HOW SHOULD A GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE BE?
A grievance procedure is the heart and mind of the collective bargaining. It is very extremely important to establish a well-structured grievance process since parties spend too much for deciding how to handle a grievance. A grievance procedure should consist of the following steps (at least three of them):
1. Discussing the grievance with steward or supervisor,
2. Writing the grievance,
3. Management reviewing the grievance,
4. Union and management reviewing the grievance,
5. Binding arbitration.
Employee initially discusses the grievance with steward who is the first official from management. However, grievant can directly go to the supervisor instead of steward. It is suggested to go to steward or supervisor at the earliest of the grievance’ occurrence. Stewards and supervisors should be knowledgeable on handling a grievance and starting the initial step. If a grievance is solved in the beginning step, it points out that the grievance procedure is covered and structured in the bargaining agreement efficiently and effectively. If not, the grievant continues to the next steps.
In the second step, the grievance should be written in a formal way in order to make an official complaint. Employee, steward, and supervisor should agree that the grievance is not solved yet and needs to be processed. Submitting an official grievance document transmits the issue to the high-level managers. At this stage, the employee should be careful while scripting the grievance because the written form of grievance should include all details of the incident. “Five Ws” rule should be kept in mind since it is very helpful in writing the grievance (what, when, where, why happened and who was involved).
In the third step, officially submitted grievance is reviewed by management. A meeting should be organized in order to make an investigation on the issue. Grievant and senior management discuss, review the grievance, and work hard to reach a solution. If a solution is not found yet, they pursue to the next step which is reviewing the grievance by union grievance committee and management. The parties in this step are union grievance committee and plant manager or department head assisted by the director of personnel and industrial relations. The mentioned parties discuss the issue and try to find a solution or come to an agreement. If not, the final step is inevitable.
The final is a binding arbitration for a grievance. Either management or union side officially requests an arbitration in order to solve the grievance. Arbitrator as a legal and independent outsider, studies the grievance, listens the parties, and reaches a final decision. Asking arbitration means that neither insiders (from organization) nor management-union committee reached a solution and a professional and independent outsider helps and works to come to an agreement.
For further information: Carrell, M. R., Heavrin, C., & Carrell, M. R. (2013). Labor relations and collective bargaining. Pearson.
