Grievances – complaints about workplace conditions – are a central focus of day to day trade unionism. There is a lot of educational material available on the various types of grievances and how to handle them – how to identify grievances, how to investigate, prepare, and present grievances, arbitration, etc. (See Schwartz guide, TDU book in Spanish and English, IBT Turn it Around, etc.)
What I have found less of, and had to invent/adapt, are activities and materials about using grievances to organize for power on the job, and build participation and control by workers over the grievance process. In many unions, grievances are utterly disempowering and often futile, but grievances can be used to build workplace organization and worker participation and control.
So, the following activities are designed to get at those issues, with the idea that the goal is not to perfect the grievance machinery, but to build power on the job and in the union.
Mapping the Grievance Process
Summary:
In this activity participants a) map the way grievances are handled in their union – both the procedure and the other tactics they use; b) compare the current reality to the official procedure and the legal rights of union members and representatives; c) discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the existing procedure; and then d) redesign the grievance procedure and the way they handle grievances in general.
Materials:
flip chart and markers, extra paper and markers for groups. Copy of the contract grievance procedure and any other grievance materials.
Purpose:
To understand and evaluate the way grievances are handled and the existing procedures and rules, to explore alternative ways to handle grievances, to “redesign†the grievance procedure, to set goals for grievances…
Process:
Explain and motivate the activity.
Ask the whole group to help you map the grievance procedure, step by step, drawing pictures on the flip chart to show who files the grievance, who the grievant talks to, who contacts management, who meets with management, who is on the management side.
The picture should also show the time taken for each part of the process. As you draw, filling in the map, feel free to explore the issues: “Really? It takes two years to get to arbitration? Has anyone here gone through that?â€
Once the whole process has been mapped: from filing the grievance to a final decision from the arbitrator, ask the participants to talk about what they see, what stands out in this map.
Then ask the group to compare their map to the official grievance procedure in the contract. Where is the actual process different from what is on paper? If it is slower or less participatory, why is that so? Can the official procedure be enforced? How? If the official procedure is no work of art, how should/can it be changed?
Things for the facilitator to think about, and raise, during the discussion:
Time: How long are grievances taking? Why? Who benefits from a slow procedure? Who suffers? “Justice delayed is justice denied†– is this true?
Participation, information and control: what is the role of the grievant as the grievance progresses? What information does s/he have? What decisions does s/he make? What actions does s/he take? What is the role of the grievant’s coworkers? How does all this change as the grievance progresses? Who represents the grievant at each step? Are they elected or appointed?
Location: Where does the grievance start? Where does it go, physically, as it progresses? Why does that matter? (I find that grievances quickly move away from the shop floor, away from the key players, into a procedure that gets further and further away from the scene of the problem with players who have less and less at stake. This helps the two sides find a compromise, but it weakens the grievance as a tool for building power in the workplace.)
Intensity: What do think happens to the grievant’s level of interest in the complaint as the process goes on? What happens to the coworker’s awareness and involvement? What effect does the procedure have on the manager who created the problem?
Power: What’s strong in this procedure (from point of view of workers)? What’s weak? How does the grievance procedure impact each player (the employer – from supervisor to top management, the steward(s), officers, lawyers; the worker and her coworkers; the arbitrator)?
Ask participants to summarize the map and the official procedure: “so, what’s the punch line here?â€
Then form small groups and ask them to discuss what they think are the top three changes that need to change in how the union handles grievances and how they think those changes could be made.
Report back and discussion.
Watch for:
If participants do not have a lot of information about the grievance procedure, or if this is a workplace where grievances are rarely filed, you will need to abandon the focus on grievances and use the map to show how problems get solved. That map could include pressure tactics (“the foreman’s tool box suddenly ends up in the trashâ€) and even backward tactics like quitting or sucking up to the boss. The point is to map how problems are getting addressed -- or not – so people can begin to think about exploiting their strengths.
Variations:
I often add a brief presentation at the end on the problems with the grievance procedure and how they can be addressed. It can also be helpful to have another person with experience in using grievances to organize make the presentation or talk about how they have tried to use the grievance procedure to organize.
You can form small groups and ask them to redesign the grievance procedure, drawing a new chart to show how many steps there are, what happens at each step, who does what, etc. When the groups are finished, have each one post its chart for others to review, then go over them (can go over only one or two, depending on time available or if there is repetition). Watch out that this does not skew the conversation in a formalistic direction, focusing only on changes in the actual contract language.
In addition to a map, you can have people explain the grievance process using a role play format. This allows people to show how the process works politically – that is, the attitudes and approaches of the different players.
If the participants are in a position to actually draw up proposals for a new grievance procedure (which they would have to win at the bargaining table), and see this as a priority, they can divide into small groups and draw a new chart showing how they want the grievance procedure to be restructured.
Alternatively, they can divide into small groups to plan how the union will handle grievances differently, without trying to change the contract language, for example by forming a stewards council, by training stewards in organizing job actions, by recruiting more stewards, by pushing management to respond faster, etc.
Examples:
Comparing Procedures
What are the advantages and disadvantages of this grievance procedure?
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE #1
Grievant has five days to file to supervisor, verbally or in writing; meeting in five days with grievant, steward (if grievant desires), and supervisor; supervisor's decision in writing within five days of step one meeting
Grievant has five days to appeal in writing to Dir. of Human Resources; meeting in five days with management rep., grievant and steward; management's decision in writing within five days of step two meeting.
Grievant has five days to appeal in writing to director of Human Resources; meeting with grievant, chief steward, management rep. within five days of appeal, decision in writing within five days of step three hearing.
Union has five days to file a demand for arbitration to American Arbitration Association; hearing set at mutual convenience; final decision in writing from arbitrator is final and binding.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of this grievance procedure?
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE #2
Grievant has thirty days to file to supervisor, verbally or in writing; meeting in three days with grievant, union representative(s) chosen by grievant, and supervisor; supervisor's decision in writing within two days of step one meeting. Grievant and her/his union representatives, will be released from work to attend all grievance meetings.
Grievant has thirty days to appeal in writing to Dir. of Human Resources; meeting in two days with grievant, union representative(s) chosen by grievant, and management rep.; management's decision in writing within two days of step two meeting.
Grievant has five days to appeal in writing to director of HR; meeting with grievant, the chief steward, and the designated management representative within two days, decision in writing within five days of step three hearing.
If grievance is not resolved by end of Step Three, union has right to conduct job actions, including strikes, until a settlement of the issues involved is negotiated.
If Employer fails to honor the time limits set forth in this article, the remedy sought by the grievant shall be considered accepted by the Employer.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of this grievance procedure?
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE #3
Grievant has three days to file to supervisor in writing; supervisor's decision in writing within two weeks of step one meeting.
Union has three days to appeal in writing to Dir. of Human Resources; meeting in ten days with management rep., grievant and steward; management's decision in writing within two weeks of step two meeting.
Business Agent has three days to appeal in writing to director of HR; meeting with business agent, a special grievance representative, and management rep. within ten working days of appeal, decision in writing within two weeks of step three hearing.
Either party may request arbitration by Arbitration Panel; the Panel will consist of one member selected by the Company, one member selected by the Union, and one impartial member selected by both parties. The Arbitration Panel’s decision shall be my majority vote and will be final and binding.
If the Union fails to honor the time limits, the grievance shall be considered null and void.