excess hours. An additional premium of one half (1/2) the hourly rate of pay will apply to all hours worked in excess of twelve (12) on the holiday.

11.3 For the purpose of this Agreement, the provisions applicable to the above-designated holidays shall apply to the calendar day (12:01 a.m. - 12:00 Midnight) on the day on which such holiday is observed by the station generally as set forth in the annual holiday notice from the Human Resources Department.

It is agreed that the annual holiday notice from the Human Resources Department referred to above shall be issued with respect to each calendar year on or before December 1, of the preceding calendar year.

Employees wishing to take religious or other holidays in exchange for those observed under this Agreement shall be permitted to do so by mutual agreement between the employee and the Employer, in which event, the substituted holiday, rather than the holiday specified in this Agreement, shall be treated as the holiday for all purposes of this Agreement.

If a holiday falls on an employee's scheduled day off and the employee is not otherwise compensated for the holiday, the employee shall be entitled to another day off in lieu of the holiday, such day called a compensatory or "comp" day. The employee may request to take said "comp" day by following the procedures as stated in Section 10.3(a).


ARTICLE XII
BENEFITS

12.1 Each employee with more than three (3) months of service will be covered by:

(a) A term life insurance policy in the face amount equal to the employee's annual base salary (reduced to sixty-five percent [65%] of salary when such employee reached age sixty-five [65]; fifty percent [50%] at age seventy [70], but not less than one thousand dollars [$1,000]).

(b) A long term disability policy paying 66 2/3% of basic monthly earnings after disability of ninety (90) days, which disability occurs after one (1) month of employment to a maximum of three thousand dollars ($3,000) per month. The Employer will pay the difference between the benefit payment and the normal base salary during any period when the employee is eligible for both LTD payments and salary continuation .

(b) (i) In order to assist full-time employees who are absent due to catastrophic illness or injuries (i.e. those which are reasonably expected to cause a continuous absence in excess of ninety [90] days), and who have exhausted their accrued sick and vacation time, the employer will allow such individuals to borrow additional paid sick time on the following basis:

0-1 years of service: no borrowing

1-2 years of service 40 hours

2-3 years of service 80 hours

3+ years of service 240 hours

Such borrowed sick time will be available only during periods when the employee is not otherwise eligible for compensation from any insurance plan provided by the employer. Borrowed sick time will not be available as a supplement to disability or Workers' Compensation benefits .

(b) (ii) If it is determined by the long-term disability insurance carrier that the employee is in fact eligible for long-term disability, the employee will not have to reimburse the Employer for borrowed sick time. If the insurance carrier denies the employee's claim for long-term disability benefits, the employee must reimburse the Employer for any borrowed sick time. If the employee returns to work, the amount of sick time borrowed will be deducted from salary continuation which would otherwise be available in the next year. If the employee does not return to work the borrowed sick time will be deducted directly from any compensation owed the employee including salary payments, severance pay , vacation, etc., or the Employer can collect this money through civil action.

(c) An Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) policy in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) to be in effect for twenty-four (24) hours per day.

(1) An additional ninety thousand dollars ($90,000.00) coverage under AD&D for commutation directly to and from work, while on the job, and at all times while away from WGBH on station business.

(2) The Employer shall provide special insurance coverage with equivalent benefits for employees working under certain conditions excluded from the standard Accidental Death and Dismemberment policy, including flights on aircraft other than a scheduled airline; or presence in any area where there is a war, declared or undeclared. Under certain conditions the Employer will have no knowledge of an employee's exposure to such uninsured conditions. It will therefore be the employee's responsibility to notify the Employer of the need for special insurance . The Employer will provide automatic special insurance coverage under the foregoing to the extent available and economically feasible.

