An Arbitrators 'Roll': Has anyone seen my issue?
I thought it might be fun to follow a grievance thru ufcw 1518 from start to finish. Want to watch?
Let me start near the beginning: The alleged violation occurred in September of 2003. I won't deal with the issue specifically, not yet anyway, but just the process for now, unless someone has questions, then shoot...
I believe I have been unjustly treated by my employer, I believe my rights have been violated and the labour agreement have been breached by my employer.
The first step was to notify my union rep, I did. My union rep responded immediately and visited the workplace to do the preliminary investigation.
His conclusion and my understanding from that investigation was that the issue would be "taken to arbitration".
What I didn't know was what "going to arbitration" meant in ufcw lingo. (please note: ufcw 1518 members do not have a current contract book, nor any of the addends and limited access to a binding interpretation of the collective agreement)
Months into this, the grievance process has taken an entirely strange twist, in my opinion and in traditional logic.
It seems the grievance process at this point is not concerned with whether or not my rights or the labour agreement has been violated, instead the arbitrators entrance into the grievance has taken the process in search of and is entirely focused on whether or not the employers' "motives were legitimate" when the agreement was violated.
Here's hoping the arbitrator can recognize the dangers of setting precedent which allows an employer to violate the contract if it can show it has "legitimate motive" for doing so.
Oh and here's hoping ufcw recognize that it is me they represent. I'll keep you all posted.