The above term is one of the most misunderstood clauses in our current C.B.A., not only because of how it is used, but how it is being applied by the company. The current C.B.A defines the term "Deemed Qualified" as;

The company contends the term "Deemed Qualified" will only be applied when a Training Bid has both an "awarded" senior applicant and an "assigned" senior applicant or new hire. (AND THAT’S IT!!!!!)

The senior assigned applicant must be from the shift where there is a need for additional training. They cannot arbitrarily assign the training bid to a person from the crew, unless they are the junior man.

You may be asking yourself what does that mean? Well, what it means is if Joe has a training bid as a widget maker and for some reason he cannot be released (due to manpower issues) and the company, in their infinite wisdom, puts up another training bid up for a widget maker and Ted gets it, Joe is not deemed qualified. Well, that sucks for Joe!!! One would think the fair and reasonable thing to do is allow Joe to go train first because he was the first applicant, but, we all know life is not fair, especially at VALE!!

There is no current wording in the CBA to say they must train in the chronological order of the bids. There is also no wording on how long one must wait to be trained. I have heard tell of people with training bids from the time of the dinosaurs. Now, that might be a stretch, but for those of us who have had a training bid and who could not be released, it feels like an eternity.

To management, don’t forget to use the word "DEEMED QUALIFIED" when you are asking the employee to defer his/her training. Also, to those who have been deemed qualified, you still have the right to bid on the job you have been deemed qualified for. There is a form for you to sign. Make sure you sign it and fully understand what it means.