12.2 The Employer will provide a group health insurance plan, including family and domestic partner coverage, as provided in WGBH policy, to which Full*time Staff employees and Part*time Staff employees who are regularly scheduled to work 20 or more hours per week may subscribe, subject to the following provisions:

(a) If the employee desires, he or she shall be enrolled on the date of hire provided an application for coverage is made within 30 days, and he or she will be enrolled at his or her own expense, as described in Paragraph 12.2(b). New employees will be notified of their health insurance benefit options.

(b) Employees will be required to contribute fifty percent (50%) of the health insurance premium for the first twenty-six (26) biweekly payroll periods of coverage. After that period the employer will underwrite 100% of the cost of Blue Cross Blue Shield Master Medical (as long as the carrier makes it available to WGBH), and other offered coverage up to a maximum of three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500.00) per year for individual coverage and seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500.00) per year for family coverage. Employees will be required to contribute fifty" percent (50%) of the health insurance premium for the first twenty-six (26) biweekly payroll periods of coverage. After that period the Employer will underwrite 100% of the cost of Blue Cross Blue Shield Master Medical (as long as the carrier makes it available to WGBH), and other offered coverage up to a maximum of three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500.00) per year for individual coverage and seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500.00) per year for family coverage. The employee will be responsible for eighty percent (80%) of any premium costs in excess of the applicable maximum.
For employees on Master Medical the eighty-twenty split will apply to all premium costs, above the maximum. For employees on other plans, the eighty-twenty split will apply to all premium costs above the applicable maximum, provided. however, that the employee's share of the total health insurance premium shall not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) for coverage for the period from April 1.2005 to March 31.2006. The employees share may be increased to thirty-five percent (35%) for coverage for the period from April 1.2006 to March 31.2007 and to forty percent (40%) for coverage during plan years beginning on or after April 1.2007. provided that in no event will the share paid by employees covered by this Agreement exceed the amount that non union employees of the Foundation are required to pay for equivalent coverage.

(b)(i) The Employer and the Union will be available to meet each December to discuss suggested opportunities for control of medical care costs through the addition and/or substitution of alternative insurance arrangements, including, but not limited to, any insurance coverage which may be available through established jointly administered health and welfare funds which meet the requirements of Section 302(c) of the Labor Management Relations Act and all applicable Internal Revenue Service requirements.

(c) Any full-time employees who choose to retire from the Employer will be allowed to retain coverage under the Group Health Plan, including Medicare coverage where applicable, but at their own expense, provided that at the time of retirement they are sixty (60) years of age or older and have at least ten (10) years of full-time service with the Employer. Such coverage may be continued for a maximum of five (5) years from the date of retirement or until age seventy (70), whichever occurs first. In the case of full-time employees with more than twenty (20) years of service who are sixty years or older at the time of retirement WGBH will continue to pay its share of premium costs during the period of extended coverage for five (5) years or until age 70, whichever occurs first.

(d) Medical coverage will be extended to include full-time students in an accredited college to age twenty-five (25).

(e) Employees who have completed their six-month enrollment requirements will be eligible for continued coverage, at the employer's expense, during any period they are receiving long-term disability insurance benefits or worker's compensation insurance benefits and are on a leave of absence pursuant to Article 9.5 (c). During this period the employer will pay for whatever plan the employee was on at the date of acceptance, i.e. HCHP Individual, BC/BS Family, etc. Such extended coverage will not exceed fifteen (15) months from the initial date of disability.

12.3

(a). The Employer will make available to all eligible Employees membership in a retirement plan. To be eligible for the plan the Employee must be twenty-one (21) years old with two years' employment at WGBH. Employees who wish to participate in the retirement plan will contribute four percent (4%) of straight time salary. The Employer will contribute double the Employee's contribution. Eligible Employees may contribute additional amounts, up to the legal maximum, to the Employer's supplemental tax-deferred retirement plan.

(b) The Employer will continue to make its share of pension contributions on behalf of Employees who are receiving monthly long-term disability benefits, provided the Employee was enrolled in the pension plan at the time the Employee became disabled. The amount of monthly contribution shall be the amount contributed for the Employee for the month preceding the beginning of disability.

