Category Archives: Grievance/Arbitration
GRIEVANCE STRATEGY ISSUES – Part 2 Now let’s turn to the common labor agreement requirement that the grievance include “the article(s) and section(s) violated.” Again, this sounds simple and very often is, but there are important exceptions.
GRIEVANCE STRATEGY OPTIONS TO CONSIDER (Part 1) Most labor-management agreements list a few simple items that must be addressed to file a valid grievance, e.g., 1- name of the grievant, 2- agreement article and section violated, 3- date of violation, … Continue reading
CAN UNIONS SACRIFICE RETIRED GRIEVANTS? Every so often we hear from a union officer trying to settle a grievance asking whether s/he can cut out of the deal anyone no longer in the unit, agency, or even federal government. For … Continue reading
NAMING GRIEVANTS: A SOURCE OF UNION POWER Two members come to you, the union steward, complaining that the manager is no longer following the agreement’s provision about how to distribute overtime and they want to grieve. After they leave, you … Continue reading
TWO ROOKIE MISTAKES A 2019 FLRA decision opens with these three sentences, “In this case, Arbitrator Anthony R. Orman, found that the Agency violated Article 21, Section 4 of the parties’ collective-bargaining agreement by failing to distribute overtime in a … Continue reading
GRIEVANCE QUIZ: ALMOST PERFECT EXCEPT FOR … Below is a hypothetical grievance inspired by one that actually went to arbitration and FLRA. The union lost on a technicality in both forums. See if you can spot the error before we … Continue reading
NOW THIS IS A WHOPPER… of a remedy that union reps should keep in mind when drafting grievances, especially those that allege an EEO violation. It is the kind of remedy order that opens up the mind as to what … Continue reading
ARRRRRRGH, SHAPE UP, FLRA! YOU JUST ALLOWED FED SECTOR SEX SLAVERY Earlier this month, FLRA upheld an arbitrator’s ruling that the union loses the right to file a grievance over a continuing violation of a contract, regulation, or law when … Continue reading
RETURNING TO A WORKABLE 7116(d) FORUM SELECTION ANALYSIS What if you want to file a grievance and a ULP with FLRA over the same incident? For example, suppose you want to challenge a member’s suspension as a violation of the … Continue reading
WHAT IS A GRIEVANCE RECOVERY PERIOD? The FLRA has said that it “specifically distinguished between contractual back pay recovery periods and contractual time periods for filing grievances.” Consequently, we practitioners had better know the difference, particularly when we sit down to write a … Continue reading