ARTICLE 2.
SCOPE OF AGREEMENT

Section 1. Master Agreement

The execution of this National Master Freight Agreement on the part of the Employer shall apply to all operations of the Employer which are covered by this Agreement and shall have application to the work performed within the classifications defined and set forth in the Agreements supplemental hereto.

Section 2. Supplements to Master Agreement

  (a)  There are several segments of the trucking industry covered by this Agreement and for this reason Supplemental Agreements are provided for each of the specific types of work performed by the various classifications of employees controlled by this Master Agreement.

All such Supplemental Agreements are subject to and controlled by the terms of this Master Agreement and are sometimes referred to herein as “Supplemental Agreements.”

All such Supplemental Agreements are to be clearly limited to the specific classifications of work as enumerated or described in each individual Supplement.

In all cases involving the transfer of work and/or the merger of operations subject to the provisions of Article 8, Section 6 or Article 5, Section 2, where more than one Supplemental Agreement is involved and one or more of them contains provisions contrary to those set forth in Article 8, Section 6 or Article 5, Sections 2, the applicable terms and conditions of the NMFA shall supersede those of the contrary Supplemental Agreements, including the resolution of any seniority related grievances that may arise following approval of the involved transfer of work and/or merger of operations.

  (b)  The parties shall establish four (4) Regional Area Iron and Steel and/or Truckload Supplements to the National Master Freight Agreement.

The Employer and the Local Union, parties to this Agreement, may enter into an agreement whereby road drivers working under an Over-The-Road Supplemental Agreement have the opportunity to perform work covered by and subject to the above Regional Area Supplements, under conditions agreed upon.  Such Supplement shall be submitted to the appropriate Regional Joint Area Committee.

  (c) The jurisdiction covered by the National Master Freight Agreement and its various Supplements thereto includes, without limitation, stuffing, stripping, loading and discharging of cargo or containers.  This does not include loading or discharging of cargo or containers to or from vessels except in those instances where such work is presently being performed.  Existing practices, rules and understandings, between the Employer and the Union, with respect to this work shall continue except to the extent modified by mutual agreement.

Section 3. Non-covered Units

This Agreement shall not be applicable to those operations of the Employer where the employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement with a Union not signatory to this Agreement, or to those employees who have not designated a signatory Union as their collective bargaining agent.

Card Check

  (a) When a majority of the eligible employees performing work covered by an Agreement designated by the National Negotiating Committee to be Supplemental to the National Master Freight Agreement execute a card authorizing a signatory Local Union to represent them as their collective bargaining agent at the terminal location, then, such employees shall automatically be covered by this Agreement and the applicable Supplemental Agreements.  If an Employer refuses to recognize the Union as above set forth and the matter is submitted to the National Labor Relations Board or any mutually agreed upon process for determination, and such determination results in certification or recognition of the Union, all benefits of this Agreement and applicable Supplements shall be retroactive to the date of demand for recognition.  In such cases the parties may by mutual agreement negotiate wages and conditions, subject to Regional Joint Area Committee approval.

The parties agree that a constructive bargaining relationship is essential to efficient operations and sound employee relations.  The parties recognize that organizational campaigns occur in bargaining relationships and that both parties are free to accurately state their respective positions concerning the organization of certain groups of employees.  However, the parties also recognize that campaigns must be waged on the facts only.  Accordingly, the parties will not engage in any personal attacks against Union or Company representatives or attacks against the Union or Company as an institution during the course of any such campaign.

Additions to Operations: Over-The-Road and Local Cartage Supplemental Agreements

  (b) Notwithstanding the foregoing paragraph, the provisions of the National Master Freight Agreement and the applicable Over-the-Road and Local Cartage Supplemental Agreements shall be applied without evidence of union representation of the employees involved, to all subsequent additions to, and extensions of, current operations which adjoin and are controlled and utilized as a part of such current operation, and newly established terminals and consolidations of terminals which are controlled and utilized as a part of such current operation.

If an Employer refuses to recognize the Union as above set forth and the matter is submitted to the National Labor Relations Board or any mutually agreed-upon process for determination, and such determination results in certification or recognition of the Union, all benefits of this Agreement and applicable Supplements shall be retroactive to the date of demand for recognition.

The provisions of Article 32 - Subcontracting, shall apply to this paragraph.  Extensions or additions to current operations, etc., which adjoin and are controlled and utilized as part of such current operation shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the appropriate Change of Operations Committee for the purpose of determining whether the provisions of Article 8, Section 6 - Change of Operations, apply and, if so, to what extent.

Section 4. Single Bargaining Unit

The employees, Unions, Employers and Associations covered under this Master Agreement and the various Supplements thereto shall constitute one (1) bargaining unit and contract.  It is understood that the printing of this Master Agreement and the aforesaid Supplements in separate Agreements is for convenience only and is not intended to create separate bargaining units.

This National Master Freight Agreement applies to city and road operations, and other classifications of employment authorized by the signatory Employers to be represented by Employer Associations or Employers, where applicable, participating in national collective bargaining.  The common problems and interest, with respect to basic terms and conditions of employment, have resulted in the creation of the National Master Freight Agreement and the respective Supplemental Agreements.  Accordingly, the Associations and Employers, parties to this Agreement, acknowledge that they constitute a single national multi-employer collective bargaining unit, composed of the Associations named hereinafter and those Employers authorizing such associations to represent them for the purpose of collective bargaining, and solely to the extent of such authorization, and such other individual employers which have, or may, become parties to this Agreement.

Section 5. Riders

Upon the effective date of this Agreement, all existing or previously adopted Riders which provide less than the wages, hours, and working conditions specifically established by this Agreement and Supplemental Agreements shall become null and void.  Thereafter, the specific provisions of this Agreement and applicable Supplemental Agreements shall apply without being subject to variance by Riders.  This Section shall not be applied or interpreted to eliminate operational, dispatch, or working rules not specifically set forth in this Agreement and Supplemental Agreements.