REFERRAL PROCEDURES
OF THE
OF CARPENTERS
PRINTED SEPTEMBER, 2002
In order to administer the
referral system in a fair and equitable manner, having in mind the complex and varied
classifications of carpentry work, and to establish records and procedures
which will be adequate to disclose fully the basis on which each referral is
made, the following rules have been promulgated. All references herein to
Council mean the Empire State Regional Council of Carpenters.
Each referral is to be made on a
rotation basis, and qualifications indicated by a carpenter on a referral form
provided by the Council.
B. The Council Does Not Operate An Exclusive Hiring Hall or Processing System
1.
Mobility Situation:
In those cases where mobility provisions are applicable, or as per the area’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement, the first person on the job shall be the Shop Steward, who shall be assigned by the Council or its designated representative, and shall not be sent through Referral Procedures.
The second man on the job
shall be the Employer’s foreman, who must be a member of the Council, or as
otherwise permitted per the areas current Collective Bargaining Agreement
(otherwise he will be matched, but not by the Steward). The Employer shall have the right to assign
the balance of the workforce so long as the journeymen are from a Local Union
affiliated with the Council, and the ratio is in accordance to that Region’s
Collective Bargaining Agreements. If the
Employer assigns a journeyman from outside the Council, the Council will have
the right to match that journeyman as per current Agreement.
Fifty percent (50%) of the
carpenters employed on a job within the geographical jurisdiction of the
Council shall be processed through and supplied by the dispatching system
maintained in accordance with the following terms and conditions.
This shall apply to each
individual contractor. The contractor
retains the right to reject any applicant, however, the carpenter, once hired,
cannot be dismissed, except for just cause.
THE SYSTEM DOES NOT PRECLUDE A CARPENTER FROM FINDING HIS OR HER OWN
JOB. If a carpenter, after
registering with the dispatching system, obtains a job on his/her own, he/she
must notify the Council immediately.
2.
Failure To Comply With
Procedures:
If a carpenter fails to contact the appropriate Council or Local Union Dispatcher after obtaining a job on their own, their name will be removed from all Dispatchers’ referral lists, until such time as they appear before a Referral List Committee, appointed by the Council’s Executive Board. In addition, as a Union member, he/she may be subject to disciplinary action.
C. No Discrimination In Referrals
Referrals for jobs pursuant to the Collective Bargaining Agreement shall be on a non-discriminatory basis and shall not be based on union membership, by-laws, rules, regulations, constitutional provisions or any other aspect or obligation of union membership, policies or requirements.
D. Carpenter’s Duties In Signing Referral List
1. When a carpenter becomes unemployed, he/she shall appear at their Council’s designated Dispatch/Referral Office and provide to the Dispatcher or other Council designee, on forms provided by the Council (“Referral Form), his/her name, telephone number or beeper number, address, social security number and Local Union number, and indicated any special carpentry skills he/she is able to perform. Each carpenter shall have the necessary tools to perform the job. Those Referral Forms will be available only at designated Referral Offices. The work categories are as follows:
a. Drywall ) License #________
b. Metal Framing )
c. Ceilings
d. Concrete
e. Fixtures-Furniture
f. Wood Flooring (Nail, Glue)
g. Vinyl Tile
h. Doors and Hardware
i. Trim and Millwork
j. House Framing
k. Store Fronts
l. Welding
m. Computer Flooring
n. Scaffolding ) License #________
o. Dock Building/Pile Driving
There shall be a separate list for Mill/Shop, Floorlaying and Millwright referrals.
2. In order to assure an adequate force of skilled mechanics, each Contractor employing five (5) journeymen must employ one (1) apprentice referral per job site provided through the Council’s referral procedure and one (1) referred apprentice for each additional
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five (5) journeymen, or as per the areas current Collective Bargaining Agreement. The apprentice cannot be used to match a journeyman. No apprentices shall be employed, however, unless such apprentice is part of the Empire State Carpenters Apprenticeship Training Program. All apprentices must be referred under this list, and they shall be referred on a rotation basis.
3.
The Council will be open for referral sign-up between
the hours of
4. Applicants for employment shall not be sent to an employer where there is on file with the Council a letter from that employer which indicates that it is unsafe for that employee to work for that particular employer or that the member is not qualified to perform a specific function/aspect of the trade, and where it has been determined, upon investigation, that the basis for the employer’s complaint is justified.
5. If there is on file with the Council two (2) letters from different contractors which indicated that a carpenter is not qualified to handle an aspect/function of the trade, that individual should not be referred to that aspect or function until he/she takes and passes a retraining program under the auspices of the Apprentice Committee.
E. Referral Procedure
1. Applicants for consideration through this Dispatching System shall be sent out in rotation order, under the criteria otherwise set forth in these procedures.
2. The Dispatcher or other Council designee shall call the carpenter at his/her home at either the telephone number or beeper number on file (two numbers only), and he/she shall make appropriate notations, if the carpenter is selected for referral, giving the date and hour of selection. When the Dispatcher has determined that the person who is first in rotation is unable to be selected because of unavailability or refuses the job, the Dispatcher shall record such determination on the referral list, and the Dispatcher shall continue to contact qualified persons until the job is filled.
3. An applicant is expected to be at home in order to be available for referral. The Dispatcher shall leave a message at the individual’s home telephone number either with a person or an answering machine, or if
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the applicant has so indicated instead of his/her telephone number, the individual’s beeper. The individual has ten (10) minutes after the Dispatcher’s call in order to call the dispatching office before the job is offered to
the next qualified person on the list. If an individual is called three times on three days during the dispatching hours with no response, the individual shall then be dropped from the list, and said individual shall be so notified of that event by a telephone call from the dispatcher.
