Category Archives: Grievance/Arbitration
DON’T MAKE THE GRIEVANCE MISTAKE THIS UNION DID Who knows why they did it or even if it was knowing and deliberate. But a union that normally represents state and locally police ripped the rug out from under a federal … Continue reading
REMEMBER THIS FOR WHEN THE GRIEVANCE HATERS RETURN Although the FLRA is once again operating as a neutral and professional labor relations administrator, there will come a time when once again at least two of the three seats will be … Continue reading
WHAT TO DO FOR A DEAD GRIEVANT Suppose the union challenges an agency’s termination or demotion of a union member and the employee dies before the case is resolved. Is an arbitrator allowed to issue a decision and if s/he … Continue reading
WHAT CAN BACK PAY AND DAMAGES INCLUDE? You will be surprised to see what can be included and it all depends on how you draft the grievance.
GRIEVING THE DENIAL OF A DEBT COLLECTION WAIVER To our surprise, both FLRA members decided to interpret the law differently from Chairman Dubester. The case raised the question of whether an agency’s denial of an employee’s request to repay an … Continue reading
DON’T MAKE THIS HGDG GRIEVANCE MISTAKE One of the more satisfying grievances to win for employees is a claim that they be paid for doing work above their normal salary grade. Often these are called Higher Graded Duty Grievances (HGDG), … Continue reading
CREATIVE GRIEVANCE REMEDIES One of the criticisms that can be leveled against most unions is that they often file grievances that fail to pursue all the potential remedies an employee is due. To put it more bluntly, they are letting … Continue reading
ARBITRATORS CAN’T, BUT UNION REPS CAN FLRA just issued a decision overturning an arbitrator’s decision on how to award back pay for unpaid overtime that highlights a very powerful club unions have in these cases. After deciding the agency had … Continue reading
GRIEVANCE STRATEGY ISSUES- Part 5 (Remedies) We are back with Part 5 of our Grievance Strategy series that aims to give union reps a deep look at how to deal with the six most critical parts of a union grievance. … Continue reading
FLRA ADDRESSES HOW SPECIFIC A GRIEVANCE MUST BE TO SURVIVE Not long ago FEDSMILL posted a piece entitled, “Grievance Strategy Issues- Part 4” which examined how specific a grievance must be to avoid several traps that can destroy an otherwise … Continue reading