GRIEVANCES The term grievance is used to designate claims by workers of a trade union concerning the workers' individual or collective

rights under an applicable collective agreement, individual contract of employment, law, regulation, works rule, custom or usage. Such claims involve questions relating to the interpretation or application of the rules concerned. The term grievance is used in certain countries to designate this type of claim, while in some other countries reference is made to disputes over right' or legal disputes. The grounds for a grievance may be any measure or situation which concerns the relations between employer and worker or which affects or may affect the conditions of employment of one or several workers in the undertaking when that measure or situation appears contrary to provisions or an applicable collective agreement or of an individual contract of employment, to works rules, to laws or regulations or to the custom or usage of he occupation branch of economic Activity or country, regard being faith. CAUSES OF GRIEVANCES Grievances generally arise form the day-do-day working relations in the undertaking, usually a worker or trade union protest against an act or omission or management that is considered to violate worker's rights. Grievances typically arise on such questions as discipline and dismissal, the payment of wages and other fringe benefits, working time, over-time and time-off entitlements, promotions, demotion and transfer, rights deriving form seniority rights of supervisors and union officers, job classification problems, the relationships of works rules to the collective agreement and the fulfillment of obligations relating to safety and health laid down in the agreement. Such grievances, if not dealt with in accordance with a procedure that secures the respect of the parties, can result in embitterment of the working relationship an a climate of industrial strife. In large undertakings, a common type of grievance procedure involves successive steps at different levels, a workers' grievance being first discussed with the immediate supervisor, and then if no solution is found with higher levels of management. The number of levels and steps in the procedure usually increases with the size of the undertaking. Sometimes, when an important question of principle, which would involve a number of workers, is concerned the matter may go directly to a higher level of management. Under some procedures, bipartite or joint grievance committees within the undertaking hear grievances when they have been considered at lower levels at a number of earlier stages in the procedure. A settlement reached jointly by the worker and management representatives at any level is also deemed to be settle if an appeal is not lodged at the next highest level within a given time.