Union Business (a) The Hospital shall grant leave of absence without pay to employees to attend Union conventions, seminars, education classes and other Union business in connection with the administration of the collective agreement provided that such leave will not interfere with the efficient operation of the Hospital. Such leave will not be unreasonably denied. In requesting such leave of absence for an employee or employees, the Union must give at least fourteen (14) days clear notice in writing to the Hospital, unless not reasonably possible to give such notice. The cumulative total leave of absence, the number of employees that may be absent at any one time from any one area, and the number of days of absence shall be negotiated locally and are set out in the Local Provisions Appendix. During such leave of absence, the employee's salary and applicable benefits shall be maintained by the Hospital on the basis of what his normal regular hours of work would have been, provided that the Union reimburses the Hospital in the amount of such salary and applicable benefits within thirty (30) days of billing. Notwithstanding the above, time spent by the eight (8) Executive Board members and seven (7) Alternate Executive Board members of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions to fulfill the duties of the position shall be in addition to leave for Union Business under this clause. Part-time and casual employees will be given full credit for seniority purposes for regularly scheduled hours missed in accordance with this provision.
