There have been many times that I have been disappointed and frustrated during the preparation for and presentation of a grievance during a grievance hearing. I felt that as a representative for my fellow members, as a Teamster, we were ineffective in our attempts to make the necessary arguments to gain the result desired.
It was my B.A.’s fault that the hearings were lacking in fight and luster, right? After all, I had presented my B.A. with all of the information prior to the hearing; he should have been adequately prepared, right? When the grievance was filed, he was full of support and assurances that he was going to fight for the results desired. Although when the time came for the hearing, there was no fight, and he did not express knowledge of the desired resolution. I was expecting fireworks, and I experienced a fizzle. The dynamite failed to detonate!
For quite some time, I held a ton of resentment toward my B.A. Where was the fight that I expected and desired? After all, he is paid by the members to fight the good fight. Where was the bang for the buck? I questioned why he was in this position if he was not going to storm in and make things right. Being prepared for a grievance hearing is critical for membership representation.
In hindsight, I was not prepared. I had not retained copies of the statements, grievance forms, or the disciplinary forms, which allowed for me to be sketchy on the details of the issue. If I would have been more prepared, I would have been able to prevent the appearance of a dysfunctional representative force. Although, I do not shoulder all of the blame; as a steward, I feel I should have taken more responsibility of our fellow members and their issues.
There are a few things that I can recommend to be done in the future; I know I will take on a more active role in the preparation and presentation of a grievance.
1) Start with the grievance investigation. You can do a lot of it yourself. Remember to use the “Six W's” of a grievance investigation: Who, When, Where, Why, What happened, and Witnesses.
2) During a grievance investigation, the union has the right to request documents and other information from the company, but your contract may require that all information requests go through the BA. If it does, put together a list of the documents you want to request, and give it to your Business Agent.
3) Send your request to the BA in writing, and follow up with a phone call. You'll leave a paper trail and make sure that he's crystal-clear about the information you want. Ask the agent to meet with you before the day of the hearing, to go over the results of your investigation, discuss the company’s argument and your argument, and make a plan for the hearing with management. Arrange a signal to stop the meeting and go to a caucus if you don't like the way the hearing is going.
4) Finally, the more you know about how the grievance procedure works and how to prepare grievances, the stronger you'll be.
It takes all of us to make this Union great. The better we represent our members, the stronger we will grow. I am committed to being the best representative I can. I am resolved to fight until there is no fight left. If the contract can be interpreted to benefit the employer, then I need to figure out how to spin it back to benefit the employee. We may not win them all, but I will be prepared to give it all I have.
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