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2014 Shop Steward Training & Leadership Conference St. Peters College September 12, 2014 Slide 2 USWU/IUJAT 2014 Shop Steward Training and Leadership Conference September 12, 2014 9:15 Back to the basics What is a grievance? How to handle a Step 1/Step 2 grievance. 10:30 Group Activity Each group will research grievance(s) and discuss their conclusions for presentation to the assembly. 11:15Grievance Presentation Each group will present their conclusion to the group for discussion and debate. 12:15 Lunch 1:00 Leadership Conference What is the Future of the Bergen County Unions? 1:15Committee Assignments Each group will explore and discuss their assigned subject for presentation to the assembly. 2:15 Presentations and Open Discussion How do we promote Justice in the Workplace? How do we promote better participation in Union activities? How do we address fear in the workplace? How involved should the Locals be in Elections and Politics? 4:15 Close Slide 3 Slide 4 Slide 5 Here are some tips for the Steward: First of all, remember that as a Steward you have the support of the Union, both the national union USWU/IUJAT and your Local 755 President and Executive Board and our full time Union Representative. That means that if you dont know the answer to questions or are not familiar with procedures, ask your Union Representative. With your position comes a huge responsibility and you need to be able to provide the right answers to members and follow the correct procedures in your dealings with management. Your members will respect you for following this simple advice. Take your time. Listen carefully. Write things down. Buy yourself a spiral notebook and begin to document your activities. If you investigate a grievance, write down the 5Ws (who, what, when, where, why... and how) in your notebook or on the grievance fact sheet that the local provides with the grievance form. Be on your toes. You will be tested by management the moment you become a steward. Think of it as hazing. But dont give in. Act professional and be aware of your rights. Your supervisor or manager will probably try to tell you what you can or cannot do as a steward. Remember you are hearing this information from a self-serving and biased source. Know your rights. You are managements equal in all matters relating to the contract and the union- employer relationship. Your contract may outline some of your rights as a steward but much of it has a legal basis. That means the sit down and shut up mentality of some supervisors is incorrect, unprofessional, and in some cases downright illegal. If you are denied rights which make your defense of a member impossible, make sure your Business Representative is aware of this situationimmediately. Check out your Steward Guide on a regular basis for grievance guidance. As you read over it, highlight those items of particular interest. Keep a file for them so that you can easily refer back to them when needed. Slide 6 You are a representative of USWU to your members. Introduce yourself and greet new hires. Be the strongest advocate for the union on the property. Pass along information from your local. Squelch any rumor before it spreads. Work together with your locals officers. That means the politics of the past union election, if there was one, is over. You are part of the team. If a member comes to you with a complaint that could be grievable, investigate it quickly and professionally. Resolve the issue in the quickest and fairest way. Dont make the member wait unnecessarily for an answer. Tell him/her that you will get back to them with an answer and then get back to them. If the issue is not grievable, see if there is a way to resolve it. If there is no grievance, be honest with the member but explain why the issue is not a grievance under your agreement. Work with other stewards so that they are aware of the issues you have been presented with. You dont want a member going behind your back to another steward because he/she did not agree with your decision not to press a complaint. Read everything you can about your work the daily newspaper and labor books. Make sure education is part of your unions regular business. Slide 7 Discipline Major V. Minor Major (6 days or more) Goes to Office of Administrative Law (OAL) Grievant can pursue without the Union Minor (5 or less) Can go to Arbitration Only Union can demand Arbitration Based on Merit Unlikely a written warning will go to PERC Burden of Proof is on THE EMPLOYER Employer must establish JUST CAUSE Does not have to be beyond a reasonable doubt See the Daughertys 7 Tests Slide 8 Daughertys 7 Tests Was the employee forewarned of the consequences of his or her actions? Is there a policy in place? Ignorance of the rules is not always an excuse. Are the employer's rules reasonably related to business efficiency and performance the employer might reasonably expect from the employee? Was the employee asked to do something illegal or dangerous? If an employee has a REASONBLE belief that something is illegal or unsafe, they are protected from an insubordination charge. Otherwise, the rule is: Do it now grieve it later. Was an effort made before discipline or discharge to determine whether the employee was guilty as charged? Was the investigation conducted fairly and objectively? Did the employer obtain substantial evidence of the employee's guilt? Were the rules applied fairly and without discrimination? Generally, What is good for one employee should be good for all. Be certain to compare apples to apples. Do not invoke the But everybody speeds defense. You must show that the employer was aware of similar behavior and intentionally did not enforce the rules. Avoid throwing other members under the bus. Was the degree of discipline reasonably related to the