12.4 Employees will be eligible to participate in the dental insurance plan offered to non-union WGBH Employees on the terms and conditions uniformly applied. WGBH will pay 75% of the premium cost for individual or family coverage on behalf of each Employee who pays the remaining 25%.

12.5 The Employer will furnish the Union, upon request, with a reasonable number of copies of the benefit plans covered by this article and any plan modifications which may occur during the term of this agreement. The Union is responsible for disseminating this information to its members.


ARTICLE XIII
MANAGEMENT RIGHTS

13.1 The sole and exclusive right to make all decisions regarding the management, operation and programming of the Employer's operations covered by this Agreement, including determination of the number of employees covered by this Agreement, the right to issue, and from time to time modify, reasonable work rules and regulations, shall be vested in the Employer, except as otherwise provided herein.


ARTICLE XIV
JURISDICTION

14.1 General.

(a) The jurisdiction of this Agreement shall include the production, post-production and/or transmission of audio, video programs or segments thereof produced by the Employer at its campus in the vicinity of Western Avenue, Allston, Massachusetts, and at any replacement campus, which term shall include its transmitter facilities (currently located in Needham and Milton, Massachusetts) for broadcast over the PBS System, cablecasting or home video distribution and shall also include any such program materials produced by the Employer within the six (6) New England slates (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont), except that nothing in this agreement shall create any jurisdiction over any centralcasting services provided by a separate employer providing programming for any station operated by WGBH.

Except as otherwise specified herein, in the performance of any such work, as above defined, within a fifty (50) mile radius of the Employer's facilities at Western Avenue, Allston, all members of the crew involved in such work shall be employees covered by this Agreement. Outside of said fifty (50) mile radius, but within the six (6) New England states as above defined, all of the key crew positions shall be filled by employees covered by this Agreement.

For the purposes of this Agreement, the key crew positions shall be deemed to be any of the following positions which are involved in the production:

Stage Manager , Switchers , Lighting Director , Camera Persons , Audio and Video Positions , VTR , and Maintenance .

It is agreed that any such program material which originates outside of the six (6) New England states as above-defined shall be deemed outside of the jurisdiction of this Agreement, except that, the Employer will notify the Local Union President of its plans to do so. If qualified bargaining unit members are available, and the Employer has available positions to be filled, the Employer will offer them the opportunity to bid for such work on such terms as may be acceptable to them. If the employer agrees to such terms, the work will be performed thereunder. If not, the Employer may have such work performed by such persons as it selects. It is agreed, however, that if an employee covered by this Agreement is assigned to work outside of the jurisdiction hereof, other than under such mutually agreeable conditions referred to above, all of the terms and conditions of the Agreement shall apply to such assignment.

(b) Leasing of Facilities . The Company may lease or rent any of its facilities with no requirements as to staffing by unit employees in operating positions. In all cases, however, those so using the facilities would be limited to bona fide independent contractors . The Company will notify the Union of the identity of the contractor. Such notification will, if possible, be given to the Union sufficiently prior to the commencement date of the project so as to permit the Union to determine that the lessee is a bona fide independent contractor. It is understood that work performed by bargaining unit members for the lessee will be voluntary and will be on such terms and conditions as mutually agreed upon between the employee and the lessee.

It is the intent of this provision that such leasing shall be supplemental to, and not in substitution for, WGBH production projects. Leasing pursuant to this provision shall not be utilized to displace from full-time employment , as defined in Section 3.5 hereof, a regular full-time employee in any classification , by causing a layoff of such an employee who is then actively working, by avoiding or deferring the recall of such an employee who is then on layoff subject to recall, or by avoiding the hiring of any regular full-time employee.

