If you were denied leave, denied LWOP, and/or denied a revised schedule because of the plant manager’s policies, contact your steward immediately or contact us here! We need to know if you were impacted and whether we need to seek a remedy for you or not.
On 6/6/2025, Plant Manager Lawrence Montgomery issued a “Letter of Directive” dated June 6, 2025, to the Citygate P&DC facility across all crafts and across all tours. This directive said:
“Effective June 6, 2025
NO EMPLOYEE at the Columbus P &DC can take over 80 hours of Annual leave without the Plant Manager approvals. NO ONE can approve leave without pay (LWOP) unless the Plant Manager approves in advance. No EAS or acting supervisor approves change of schedule unless approved first by the Plant Manager.
Please follow instructions
Lawrence Montgomery
Executive Plant Manager (Major)
Columbus P&DC”
In response to this unilateral action that violated the Contract, Maintenance Craft Director Cameron Taylor filed a class action grievance on behalf of the entire facility – grievance number 065-890Z-CAT. That grievance was just settled at Step 3 of the grievance procedure, and it says:
“Solely to resolve the instant grievance, the “Letters of Directive” concerning leave will be rescinded, and the parties should refer to the terms of their Local Memorandum of Understanding (LMOU) and Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) Section 510 relative to leave policy.
The parties agree that Management and the Union shall meet at the local level to discuss what employees were denied leave based on the letters and apply the appropriate remedies, if any.”
Read the “Letter of Directive” here.
Read the Step 3 settlement here.