Grievance Guide

A grievance can be filed when management violates the terms of your contract.  Instead of going to court, your contract has a procedure for you to force the employer to abide the contract.

  General Tips:

• Grievances are best resolved as close to the source as possible.
• It is normally most appropriate for the grievant to seek informal resolution first, then for the steward to present the grievance to management.
• Investigate early in the process - a good investigation can cause early resolution. If you are familiar with the situation, it will be much easier to decide whether to continue or drop the grievance.
• Seek advice as necessary from your steward or from union staff!

  Checklist for stewards and other worksite leaders.

 Identify the problem.

• Identify the specific part of the contract that has been violated. What is the remedy?
• Does the problem affect others in the workplace? Who?
• Decide whether filing a grievance is the best strategy for solving the problem. Organizing workers around the issue may also resolve the situation and will be more effective in the long run.
• Review your own contract's grievance procedure. Pay close attention to time limits.

 Investigate the facts.

• Begin with an informal conversation with your immediate supervisor. Bring along your union steward if necessary.
• Your steward should interview the grievant (you), managers and any witnesses. Have the people interviewed sign written statements where possible.
• Your steward should keep their own written notes of all interviews.
• Request copies of all necessary information.
• Check previous grievance settlements for precedents.

 Present your case.

• Anticipate management's arguments and prepare for them.
• Outline what you will present so it will be less easy for management to distract you.
• Review the case with your steward so you are both prepared for the first meeting.
• Keep track of the grievance process with the grievance record. Also, maintain a list of possible contract changes that we could work on during the next contract campaign.
• Keep supporting documents with the rest of the grievance file.

Any time you are considering proceeding to the next grievance level, assess the continuing merit of both the grievance and the remedy. Review this checklist each time you consider such an appeal.

The final step in the grievance procedure is Arbitration.  Before any grievance goes to arbitration, you must contact the union office. A decision will be made at that level regarding whether the grievance is appropriate for arbitration. Please be prepared to explain why a given grievance warrants going to arbitration.