(c) Nothing in this agreement shall be construed to establish any jurisdiction over the development, creation, or post production of computer generated images, including animation, graphics, text, photographs and video images created without cameras, or audio used in conjunction with computer generated images, for use in interactive media materials. For purposes of this section, interactive media materials are defined as final products produced and organized to be viewed in a non-linear, non-sequential manner, with the sequence of the material viewed dependent upon and determined by interactive input from the user.

(d) NABET employees shall have jurisdiction over the digitizing of source materials that (a) are limited to two inch, one inch, D-3, D-5 and Dbeta, or other formats introduced after the effective date of this Agreement as a substitute format for functions for which D-3 or one inch was the preferred format as of July, 1996;
and (2) are output to videotape at WGBH at the same quality level as the source.

14.2 Co-Productions. In the event the performance of any work within Massachusetts involves co-production with any entity or entities, employees covered by this agreement will be used for not less than fifty percent ( 50% ) of the total engineering hours. It is further agreed that the concept of a co-production of program material otherwise within the general jurisdiction of the Union under this agreement will not be utilized for the purpose of circumventing the terms and conditions of this agreement. The Employer will advise the Union as soon as reasonably possible after Production Services learns of plans for a co-production under the provisions of this paragraph.

Co-productions outside the State of Massachusetts shall not be within the terms of this agreement. It is further agreed, however, in the case of co-productions outside the State of Massachusetts that the notification and voluntary bidding arrangements set forth in Section 14.1(A) above, shall apply.

14.3 Dramatic Productions . The jurisdictional provisions of this agreement will apply to dramatic productions, to the extent the work can be performed by unit members without conflict with the jurisdictional claims of any bargaining agent representing employees of the entity producing such production or the facility in which the same is produced. The Union recognizes and acknowledges that some of the conditions of this agreement may not be appropriate for dramatic productions and agrees that it will give reasonable consideration to requests for modified work rules for individual dramatic productions.

14.4 Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Employer may broadcast the following material through its 125 Western Avenue facilities without such material having been originated by unit employees pursuant to 14.1 (a):

(a) File footage available as a result of a prior production produced by others;

(b) Needed program segments secured from outside sources when such segments are unavailable because of technical or operational difficulties;

(c) Segments used as inserts in news programs recorded by unit personnel from programs originated for the purpose of broadcast by others, or supplied by others where such recording is not feasible;

(d) Programs produced as part of a pool arrangement among television stations including the Employer;

(e) Programs furnished by, or acquired from any other network or station; or from any other organization which exercises control over the selection of people to perform work which otherwise would have been within the jurisdiction of this Agreement, provided that WGBH does not exercise any control over the other organization and that the program is not produced exclusively for the Employer.

(f) Syndicated programs.

(g) Segments (including commissioned segments) prepared by non unit personnel who are not employees of WGBH, without the use of WGBH facilities, for inclusion in Greater Boston provided that such segments shall not exceed six minutes for each half hour of the program. Commissioned segments of up to nine minutes per half-hour may be used in any studio based local productions that were not broadcast before 2001, and are not continuations of shows broadcast prior to 2001, and also in Basic Black and La Plaza, and any future continuations o f those programs. The local union president will be made aware of the utilization of this clause. This provision will not be used in a way that causes a layoff of employees who normally perform ENG/EFP work. This provision may also apply to such segments which have been edited by WGBH employees using WGBH facilities, provided that the performance of the editing work does not violate any jurisdictional provision of this Agreement.

(h) Up to seven (7) hours of commissioned programs per fiscal year for local broadcast, prepared by non unit personnel who are not employees of WGBH, produced without the use of WGBH facilities or equipment . This subparagraph shall not be used to commission programs for any series that was broadcast during 1995 or for any new series (defined as six or more programs in one year) after the first year it is broadcast. The local union president will be made aware of the utilization of this clause. This provision will not be used in a way that causes a lay off of employees who normally perform ENG/EFP work.

(i) Standups by WGBH contributors and any other single camera setups which are shot and uplinked by crews and facilities of other employers for use that day as cut-ins in studio based programming, provided the crews and facilities have not been arranged by WGBH for its own programming. Use of a second camera will be permitted provided that a NABET represented employee is assigned to the shoot.