4. An applicant is obligated to contact the Dispatcher immediately upon lay-off and re-register in person by submitting to the Council Dispatcher the appropriate Referral Form.
5. Any applicant refusing (3) consecutive referrals shall have his/her name moved to the bottom of the out of work list on the date that he/she refuses a referral for the third consecutive time.
6. All applicants for referral must re-sign their referral application just prior to 30 days subsequent to their initial sign in date, and every 30 days thereafter if they still are eligible for referral. Due to the geographical area of the Empire State Regional Council, carpenters, when unemployed, after their initial sign in date, can call their designated referral/dispatch office before the 30 day re-sign period expires. They must state that they are still out of work and want to maintain their name on the referral/dispatch list. This option will be allowed for two (2) consecutive re-sign months only. After the second month, carpenters must appear in person at their designated referral/dispatch office and re-sign the proper Referral Form to regenerate the process of this option. Failure to re-sign the Referral Form or exercise the call-in option, after the expiration of a thirty (30) day period shall be presumptive evidence that the carpenter is working or that he/she does not choose to be referred. As a courtesy, a letter will be sent by the Council advising the individual that the thirty (30) day period is about to expire, however, the person will be dropped from the list after the thirty (30) day period if he/she does not resign the list, or exercise their call-in option. No applicant can register, re-register or remain on the out-of-work list if employed at the trade. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in the applicant’s name being removed from the out-of-work list until such time as the applicant appears before a Committee
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appointed by the Council’s Executive Board, and the person may be subject to penalty.
7. Any member accepting a dispatch that does not secure the job, for example, does not appear as scheduled, without a totally valid reason (subject to the Dispatcher’s discretion), shall have their name moved to the bottom of the list.
F. Out-Of-Work List
1. Each registrant will be assigned a position on the out-of-work list determined by his/her most recent date and time of registration or re-registration and the other information provided on the referral form covering his/her qualifications on various functions/aspects of the carpentry trade. The out-of-work list shall be updated each week.
2. Once an applicant accumulates a total of fifteen (15) days of employment, his or her name will be removed from the list. The individual must then appear in person at their designated referral/dispatch office and process a new referral/dispatch application.
3. If an individual is on a job and is released because of some delay on the job, that individual may be requested through the Dispatcher by the Contractor to return to the same job, provided that the individual has not worked on another job subsequent to the delay.
G. Job Requisitions
1. An employer desiring a journeyman or apprentice will call the Dispatcher, giving his name , the name of the company, the location of the job, date and time when the carpenter is to commence work, the type of work, the start time and the number of journeymen/apprentices requested. Any other particulars that will enable the Dispatcher to promptly and safely dispatch a qualified journeyman or apprentice in order of rotation by sign-in will be noted.
Such particulars given by the employer shall be of an objective nature with regard to skill, safety, etc. Such information shall be appropriately recorded. Employers should comply with notice requirements of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in making referral requests.
2. On all jobs having five (5) or more United Brotherhood of Carpenters’ members, at least
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one (1) of said five (5) members shall be a carpenter fifty-five (55) years of age or over, or as per the ratio in the Region’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
H. Special Requirements For Referral
Only
those who have been trained and certified in the operations of the particular
tool in use shall be allowed to operate a power actuated tool. Evidence of ability by an individual to
operate a particular tool shall be determined by the Dispatcher or other
authorized Council representative based on documentation (certificate)
to be provided by the employee prior to referral. If there remains an issue regarding the
qualifications of the individual, this matter shall be referred to the Director
of the Empire State Carpenters Apprentice Committee including, if necessary, to
test the individual to determine his/her ability to operate such Tool(s). Independent evidence of ability to operate
the tool(s), as evidenced by applicable certifications by Federal or
In connection with the referral of an employee to perform work involved in erecting, disassembling or inspecting scaffold, prior to referral, the Dispatcher or other authorized Council representative shall determine whether said individual has completed a Scaffolding Qualification Program as promulgated by the Empire State Carpenters Health & Safety Fund, or a qualified program otherwise recognized by the applicable Federal or State Authority with jurisdiction over these matters.
Whether by reason of federal, state or other legal mandate, the Council is authorized to promulgate such additional qualifying standards, as required, for referral to specific jobs and in such case, it shall so advise the individuals of such qualifications.
I.
Posting Of
Out-Of-Work List
1. The Out-of Work List and the Referral Procedure shall be posted conspicuously at all times at the designated Council Referral Offices.
2. Any issue concerning an alleged failure to follow these procedures, including any issue pertaining to an information request, by an applicant, must be resolved by a the Referral List Committee, the members of which shall be designated by the Council’s Executive Board.
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J.
Dispatch
Records
1. All records will be maintained by the Council through the Dispatcher. Any individual proposing to amend any part of the procedures should submit their proposal in writing. The Referral List Committee will then meet to discuss the proposed amendment. Any amendment must conform with both the By- Laws of the Council and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of
America Constitution and By-Laws, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and applicable law. Any amendment must be approved by the delegates of the Council at the next regularly scheduled meeting.
2. The Referral List Committee is a standing committee appointed by the Executive Board of the Council, and they are authorized to review any disputes, grievances or amendments. The Committee will meet whenever necessary.
K. Disputes And Grievances
Any applicant who has a dispute or grievance must submit it in writing and he/she shall meet with the Referral List Committee at the earliest possible convenience. The Referral List Committee shall have the jurisdiction to act on any dispute or grievance involving referrals and regarding requests for information concerning referrals, including, if necessary, the examination of copies of the referral list and other available information. Any decision made shall be binding on the parties.
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