Question

Your boss is new to the union environment and your organization is three weeks into a grievance for discharging an employee without just cause. Your role is to prepare your boss for the grievance process. Outline a typical grievance/arbitration procedure and evaluate the impact of that procedure on your organization.

Answer 1

Your boss is new to the union environment and your organization is three weeks into a grievance for discharging an employee without just cause. Your role is to prepare your boss for the grievance process. Outline a typical grievance/arbitration procedure and evaluate the impact of that procedure on your organization.

A grievance is generally defined as a claim by an employee that he or she is adversely affected by the misinterpretation or misapplication of a written company policy or collectively bargained agreement. To address grievances, employers typically implement a grievance procedure. The grievance procedure may also be part of a collective bargaining agreement.

A grievance procedure is a means of internal dispute resolution by which an employee may have his or her grievances addressed. Most collective bargaining agreements include procedures for filing and resolving grievances. Within a union environment, the processes will typically involve the employee, union representatives and members of the employer’s management team.

Grievance processes may differ somewhat from employer to employer and under various collective bargaining agreements. However, most will have certain general processes in common.

Grievances are brought to the employee’s immediate supervisor. This may be either an informal process or the beginning of the formal process. Generally, there will be a requirement that the grievance be submitted in writing using a grievance form. Usually, the supervisor and the union representative will review the grievance to determine whether it is valid. Also, most grievance procedures will require that the submission occur within a specified timeframe following the event or incident.

Three possible outcomes may occur at this stage of the process:

• The supervisor and the union representative may determine that no valid grievance exists.
• The grievance may be resolved.
• The grievance may not be resolved to the employee’s satisfaction, and it will move forward to the next step in the process.

1. The employer must prescribe rules of conduct which are reasonably comprehensible by all employees, enforceable, related to the department's function, applicable to all employees and which do not unduly infringe upon an employee's private life.

2. All persons in supervisory positions and particularly first-line supervisors should know the rules of conduct and be required to carefully observe them.

3. The rules of conduct should be carefully explained to all employees.

4. A regular warning procedure for infractions of rules should be worked out and applied.

5. When appropriate, discipline short of discharge should be used.

6. Avoid arbitrary or hasty action when confronted with a situation requiring discipline.

7. Progressive discipline does not mean each disciplinary action taken must necessarily be more severe than the preceding one, regardless of the offense involved.

earch in industrial relations regarding the grievance and arbitration process has primarily focused on dispute processing in unionized firms and settlement (Gwartney-Gibbs & Lach, 1994). Gwartney-Gibbs & Lach (1994) explain that this line of research examines the roles, backgrounds and attitudes of participants in arbitration and meditation; the effectiveness of various procedures and strategies; union management conditions related to grieving; and, distributive versus procedural justice (Bohlander, 1982; Briggs 1981; Dalton & Todor, 1982; Diaz, Minton & Saunders, 1987; Gandz & Whithead, 1981; Gideon & Peterson, 1979; Glassman & Belasco, 1975; Gwartney-Gibbs & Lach,1994; Heneman & Sandver, 1982; Knight, 1978; Lewin; 1984; Nelson, 1979; Shepard & Minton, 1986; Turner & Robinson, 1972). More research contributions that mesh models of behaviorism, organizational characteristics, and union management characteristics include Lewin & Peterson’s (1988) examination of grievance procedure activity, effectiveness, and post settlement as a function of individual or organizational characteristics, and union contract characteristics (Gwartney-Gibbs, 1994); and Chaykowski, 20 Slotsve & Butler’s (1992) study in which they simultaneously analyze grievance filing activity and grievance outcomes.