14.5 Equipment. Employees covered by this Agreement shall have jurisdiction over the operation of electronic and/or electrical technical equipment owned or utilized by the Employer within the jurisdiction of this Agreement specified above with the following exceptions:

(a) The operation of videotape devices with formats less than one inch (1") by non-unit personnel for viewing and/ or off-line recording purposes. This exception does not extend to videotape devices used for broadcast or the broadcast uses of new technology, which replaces existing devices used for broadcast purposes.

(b)
The operation of character generator or teletext keyboards (input and recall ), including loading and unloading of discs, outside engineering work areas. Maintenance engineers shall be familiarized with the operational requirements of such equipment.

(c) The operation of prompting devices by non-unit personnel in situations where the manner of presentation requires specialized expertise in foreign, technical or artistic language not possessed by available unit members.

(d)

(i) The editing of videotape whether on or off-line and irrespective of content, except such on-line editing which involves the employee in frame synchronization, video fading, time base correction, dissolving, and/or creating special effects. Non-unit employees will be permitted to edit videotape using machines capable of time base correction. The only adjustments to video levels permitted shall be the input video level adjustment on the record machine. In order to ensure that no time base corrector adjustments are made the time base corrector pull out drawer will remain closed. The foregoing restrictions on the use of time base correction by non-unit employees will not apply to the operations of the Greater Boston Beta Edit Suite. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit NABET-CWA employees from working on digital formats, provided such assignments do not conflict with any current grant of exclusive jurisdiction to another bargaining unit.

(ii) Audio mixing done in connection with the above-described editing without limitation on the number of audio sources, except that no more than four (4) audio sources may be mixed at any one (1) time. It is understood that each audio output of Beta-SP video tape will be considered a source.

(iii) Any and all off-line videotape editing.

(iv) The exceptions to NABET-CWA jurisdiction in subparagraphs (d)(i), (ii) and (iii) do not apply to editing on D-3, D-5 formats, Dbeta formats, or other new formats or devices, introduced after the effective date of this agreement as a substitute format for functions for which D-3 or one inch tape was the preferred format as of July, 1996.

(e) Operating the still store equipment, except that NABET-CWA employees shall have jurisdiction over the operation of this equipment when it's operation is an integral part of switching during production and when it is used as part of post production of formats of one inch (1") or greater. Unit operators shall have the ability to override sequences and assemble sequences when necessary.

(f) Portable audio tape recorders, utilizing only one (1) microphone, may be operated by non-unit personnel for the purpose of gathering news materials or interviews; provided, however, that all dubbing and re-recording of tape shall be done by unit employees.

(g) Computerized devices used in conjunction with equipment which is outside NABET-CWA's jurisdiction.

(h) Lighting for basic illumination for nonproduction purposes not involving adjustment, relocation or refocusing of production lighting equipment.

(i) Operation of the Computer Graphics System (CGS), with the following limitations:

(1) The camera used in conjunction with this system be operated by an AEEF Graphic Artist (s).

(2) The Graphic Artist(s) may only operate external camera controls, with all covers in place.

(3) The camera shall be used to input still life graphic or photographic material only.

(4) The camera output may be connected to local monitor(s) and the CGS only.

(5) The technical content of video recorded by non-unit personnel shall be subject to evaluation by unit personnel as has been the existing practice.

(j) Operation of the INFINIT! , and any substitute piece of equipment limited to the same capabilities, except that unit employees shall have jurisdiction over the triggering of this equipment when its operation is an integral part of switching during production. Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the possible assignment of NABET-CWA employees to other aspects of the INFINIT!'s operation.

(k) Non studio camera work by producers or subjects of the program in circumstances where management reasonably believes that the assignment of employees covered by this Agreement will adversely affect the intended editorial content of the program. The Director of Human Resources, Director of Production Services and a representative of the project will meet with the local union president and a union designee to discuss the applicability of this clause to specific productions. Any claim that the Employer's determination was not reasonable may be submitted to arbitration.

