The steward as advocate.

There will come a time when your role will be to represent workers in a grievance. Most contracts have similar definitions for what a grievance is. In general, the employer must have violated:

1. The contract.
2. Federal, state, or local law.
3. The employer's own rules or policies.
4. Past practice.
5. Equal treatment.

If you decide the employer has committed a violation, then you must next determine which (of the following two) categories of violation is involved:

DISCIPLINE GRIEVANCES If the employer has imposed discipline on a worker, the burden is on the employer to prove "just cause." Just cause for discipline is a requirement in most union contracts. Even if it isn't spelled out, most arbitrators require it.

ALL OTHER GRIEVANCES If no discipline is involved, then it's up to the union to prove the violation has occurred.

These different types of violations call for different approaches. You're doing more than investigating now. You're building a case.

• Did the employer investigate properly before imposing discipline? Or did they shoot from the hip? Where did they get their information?
• Was the investigation complete? Fair?
• Was the evidence convincing? Or was the worker punished on the basis of suspicion and hearsay?
• Did the worker receive fair and equal treat-ment? Was discipline imposed without bias or discrimination?
• Did the worker have reason to know an infraction was being committed? Are workers properly instructed on workplace rules and policies? Had any warnings been given by management?
• Has the violation been permitted or overlooked in the past? Is the punishment a sudden reversal of past policy?
• Did management apply "progressive discipline" ? It might be in your contract. If not, many arbitrators recognize the principle. For example:
  1. Oral warning
  2. Then a written warning

Did the employer investigate properly before imposing discipline? Or did they shoot from the hip? Where did they get their information?

• Was the investigation complete? Fair?
• Was the evidence convincing? Or was the worker punished on the basis of suspicion and hearsay?
• Did the worker receive fair and equal treatment? Was discipline imposed without bias or discrimination?
• Did the worker have reason to know an infraction was being committed? Are workers properly instructed on workplace rules and policies? Had any warnings been given by management?
• Has the violation been permitted or overlooked in the past? Is the punishment a sudden reversal of past policy?
• Did management apply "progressive discipline"? It might be in your contract. If not, many arbitrators recognize the principle.

For example:

1. Oral warning
2. Then a written warning
3. Then a suspension
4. Finally, the ax

• Even if there was cause for some discipline, was it excessive? Were "mitigating" circumstances (such as long service or no previous discipline) ignored?
• Does the punishment fit the infraction?

Any of the questions above can be used to show the employer acted without just cause.

• Did the employer violate the contract? Such grievances often involve seniority, hours of work, pay, staffing, working conditions, holidays, and annual leave.
• Did the employer violate a law?
• Is it an infraction of the employer's own rules or responsibilities? This is often the case in health-and-safety grievances.
• Does it infringe the equal treatment guarantees of the workers?
• Does it violate past practice?