seriousness of the employee's offense and the employee's past record? NOTE: The County generally follows a policy of Progressive Discipline. The objective is to help the employee improve. If the offense is serious, the employer does not have to follow Progressive Discipline. Slide 9 A Violation of Law may be better addressed in different forum. Discrimination County Policy addresses these concerns. They should file complaint and allow the employer to investigate. EEOC Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (Federal) LAD Law Against Discrimination Division (NJ) Wage and Hour issues should be addressed in contract but can be reported to State/Federal Government Wage and Hour Division. (Usually has a 2 year limitation.) Workers Compensation Work place Injury is addressed in contract Recommend speaking to a WC attorney for serious injury since it will protect the employee over a longer period of time. Violation of Contract, Policy, Practice or Law Contract Violations are main responsibility of the Union. Consistency creates the sentinel effect. If the employer knows you are watching, they are less likely to attempt violating the contract. Burden of proof is on THE GRIEVANT. Independent Arbitration is final and binding. Union may opt not to arbitrate. It is not the decision of the grievant. Violation of Past Practice Past Practice must meet the criteria: A course of conduct that is the understood and accepted by the Employer and the Union, Must be consistent over an extended period of time Slide 10 Grievance V. Gripe A Shop Steward may get more gripes than Grievances. We are advocates. But we cant make all the people happy all the time Listen to the member and brainstorm possible answers See the big picture Talk to other Stewards to see how they might handle things Ask grievant to outline the details and what they a see a resolution. We try to be problem solvers Know your members Remain unbiased Develop a relationship with the employer and your members Gain the employees and the employers respect Slide 11 The 5 Ws ( Essential Information for Filing a Grievance) And last, but not least, HOW: How does the employer remedy the grievance/complaint? What adjustments are necessary to correct the situation? How can you return the aggrieved worker to the same condition had the violation not occurred? 1-WHO: Who was involved in the grievance? List name, department, job classification, shift. Include the name of the management representatives involved. 2-WHAT: What is the grievants story? Management position? The reports of witnesses? Collect all the facts you can, always looking for hard facts but accepting and weighing soft facts and different versions. 3-WHEN: When did the incident or condition occur? Give dates and times as accurately as possible. When in doubt, use On or about. 4-WHERE: Where did the grievance take place? Give the exact location, department, area, etc. 5-WHY: Why is this a grievance? What has been violated? The contract? Federal, state, municipal laws? Past practice? Workers rights? Previous ruling or awards? Slide 12 Slide 13 Slide 14 Reminders about Grievance Filing This is a violation of, at least but not limited to Every grievance should state what the grievant expects as a resolution. Every grievance is 50/50. Dont make promises or predictions Take notes. Witnesses Witnesses are not really reliable We all bring our own bias to anything we witness. They can change their tune. An initial discipline meeting In discipline, wait for the evidence before you start your arguments. Dont talk too much LISTEN!! Dont ask question you dont know the answer to Advise client to limit their comments Do not ask client to lie You can always ask for a caucus (break) to confer further with the client. BE TIMELY! Every grievance must have a beginning, middle and END! DO NOT SIT ON A GRIEVANCE If the employee asks you to wait, advise them of the time issues and follow up in writing. You do not want the grievant to claim you dropped the ball. Even though there arent specific time limits to filing a grievance, an Arbitrator may still rule a grievance as untimely If the Grievant was aware of the problem but chose not to grieve it. Slide 15 SHERMANCHARLES KEELERCONSTANCE NORIEGADANILO HOLZBERGDIANE CIRELLODONNA M BISCHOFFTHOMAS COLLAZZIEDITH DELA CRUZELAINE BRADYKRISTEN PORZIOJACQUELINE TIMMINSJOHN GAUTIERJOSEPH GOLDRICKKATHLEEN JOHNSONKEITH RUSSELLKENNETH CRANEKEVIN WALLACEKEVIN DESPOSITORALPH NASSORLISA FISHERMARY ACOSTAPEDRO DE SERIOVICTOR RUBINMICHAEL DRUMMONDGERARD CORONATORICHARD TRIPPTREESTEPHEN TASSYSUSAN PRESTIGIACOMOTARA CASEYTHOMAS BLASERNEIL LEGGETTWILLIAM Slide 16 Out of Title Work Grievant Joe comes to you complaining about his workload. He is permanent in his title of CLERK 2. A few years back his division was reduced due to layoff. He now has to do the work he had to do before and he also has to do the work of the previous CLERK 3 that was laid off. He has been doing this typ of work for the past fourteen months. His previous co-worker was responsible for putting together PowerPoint presentations for special events and SKYPE meetings once a month. That same worker also did similar work as Joe, entering Data, Typing letters, and other Clerical work. When the layoff occurred, the supervisor mentioned that things were going to get difficult and asked that everyone chip in to keep things running smoothly. Joe taught himself PowerPoint art night and volunteered his talent when the first event after the layoff was scheduled. The Supervisor thanked him for volunteering and stated This kind of teamwork will be rewarded. Keep up the good work. The amount of work Joe does is more than he did before. He has, once a month, worked additional hours and has been paid for those additional hours as overtime. Slide 17 Out of Title Work Desk Audit -DPF44S Slide 18