2019 Shop Steward Training One B ergen Plaza

1. 2019Shop Steward Training One Bergen Plaza

6. Here are some tips for the Steward: First of all, remember that as a Steward you have the support of the Union, both the national union USWU/IUJAT and your Local 755 President and Executive Board and our full time Union Representative. That means that if you don’t know the answer to questions or are not familiar with procedures, ask your Union Representative. With your position comes a huge responsibility and you need to be able to provide the right answers to members and follow the correct procedures in your dealings with management. Your members will respect you for following this simple advice. Take your time. Listen carefully. Write things down. Buy yourself a spiral notebook and begin to document your activities. If you investigate a grievance, write down the 5Ws (who, what, when, where, why . . . and how) in your notebook or on the grievance fact sheet that the local provides with the grievance form. Be on your toes. You will be tested by management the moment you become a steward. Think of it as hazing. But don’t give in. Act professional and be aware of your rights. Your supervisor or manager will probably try to tell you what you can or cannot do as a steward. Remember you are hearing this information from a self-serving and biased source. Know your rights. You are management’s equal in all matters relating to the contract and the union-employer relationship. Your contract may outline some of your rights as a steward but much of it has a legal basis. That means the “sit down and shut up” mentality of some supervisors is incorrect, unprofessional, and in some cases downright illegal. If you are denied rights which make your defense of a member impossible, make sure your Business Representative is aware of this situation—immediately. Check out your Steward Guide on a regular basis for grievance guidance. As you read over it, highlight those items of particular interest. Keep a file for them so that you can easily refer back to them when needed.

7. You are a representative of USWU to your members. Introduce yourself and greet new hires. Be the strongest advocate for the union on the property. Pass along information from your local. Squelch any rumor before it spreads. Work together with your local’s officers. That means the politics of the past union election, if there was one, is over. You are part of the team. If a member comes to you with a complaint that could be grievable, investigate it quickly and professionally. Resolve the issue in the quickest and fairest way. Don’t make the member wait unnecessarily for an answer. Tell him/her that you will get back to them with an answer and then get back to them. If the issue is not grievable, see if there is a way to resolve it. If there is no grievance, be honest with the member but explain why the issue is not a grievance under your agreement. Work with other stewards so that they are aware of the issues you have been presented with. You don’t want a member going behind your back to another steward because he/she did not agree with your decision not to press a complaint. Read everything you can about your work— the daily newspaper and labor books. Make sure education is part of your union’s regular business.

8. Types of Grievances Discipline Consistency creates the sentinel effect. If the employer knows you are watching , they are less likely to attempt violating the contract. Burden of proof is on THE GRIEVANT(and the Union) Must have some legal basis Independent Arbitration is final and binding. Union may opt not to arbitrate. It is not the decision of the grievant. Violation of Contract, Policy, Practice or Law

9. What is “JUST CAUSE?” Daugherty’s 7 Tests • Was the employee forewarned of the consequences of his or her actions? Is there a policy in place? Ignorance of the rules is not always an excuse. Common sense may apply 2. Are the employer's rules reasonably related to business efficiency and performance the employer might reasonably expect from the employee? Was the employee asked to do something illegal or dangerous? If an employee has a REASONBLE belief that something is illegal or unsafe, they are protected from an insubordination charge. Otherwise, the rule is: Do it now … grieve it later.

10. 3. Was an effort made before discipline or discharge to determine whether the employee was guilty as charged? 4. Was the investigation conducted fairly and objectively? 5. Did the employer obtain substantial evidence of the employee's guilt? Notice that it does NOT mention ‘Beyond AReasonable Doubt’. 6. Were the rules applied fairly and without discrimination? Generally, What is good for one employee should be good for all. Be certain to compare apples to apples. Do not invoke the “But everybody speeds defense”. You must show that the employer was aware of similar behavior and intentionally did not enforce the rules. Avoid throwing other members under the bus. Not everyone has to be treated exactly the same, however. 7. Was the degree of discipline reasonably related to the seriousness of the employee's offense and the employee's past record? NOTE: The County generally follows a policy of Progressive Discipline.

11. Progressive Discipline • Progressive discipline is an employee disciplinary system that provides a graduated range of responses to employee performance or conduct problems. Disciplinary measures range from mild to severe, depending on the nature and frequency of the problem. • For example, an informal coaching session might be appropriate for an employee who is tardy or violates a minor work rule, while a more serious intervention -- or even termination -- might be called for if an employee commits serious misconduct or doesn't improve a performance problem after receiving several opportunities to do so.

21. The First question that should be asked: WHAT ARTICLE OF THE CONTRACT DOES THIS VIOLATE?? • Read your contract thoroughly – Don’t Cherry Pick! • Contracts often refer to the same issue under different clauses. • How has this been interpreted in the past? What has been the past practice? (Don’t confuse Past Practice with past practice) • Know your facts before filing the grievance The employer will know when you are uninformed. ALWAYS USE THE PHRASE “At least but not limited to” when writing a grievance.

22. The 5 W’s( Essential Information for Filing a Grievance) • 1-WHO: Who was involved in the grievance? • List name, department, job classification, shift. Include the name of the management representatives involved. HOW: • How does the employer remedy the grievance/complaint? • What adjustments are necessary to correct the situation? • How can you return the aggrieved worker to the same condition had the violation not occurred? • 2-WHAT:What is the grievant’s story? Management position? • The reports of witnesses? • Collect all the facts you can, always looking for “hard” facts • but accepting and weighing “soft” facts and different versions. • 3-WHEN:When did the incident or condition occur? • Give dates and times as accurately as possible. When in doubt, use “On or about”. • 4-WHERE: Where did the grievance take place? • Give the exact location, department, area, etc. 5-WHY:Why is this a grievance? What has been violated? The contract? Federal, state, municipal laws? Past practice? Workers’ rights? Previous ruling or awards?

