grievances

  • Contracts Are Worth Defending, Even with No-Strike Clauses
    Guillermo Perez
    Jan 19 2012 - 1:51pm
    ** Print only

    After seeing hundreds of thousands of people demonstrate in Wisconsin and Ohio to defend collective bargaining, it seems odd to read in Labor Notes that union contracts are “a trap” that “hold unions back.”

    Stanley Aronowitz’s January 2012 Viewpoint said, “Labor is confined by contract unionism, whose core is the no-strike clause.”

  • When Your Boss Doesn’t ‘Like’ You: Surviving in Social Media
    Mischa Gaus
    Jan 19 2012 - 1:37pm
    ** Print only

    Social media are presenting new challenges for unions as employers develop policies and discipline employees for their posts on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

    But whether workers are talking to each other in the lunch room or online, labor law still provides protections for private-sector workers to engage in concerted activities with their co-workers.

  • Anti-Union Law Squeezes Wisconsin Teachers
    Evan Rohar
    Dec 5 2011 - 11:00am

    Wisconsin teachers are feeling the pinch as the consequences of Governor Scott Walker’s anti-union bill set in. Unions are using the struggle to recertify and press a recall vote for Walker.

  • Action on the Job: Tips and Traps
    David Cohen, Judy Atkins
    Nov 16 2011 - 4:40pm

    Workers have the right to organize and take action on the job, even with a contract and grievance procedure in place. But stewards need to know how to bend the rules without getting people in trouble.

  • Grievance Strike Shutters Chemical Plant
    Mischa Gaus
    Jan 20 2011 - 11:36am

    Braving freezing temperatures not far from the shore of the Hudson River, two IUE-CWA locals walked out of a silicone-processing plant January 12 for a two-day grievance strike. Management was stunned the union would strike over a grievance.

  • Turning an Issue into a Campaign
    Ellen David Friedman
    Feb 12 2010 - 8:08am

    Grievances, while necessary tools, can make workplace problems seem like individual problems rather than collective ones that can be solved through collective action. As the campaign organizer, your goal is not just to help members solve their workplace problems but to help them build collective self-confidence and power. Learn how.

  • Understanding and Defending Past Practices

    Author(s):
    David Cohen

    Excerpt:

    Stewards need to know what a valid past practice is and what the past practices in their workplace are—to defend them from erosion by management. A past practice is any longstanding, frequent practice that is accepted and known by both union and management. . . .

    Body:

    Stewards need to know what a valid past practice is and what the past practices in their workplace are—to defend them from erosion by management. A past practice is any longstanding, frequent practice that is accepted and known by both union and management. Bona fide past practices are considered part of the contract, so grievances can be filed if management violates them. Be sure to check your contract for language that limits their use for grievances. In most cases management cannot end a past practice without first bargaining with the union. In some cases management must wait until contract negotiations to change a past practice.

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • Handling Insubordination Grievances

    Author(s):
    David Cohen

    Excerpt:

    Ella was having a bad day. Her machines weren’t running right, but her foreman came over and said, “Ella, we need those machines up and running, and since Rafael is out today, I want you to start up his machines, too.” “No way,” said Ella. . . .

    Body:

    Ella was having a bad day. Her machines weren’t running right, but her foreman came over and said, “Ella, we need those machines up and running, and since Rafael is out today, I want you to start up his machines, too.”

    “No way,” said Ella. “I’ve got my hands full, and the contract says I don’t have to run extra machines except in emergencies.”

    “I’m telling you to get over there and start up those machines,” yelled her foreman. “If you don’t, you’ll be fired for insubordination.”

    Sally, the department steward, went to the supervisor’s office. “We have to talk about your foreman,” she said. “He’s threatening Ella and trying to make her run more machines than she’s supposed to.”

    Available Online:
    Yes