Arbitration, Oil Refinery and United Steel Workers, Scheduling

In this case, the Union grieved the rotation of workers through different assignments at the Lima facility, contending that the definition of schedule under the contract included days and hours of work, as well as the work assignment. The Union's position was that a two-week rotation had to be followed, which meant that the Company would have to call in workers on overtime to cover shifts if the rotation put an employee in a position for which they were not yet qualified (eg. boilerhouse). The Arbitrator confirmed the Company's position and held that the schedule is limited to the days and hours of work. The Company's management rights clause allowed the Company to change employees' rotation through assignments, which significantly reduced the Company's overtime costs.