Shop Steward Rights
There appears to be some misunderstanding on Shop Steward rights. Some of the complaints that I have heard is that management is not granting time off the floor to investigate a grievance/complaint or that Supervisors are restricting how much time one can have to investigate the complaint.
From this scenario, we have other issues that come forward, such as “Do I have to tell my Supervisor what the investigation is about?”. Most of these questions around Shop Steward rights have been resolved in arbitration many years ago. Unfortunately either we, as a Union, have failed to pass on this knowledge or new Supervisors and management have ignored the law in this area.
Article 9.03, 9.04, 9.05
Article 9.03, 9.04, and 9.05 of the Collective Agreement is where our Stewards’ rights are found.
9.04 The Union steward shall have the right to prepare and present grievances in accordance with the procedure herein provided for and, for that purpose, shall have the right to meet with the employee on behalf of whom the grievance could be submitted.
It is understood that this right shall be granted during the Union Steward’s shift or at the latest, at the start of his or her following shift.
There are many cases that have been arbitrated on Shop Steward rights. In the case of Godwin (CPC-84-1-3-2921), the Shop Steward was forced to prepare grievances during non-working hours because the employer denied him the right to investigate during his working hours – one of the reasons the Corporation denied his right to investigate was because he refused to tell the supervisor what the grievance or complaint was about.
The Arbitrator ruled that:
1.) The Steward did not have to divulge the nature of the complaint
2.) The Corporation was ordered to pay the Steward for all the time he spent preparing the grievance after his request for time off had been denied by the employer.
In another case, Woodhall (CUPW 096-85-00225), the employer refused to allow a Shop Steward to gather further evidence on a grievance that had been submitted. The Steward needed to interview twenty-four (24) co-workers and she asked her Supervisor for permission and was refused. The Steward therefore met with her co-workers on her own time, for a total of six (6) hours. The Arbitrator ruled that the Corporation had violated clause 9.03, by denying the Shop Steward the right to meet with her co-workers in preparing the grievance for the grievance hearing. He found that the presentation of grievances involved the grievance hearing. The Arbitrator found that the employer had been unreasonable. The employer could have given the information the Steward was seeking and therefore lessen the time needed to investigate. He ordered the Corporation to pay the Shop Steward six (6) hours at time and half (1.5).
In both of these cases, the employer was acting in an unreasonable manner. The language allows the employee, because of operational requirements, to leave the investigation of a complaint until the following shift. This does not mean every time you request time to investigate, the employer can put it off until the next day; again this would be unreasonable.
Stewards should keep track of requests made and when they were granted. If none are granted on the shift requested, grievances need to be filed on the unreasonableness of this policy. Stewards should keep track of the time they spend investigating complaints on their own time. They should then file grievances to be paid overtime for the personal time they use to investigate complaints and should also file a grievance that they are being impeded under Article 9.06.
Stewards should remember that you are not investigating a grievance, but a possible grievance. Should you deem that the complaint is unfounded, then no grievance would be filed. This, however, does not mean that the employer does not have to give you time from your duties to investigate. The language states, “…on behalf of whom the grievance could be submitted…” – not that one has to be submitted.
Article 9.06
In Article 9.06, the Corporation agrees that the Union Steward shall not be hindered, constrained, prevented, nor impeded in any way in the accomplishment of their duties while investigating complaints and representing employees. The language on the rights for Stewards is very strong and we have fought many battles to enforce these rights.
It is imperative that Stewards continue to file grievances if management is encroaching on these rights. To protect and represent the membership, we need to have proper investigations into complaints or possible violations of the Collective Agreement.
Article 9 and the sub-article(s) give us the tools to make this happen.
In Solidarity,
Pat Bertrand
1st Vice-President