GRIEVANCES

P.S.N.MURTHY

What is a Grievance
Violation of a provision of the Contract In some instances a violation of Board Policy, state and federal law Definition of a grievance is what determines scope

Is a grivevance an unfair?
Grievances are a violation of the contract Unfair labor Practices are violations of the Educational Employment Relations Act.
Bad faith in bargaining, unilateral changes in working conditions etc. More on this topic later.

What are the types of grievances?

All grievances fall into one of four categories
Dispute over meaning or application Plain violation of the agreement Dispute over the facts Dispute as to reasonableness or equity of administrative acts

Identifying Grievances
Is the allegation a grievance
What are the facts Is there a specific contract provision that addresses the issue Is there another forum for addressing the problem

Writing the Grievance

Simplicity is the key Grievance forms can be intimidating
Extraneous information is used to dissuade the filing of a grievance Too much specificity is unnecessary but a general description must include enough information that the issue is clear

The Process
Informal level- usually involves the immediate supervisor Formal level- involves putting the issue in writing Steps- could be as simple as two or as complicated as eight or nine

Final disposition
Board makes final decision Mediator makes recommendations Advisory Arbitration Binding Arbitration Court

ARBITRATION
Selecting an arbitrator Gathering the facts Presenting the case The award

Duty of Fair Representation

Dont judge defend The grievance procedure is owned by the organization not the individual All faculty members, or not, have unfettered access to the procedure You may not charge for grievance processing.

Your College Grievance Procedure

Analysis
What is a day- timelines What happens over the summer How many steps do you have What is the definition of a grievance What is the final disposition

Model Language

UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES

Unfair labor Practices (ULPs) are essentially a grievance filed against the district or the Association for violations of the Educational Employment Relations Act.
(EERA Government codes 3540 et. Seq)

The Unfair Process

An unfair must be filed within six (6) months of the alleged conduct. There must be substantial back up material to justify the claim. Forms for filing ULPs are on the PERB website (Public Employment Relations board)
Do not file a ULP without staff assistance.

What happens
PERB attorneys will examine the charge to determine if there is prima facie evidence to support the claim.
If yes the process continues, if not the charging party will be given an opportunity to amend the charge. The opposition will be given an opportunity to respond to the charge.

Process continued
If after substantiation of the charge PERB will issue a complaint and set a date for an informal hearing with a PERB representative to attempt a settlement. If no settlement is achieved a formal hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) will be scheduled

Process continued
The ALJ will accept testimony and briefs and issue a formal decision. If either party objects to the ALJ ruling the matter will be referred to the full PERB board for final determination.

Violations (District)
3543.5. It is unlawful for a public school employer to do any of the following:
(a) Impose or threaten to impose reprisals on employees, to discriminate or threaten to

discriminate against employees, or otherwise to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees because of their exercise of rights guaranteed by this chapter. For purposes of this subdivision, "employee" includes an applicant for employment or reemployment. (b) Deny to employee organizations rights guaranteed to them by this chapter. (c) Refuse or fail to meet and negotiate in good faith with an exclusive representative. Knowingly providing an exclusive representative with inaccurate information, whether or not in response to a request for information, regarding the financial resources of the public school employer constitutes a refusal or failure to meet and negotiate in good faith. (d) Dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of any employee organization, or contribute financial or other support to it, or in any way encourage employees to join any organization in preference to another. (e) Refuse to participate in good faith in the impasse procedure set forth in Article 9.

Violations (Association)
3543.6. It shall be unlawful for an employee organization to:
(a) Cause or attempt to cause a public school employer to violate Section 3543. 5. (b) Impose or threaten to impose reprisals on employees, to discriminate or threaten to discriminate against employees, or otherwise to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees because of their exercise of rights guaranteed by this chapter. (c) Refuse or fail to meet and negotiate in good faith with a public school employer of any of the employees of which it is the exclusive representative. (d) Refuse to participate in good faith in the impasse procedure set forth in Article 9

Some PERB decisions

Names and addresses of unit members must be provided to the Association Unilateral step and column freezes are unlawful Bargaining in bad faith And on and on and on.

Your turn
Questions?????