Transcript Thinking through the workplace grievance Process

STAFF TRAINING
ORLANDO, FLORIDA
DECEMBER, 2014
UNFAIR LABOR
PRACTICES
YOUR LIFE IF STRESSFUL ENOUGH AND WE ARE
HERE TO HELP WITH THE PROBLEMS YOU FACE AT
WORK.
UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
• ULP – Unfair Labor Practice
• SPP – State Prohibited Practice
• MPP – Municipal Prohibited Practice
Call it what you want, just know what it is.
Prohibited Practices
are the result of
Management or the
Union violating a
Statutory obligation
FORUM
• State Board of Labor Relations
• National Labor Relations Board
Arbitration
EMPLOYERS OR THEIR
REPRESENTATIVES OR AGENTS
ARE PROHIBITED FROM
• (1) Interfering with, restraining or coercing employees
in the exercise of their rights under the Law;
• (2) dominating or interfering with the formation,
existence or administration of any employee
organization;
EMPLOYERS OR THEIR
REPRESENTATIVES OR AGENTS
ARE PROHIBITED FROM
•
(3) discriminating in regard to hiring or tenure of
employment or any term or condition of employment to
encourage or discourage membership in any employee
organization;
•
(4) discharging or otherwise discriminating against an
employee because he has signed or filed any affidavit,
petition or complaint or given any information or
testimony before the Board;
EMPLOYERS OR THEIR
REPRESENTATIVES OR AGENTS
ARE PROHIBITED FROM
•
(5) refusing to bargain collectively in good faith with an employee
organization which has been designated in accordance with the
provisions of said sections as the exclusive representative of
employees in an appropriate unit; including but not limited to refusing
to discuss grievances with such exclusive representative;
All the steps matter, weakness in any of them is fatal to the outcome.
WHEN WE
WORK
TOGETHER
THERE ARE
NO WEAK
LINKS!!
WHAT ARE OUR ROLES?
THE NUTS AND BOLTS
• Time lines
• Grievance v. Prohibited Practice
• One, the other, or both
PUT IT TOGET HER
•S -
Situation
•B -
Background
•A -
Assessment
•R -
Recommendation
“Those Who Tell Stories
Rule The World” Plato
TELLING THE
STORY
• These story elements
need to be connected
in a logical way.
• Ask for help telling
the story if needed.
REMEMBER:
IF WE DON’T
GET IT…
EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS OR
THEIR AGENTS ARE PROHIBITED
FROM
•
(1) Restraining or coercing employees in the exercise of the rights
guaranteed under the Law;
•
(2) restraining or coercing an employer in the selection of his
representative for purposes of collective bargaining or the adjustment of
grievances;
•
(3) refusing to bargain collectively in good faith, with an employer, if it has
been designated in accordance with the Law, as the exclusive
representative of employees in an appropriate unit;
EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS OR
THEIR AGENTS ARE PROHIBITED
FROM
•
(4) breaching their duty of fair representation;
•
(5) violating any of the rules and regulations established by the board regulating
the conduct of representation elections; or
DUTY OF FAIR REPRESENTATION
• When an allegation is made that a union has not fairly represented
employees in handling grievances, the following standards provide
guidance in determining whether an unfair labor practice has
occurred:
• 1) an individual employee does not have the absolute right to have
his or her grievance taken to arbitration,
• 2) a union may not arbitrarily ignore a meritorious grievance or
process it in perfunctory fashion,
• 3) a union must engage in more than mere negligence to violate its
duty of fair representation.
DUTY OF FAIR REPRESENTATION
• A union’s grievance handling is lawful where, in denying a grievance,
established procedures are followed and these procedures fall within
the wide range of reasonableness afforded a union representative. The
union’s duty of fair representation does not require it to process a
frivolous appeal, and a union need not process an employee’s grievance
if the chances for success are slight. The duty of fair representation also
does not prevent a union from settling a grievance prior to arbitration
on terms not satisfactory to the employee. Further, in generally assessing
a union’s duty of fair representation, it is recognized that union
discretion is essential to the proper functioning of the collective
bargaining system.
DIFFERENTIATING
POOR, WEAK, AND
STRONG CASES
• The strength of the union
depends on its reputation.
• Strong and well documented
cases bolster that
reputation.
• Good cases may be weak
because they need lots of
work documenting them,
however, poor cases cannot
be
documented…understand
the difference.