Month: December 2022

Protect Your Labour Rights!

What is a Grievance?

A grievance is a formal complaint made by a union. It is a means for the union to protect members’ rights. Filing a grievance is a legal right when there has been a violation of a right outlined in the collective agreement and/or a member has been disciplined or terminated.

Types of Grievance 

Individual Grievance

A complaint by an individual whose rights, as set out in the collective agreement, have been violated by management through, for example, discipline, harassment, denial of benefits or denial of entitlements. The individual grievance is filed by a union representative.

Group Grievance

A complaint by, for example, a group of individuals from a particular department or shift that has collectively been affected by a management action. Examples include the following:

• an employer refusing to pay a shift differential or premium pay when the contract entitles members to it; 
• management unilaterally changing the start time of a shift; or 
• an employer refusing to allow a group of members to take family related leave, even though such leave is covered by the collective agreement. 

The group grievance is filed by a union representative. All the members should sign the grievance, since adjudicators/arbitrators have been known to award compensation only to signatories.

Group Grievance Type 1: Policy Grievance

The union, not individual members, files a grievance when management or the employer violates or incorrectly interprets the collective agreement and a group, bargaining unit or the union at large is affected by this action. Policy grievances are not allowed in certain jurisdictions (labour codes define what may or may not be grieved). 

Group Grievance Type 2: Union Grievance

The union grieves a dispute arising directly between the union and the employer. In this type of grievance, the union considers its rights to have been violated, not just the rights of members. 

For example, a union might grieve on its own behalf when the employer fails to deduct union dues as specified in the collective agreement. Also, individual grievances can be filed in conjunction with the union grievance.

Grievance Procedure for Our Union

References

PSAC

A union aims to provide a fair representation of all members and negotiates in good faith on their behalf. 

What Are the Union’s Roles? 

• Source of information related to working conditions and labour rights.
• Representation for the members in situations such as collective bargaining and grievances in progress. 
• Promotion of its members’ and other workers’ interests, objectives and rights of a union.
• Collaboration with other union bodies, organizations, and social groups.

But a union is NOT meant to protect low-performing employees.

Work standards and conduct are just as important in a unionized workplace, and management still has a responsibility to address poor performance. Unions make sure the hiring process is objective, so management can’t just hire and promote their friends.

A union is not a tool to harm the employer.

People who form a union are more satisfied and productive at work. Joining in unions also reduces costly turnover and makes the workplace safer.

Lastly, a union cannot work without members.

Unions are democratic; therefore, a democratic vote of the workers is necessary for a union to make important decisions. Furthermore, a union cannot exert its power on the bargaining table with the employer without members’ action and participation in union activities. See what you can do for your union.

How does a union work for its membership?

Unionizing is the very first step for advocating employees.

However, if members of the union do not participate in union activities, the union’s bargaining power becomes extremely limited. 

The employer gauges what they can say yes or no to the union’s bargaining team not based on how loud, logical, or persisting the bargaining team is. Rather, the employer tries to predict any feasible consequences of saying yes or no to crucial demands. 

Let’s say the employer expects their employees to not take other collective action such as demonstrating in the future, given that the employees’ participation rate in union activity is extremely low. 

Would they feel compelled to say yes to a raise that goes along with the current inflation? For the employer, there is no harmful consequence of rejecting a reasonable demand.

Union Structure

CARE is a directly charted local of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). PSAC represents nearly 230,000 workers in every province and territory in Canada and in locations around the world. Formed in 1966, PSAC is one of Canada’s largest unions.

References

AFL-CIO, What Unions Do.

Canadian Labour Congress, What Unions Do

PSAC