With all of GSEU’s internal struggles, we run the
danger of losing sight of one of the union’s most important
functions, protecting the rights of workers through the grievance procedure and other legal measures. Ray Haines, from SUNY Employee Relations recently reported that GSEU filed only four grievances in the 2003-2004 academic year (see SUBOA minutes 4/21/04). While Scott Oldenberg (former Buffalo BA) has written to tell us that this number probably does not include all step one and step two grievances, it is nonetheless true that GSEU does not file as many grievances as other public employee unions. We do not believe this to be a sign that the state is in nearly 100% compliance with the contract. Instead, we suspect that the low number of grievances is attributable to four factors: 1) Many employees simply do not know their rights; 2) Other employees are too intimidated to excercise their rights; 3) Some GSEU officers have probably done a poor job educating and communicating with members (note how the gseu.org site only recently came to supply viewers with a copy of the contract); and 4) some officers seem to find grievances to be a low priority (some current officers have never filed a formal grievance). An education drive about workers' rights is in order. By introducing members to the various contractual and legal protections of employees in
the GSEU/CWA 1104 bargaining unit and outlining the grievance procedure, this page hopes to expedite such an education drive for members.
Click on the issue that interest you, or scroll down to read more.
Disclaimer Please note, we are not attorneys and the descriptions below are not to be construed as legal opinion or advice.
A grievance is a dispute between an employee or
his/her union and an employer over a possible violation of the contract.
GSEU’s grievance and arbitration process is described in
Article 16 of the contract. GSEU’s contract itemizes the parts of
the contract that can be grieved. The following Articles or aspects of
articles are grievable under Article 16, Grievance and Arbitration: Article
5 (eligibility for salary increases and minimum stipend); Article 6
(eligibility for health benefits); Article 7; Article 8; Article 9;
Article 12.1; Article 18.1 and 18.2; Article 20; Article 21.3; Article 22;
Article 23; and Article 16.2.. In practice, the state may be willing to
discuss and resolve disputes over other contract violations within the
format outlined by Article 16, but it is not obliged to do so.
Grievances are very important for several reasons.
• Every violation
that goes ungrieved weakens the contract and therefore all members’
rights.
• Failing to
grieve a contract violation encourages adminstrators to further violate the
contract and exploit TAs and GAs.
• Grievances
discipline adminstrators to act fairly toward employees. Employees do not gain the respect of their empoyers by allowing themselves to be exploited--they gain respect by doing good work but refusing to be exploited, and the main defence against exploitation is the vigilant application of the contract.
• A winning grievance strengthens the contract by creating precedent in the interpretation of the contract.
• Grievances help build solidarity among workers, and a winning grievance tends to give other workers the courage to also file grievances when the contract is violated.
• Every grievance
whether won or lost feeds into the subsequent contract negotiations. They
point to problem areas in the contract; remedies that fail to adequately
address disputes; and so forth.
Time is not on our side when it comes to grievances.
Employees have to act quickly once they think the contract is being
violated. Article 16 states that the grievance must be filed within
20 days from the date that the employee “knew or reasonably
should have known” of the grievable violation. It is important,
then, that employees familiarize themselves with the contract and keep
union contact information close at hand. The GSEU officer who
handles the grievance must also be wary of timeliness, and it would
behoove the member to read Article 16 and make sure that the deadlines
are being met.
The grievance procedure is designed to resolve
conflicts and involves a series of steps in which the employee with or
without a GSEU representative discusses the problem with appropriate
administrators. Depending on the situation, the member may or may not want
to try to resolve the issue on his or her own before entering into the
grievance procedure. Members are encouraged to discuss this option with
their GSEU representative. Before meeting with an administrator or GSEU
representative, members are encouraged to do the following:
a. go to
personnel/payroll and obtain copies of their employee files (article 23
gives employees the right to these files)--this may shed light on the
dispute and perhaps enable the GSEU officer to further grieve such contract
violations as failure to issue a letter of notification of employment;
b. the member should
also collect the contact info for the supervisor and any one else involved
in the grievance;
c. finally, members
should write down the details of the grievance as best as possible. All
written correspondence needs to meet the deadlines in Article 16 and needs
to be sent via certified mail.
The steps in article 16 are as follows:
Step 1: This level is
described as “informal.” The grievant (member with the
problem) with or without a GSEU representative arranges in writing a
meeting with the immediate
supervisor (chair, Dean, or “other appropriate
administrator”). Most grievances should be resolved at this
level.
Step 2: If step 1
fails to resolve the grievance, an appeal can be made to the
“President’s Designee” which may be the director of
graduate studies, the director of human resources, or some other
administrator. When in doubt, the appeal letter should be sent to the
president of the university and cc’d to Human
Resources.
Step 3: If step 2
fails to resolve the grievance, the GSEU may appeal to the Chancellor or
chancellor’s designee.
Step 4: If step 3
fails to resolve the grievance, the GSEU may appeal to the Director of the
Governor’s Officer of Employee Relations.
Step 5: If none of
these forums resolve the grievance, the GSEU may appeal to arbitration.
However, the remedies for arbitration are scripted in the contract. The
state has on
ocassion gone beyond these remedies, but it is upon
the state’s discretion to do so. A task for the next contract must be the inclusion of make-whole remedies. More info on arbitration is available here: Arbitration
With persistence, good communication, and creativity, many grievances can be won.
In addition to the contract’s grievance
procedure, there are a number of other protections employees need to be
aware of. Some are listed below, but consultation with a GSEU representative or a labor lawyer is recommended.
New York state is called a “work-at-will”
state, meaning that employers are not required to give reasons for firing
employees. The 1999-2003 contract gave employees very few protections from
discipline and discharge. Members had a right to meet with the
president’s designee to discuss a disagreement, but the state was not
obliged to act on findings of the meeting even when a disciplinary practice
was deemed inappropriate. The 2003-2007 contract has made vast
improvements in this area: the state is now required to furnish a letter explaining reasons for discharge, and
members will have the right to dispute the reasons.
Different work areas grant rights not outlined in the
contract. These are deemed past practice when the practice is ongoing and
occurs regularly, has been accepted by the employee/union and employer, and
does not contradict the contract.The employer must maintain past practice
rights. However, it is the employee’s responsibility to challenge changes to
past practice. Changes in past practices that go unchallenged
eventually supersede the original practice. It is therefore imperative that employees talk to one another about workplace rights.
The Taylor Law defines a number of “Improper
Practices” that are enforceable through the Public Employees
Relations Board. In a nutshell, the employer may not intefere with union
business, discriminate against employees for being involved in the union,
fail to continue a contract’s provisions until a new contract is
negotiated, and so forth. You may read the Taylor Law here.
New York State Human Rights Law protects
employees from discrimination and harassment. Should the need arise, these
laws can be evoked in conjunction with a variety of provisions in the
contract. You may visit the NY State Human Rights Law page here.
You have the right to a safe environment. This is especially important for GAs and TAs working in labs, but may apply to any position. Each SUNY campus has some administrative organiziation in charge of safety and health--this varies from campus to campus, so if you are concerned about the safety of your work area, you may need to do some research. In addition, you should check with New York State’s Committee for Occupational
Safety and Health which guarantees safe working conditions for all employees. You may visit the site by clicking here.