(l) Non unit employees represented by the Association of Employees of the Educational Foundation may utilize media composition systems, including all peripheral equipment electronically connected to such systems, for all types of editing work. This exception to NABET-CWA's editing jurisdiction is conditioned on the maintenance of a corresponding exception agreed to by the AEEF, and will automatically expire in the event that the AEEF's agreement to shared jurisdiction over media composition systems is not renewed.

(m) Employees represented by the AEEF may:
(i) digitize material for input to media composition systems;
(ii) and digitize other material that is not covered by Article 14. l(d).
 

14.6 Maintenance, Installation and Repairs. In addition to the foregoing, the employees covered by this Agreement shall also have jurisdiction over the installation, maintenance and repair of electronic , and/or electrical technical equipment utilized by the Employer in its broadcast and production activities within the jurisdiction of this Agreement specified above, except that:

(a) Past practice shall continue to be followed in connection with the installation maintenance and repair of such equipment by the manufacturers or suppliers thereof, and in connection with the utilization of outside personnel in any situation where specialized knowledge, training or experience is required for such installation, maintenance or repair.

(b) Such outside personnel may also be utilized, as heretofore, for economic efficiencies and in situations where requirements in numbers or skills create short-term staffing needs in these areas.

(c) Implementation of the foregoing subparagraphs (a) and (b) shall not serve to eliminate the Employer's obligations to provide training for unit employees in the operation and maintenance of new equipment , as the case may require.

(d) Employees covered by the NABET-CWA-WGBH Agreement will have primary jurisdiction over the maintenance, set-up and installation of me computer hardware and software of all company owned AVID and like systems. This primary jurisdiction will not be interpreted to prohibit either the set-up of AVID computer hardware or peripheral equipment by management employees from Production Services when NABET-CWA represented employees are not readily available.
 

14.7 New Equipment. In the event that the Employer intends to introduce or permit to be used any process, machinery, equipment or device which significantly alters, modifies or supplants any present process, machinery, equipment or device being operated by employees as of the date of this Agreement, within the jurisdiction hereof as above defined, or any new equipment which will be subject to the oversight of Production Services, the Employer will notify the President of the local Union or his designee of such intent as soon as possible. Thereafter, the parties will bargain in good faith with respect to any claim advanced by the Union that such new machinery, equipment or device should be included within the jurisdiction covered by this Agreement.

14.8 Equipment or techniques which contain significant experimental components may be exempted from these jurisdiction requirements, until such time as they become operational.

14.9 Management Engineers .

(a) The Employer agrees that Management Engineers will not perform routine operation or maintenance duties. Nothing in this Agreement shall restrict or preclude Management Engineers from utilization of facilities or equipment of the Employer in the instruction of employees and in design of new or materially modified equipment, including the design, construction, debugging and testing of an initial acceptable prototype, off-line evaluation of equipment performance or evaluation of work performance of bargaining unit personnel, the design of computer hardware, and the design, installation , maintenance and repair of computer software.

(b) The Employer also agrees that Operations Management supervisors will not perform operation or maintenance duties, or utilize the facilities or equipment of the Employer, within the jurisdiction of this Agreement as specified above, except in connection with the instruction of personnel, or the evaluation of work performance of personnel

(c) It is expressly understood that nothing in this Agreement is intended to preclude non-unit personnel, including members of management, or employees from performing operation or maintenance duties or utilizing the facilities or equipment of the Employer in the case of a bona fide emergency .

14.10 Adequate numbers of employees, will be assigned to do the job required, including relief, as necessary.

(a) On any production involving continuous taping or broadcast for more than two and a half (2 1/2) hours, relief adequate to attend to personal needs will be provided each employee during such period. It is understood that the foregoing does not suggest o