23. Violation of Past Practice Where the contract language is ambiguous or the contract is silent, past practice can be used to give the contract meaning. Several questions need to asked about past practices: •Is there mutuality in the practice? •What is the history of the practice? •Is the practice clear and consistent? •How many times has it been repeated? •Has it been a widely accepted practice? •What conditions gave rise to the practice and have those conditions changed?

24. The Supervisor of your group sometimes lets you go home early with pay. • Payroll forgets to take out your medical deductions. • Employees working in seven day operations will varying schedules have always been afforded at least two consecutive days off in a row. Now, the employer wants to change that. • You've always been allowed to use three sick days each year to stay home with your children if they are sick. Now your boss says you can't stay home unless you are sick. • Until recently, your boss has allowed you to stop work a few minutes early so you can wash up. Now, she says you have to stay on the job until your finish time. • The employer has for years allowed you to play radios while working. Because there have been complaints about the type of music, the boss says, “no more radios”.

25. A Violation of Law may be better addressed in different forum. • Discrimination • County Policy addresses these concerns. They should file complaint and allow the employer to investigate. • EEOC – Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (Federal) • LAD – Law Against Discrimination Division (NJ) Ideally, you want to have direct evidence rather than circumstantial evidence when filing a discrimination claim. • Wage and Hour issues should be addressed in contract but can be reported to State/Federal Government Wage and Hour Division. (Usually has a 2 year limitation.) • Workers Compensation • Work place Injury is addressed in contract • Recommend speaking to a WC attorney for serious injury since it will protect the employee over a longer period of time.

26. Grievance V. Gripe A Shop Steward may get more gripes than Grievances. • We are advocates. • But we can’t make all the people happy all the time • Listen to the member and brainstorm possible answers • See the big picture – Talk to other Stewards to see how they might handle things • Ask grievant to outline the details and what they a see a resolution. • We try to be problem solvers • Know your members • Remain unbiased • Develop a relationship with the employer and your members • Gain the employees and the employers respect

29. Out of Title Work • Grievant Joe comes to you complaining about his workload. He is permanent in his title of CLERK 2. A few years back his division was reduced due to layoff. He now has to do the work he had to do before and he also has to do the work of the previous CLERK 3 that was laid off. He has been doing this typ of work for the past fourteen months. • His previous co-worker was responsible for putting together PowerPoint presentations for special events and SKYPE meetings once a month. That same worker also did similar work as Joe, entering Data, Typing letters, and other Clerical work. When the layoff occurred, the supervisor mentioned that things were going to get difficult and asked that everyone ‘chip in’ to keep things running smoothly. Joe taught himself PowerPoint art night and volunteered his talent when the first event after the layoff was scheduled. The Supervisor thanked him for volunteering and stated “This kind of teamwork will be rewarded. Keep up the good work”. • The amount of work Joe does is more than he did before. He has, once a month, worked additional hours and has been paid for those additional hours as overtime.

30. Out of Title Work • Desk Audit -DPF44S

31. She was previously allowed because she asked for a special accommodation to take care of her husband who had recently had a stroke. Her husband had the stroke 2 years ago. What questions do you need to ask the grievant?What should the Union’s position be? (What clauses of the contract apply?)What laws may apply? • Accommodating SueGrievant Sue comes to you, as Shop Steward, stating that she is no longer allowed to schedule her lunch at 1:30. In the past, she was allowed to combine her two breaks with her half hour lunch and take lunch between 1:30 and 2:30. Sue is a receptionist for the division. There were two receptionists, but one has retired and now Sue is covered by clerical staff and counselors when she takes her breaks. Management has informed her that she will now take lunch at 1:00 pm until 2:00 pm. \

32. Gift Horse? The County Executive has closed One Bergen Plaza due to a power outage. The air conditioner shut down and the building was getting hot. Employees were sent home with pay two hours after the outage. Sara was sick and went home an hour before the Administration closed the building. Sara had mentioned to her co-worker that she was feeling ill because she doesn’t deal with the heat very well. When she left, she only told her Supervisor that she wasn’t feeling well. She never mentioned the heat. The administration does not want to pay her for the hours that the other workers were paid. They insist she use her own time. Additionally, employees in other locations worked and some of the employees work in Hackensack and were sent to other locations to work. June was one of those workers. Barb works as an inspector. She works in the field most of the time, but is part of the Division located at One Bergen Plaza. Her Co-workers were sent home while she worked the full day. Workers on Vacation or Sick were still charged that time from their bank.

33. Reminders about Grievance Filing • “This is a violation of, at least but not limited to …” • Every grievance should state what the grievant expects as a resolution. • Every grievance is 50/50. • Don’t make promises or predictions • Take notes. • Witnesses • Witnesses are not really reliable • We all bring our own bias to anything we witness. • They can change their tune. • An initial discipline meeting • In discipline, wait for the evidence before you start your arguments. • Don’t talk too much – LISTEN!! • Don’t ask question you don’t know the answer to • Advise client to limit their comments • Do not ask client to lie • You can always ask for a ‘caucus’ (break) to confer further with the client. • BE TIMELY! Every grievance must have a beginning, middle and END! • DO NOT SIT ON A GRIEVANCE • If the employee asks you to wait, advise them of the time issues and follow up in writing. • You do not want the grievant to claim you dropped the ball. • Even though there aren’t specific time limits to filing a grievance, an Arbitrator may still rule a grievance as untimely • If the Grievant was aware of the problem but chose not to grieve it.