Transfers or Demotions Due to Reduction in Force. Transfers or demotions due to a reduction in force within any classification, will be made on the basis of unit seniority or section seniority if it exists, except as outlined in Article 18,
Transfers or Demotions Due to Reduction in Force. Transfers or demotions due to a reduction in force within any classification, with the exception of the Laborer classification, will be made on the basis of section seniority (or unit seniority if no section seniority exists), except as outlined in Article 18, Apprenticeship and Helper Program. The affected employee shall regress down the classification and displace the junior employee. In the event an employee in the Operations and Maintenance unit does not have sufficient seniority to displace another employee or does not choose to exercise seniority as provided above, they shall regress to the Laborer classification or be laid off and receive severance pay in accordance with Article 13. If not in the Operations and Maintenance Unit, they shall be laid off. It should be noted, however, that an employee in Operations and Maintenance electing to be laid off rather than regressing to the Laborer classification and returning to the labor pool within thirty (30) months from date of layoff shall retain section seniority for promotional purposes within the section from which they were laid off as outlined in Article 7, Subsection 7.4.2.
