The two primary mechanisms Union’s have to enforce the rights we have as represented employees are Grievances and Unfair Labor Practices. Grievances are alleged violations of the Contract between the Union and the Company. ULPs are alleged violations of the Law and are ultimately prosecuted by the Federal Government. Grievance resolutions are negotiated between the Union. and the Company, or an Arbiter if the two parties cannot come to an agreement on the matter. Below are some of the latest Grievance resolutions that show how Union leadership is fighting for and maintaining your rights.
22-001 Disability Letters in Employee Files
During meetings with represented employees, first line supervisors were issuing letters warning employees that they were eligible to be put on the Disability Absence Certification list. These letters were also being placed into each employee’s Personnel File. This was a clear violation of past practice, and was damaging to the effected employees as these Personnel Files could be looked at when an employee was seeking promotion or transfers within the Company. Our CBA has clear limitations for how long disciplinary letters may stay in Personnel Files, but since the DAC is non-disciplinary, this created an issue where there were no limits to how long these letters would be placed in an employees file. The Company agreed to resolve this Grievance and end the practice of placing DAC or pre-DAC letters in Employee files, a clear win for our membership. If your supervisor issues you a letter that is CC’d to your Personnel File about your disability time, immediately inform your Union Steward/Delegate.
22-002 Failure to Notify Union of Discipline
A first line supervisor gave oral discipline to a represented employee and failed to inform Union leadership, a clear violation of the CBA which requires timely notification of all discipline. Union members may not be disciplined except for Just Cause, and when Management fails to notify the Union about discipline it interferes with the Union’s ability to conduct an investigation into the matter and ensure the discipline process was followed correctly. The Company agreed that the CBA had been violated in this instance and agreed to re-train first line supervisors about their obligation to notify the Union when discipline is given, a win for our membership.
22-003 Assignment of Out of Scope Work
A first line supervisor assigned represented employees work done routinely by non-represented employees with different job functions. The supervisor asserted that the work fell under the job descriptions in our CBA. The Union corrected the supervisor that work cannot be covered under the CBA or not covered under the CBA at management’s whims. The options available to the company were to cease having non-represented employees regularly perform the work, or to provide appropriate make whole payments to the represented employees who were forced to do work not covered under their job description. The Company agreed with the Union and resolved the Grievance by paying update for the hours spent performing the aforementioned tasks.