Grievance Forms
You need to complete this form for a grievance. The Grievance Report must be completed before your Step 1 meeting – and given to a shop steward.
Article 15:02 – “The grievance must be written with sufficient detail to define the issue on a form provided by the Union and the remedy sought.”
That means WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY.
For example: If you have a grievance regarding Dispatch starting you after a junior driver… What was your start time? Who was the junior driver? What was his start time? What truck was he driving? What plant did this happen at? Did you talk to Dispatch? If not, why? Who did you talk to? What time did you talk to them? What did they say? Did you talk to your superintendent? When did you talk to him? Etc.
All of this is important to your grievance. And if you are saying to yourself: “I can’t be bothered to fill all that out.”
Then a shop steward shouldn’t be bothered either!
We are here to help you! But you need to do your part.
Grievance Definition
A grievance is a formal complaint filed by an employee or group of employees against an employer, alleging a violation of the collective bargaining agreement. The grievance procedure is outlined in Article 15 of the collective agreement and provides a means for employees to address and resolve disputes in a structured and documented manner.
Reasons for Filing a Grievance
Grievances can be raised for various reasons, including:
- Violations or breaches of the collective bargaining agreement
- Violations of the BC Labour Relations Code
- Violations of company policy (Anti-Harassment Policy; Privacy Policy; Code Of Business Conduct, Policy Statement On Human Rights, etc.)
- Unfair treatment by supervisors or colleagues
- Working conditions issues
- Pay or benefits disputes
- Improper disciplinary actions
- Worker Safety
Grievance Procedure
The grievance procedure is specifically outlined in Article 15 of our collective agreement. If you are going to read any article in your collective agreement, that is the article to study intimately because there are important steps that you must complete with specific deadlines.
If you do not adhere to the steps and deadlines – you may lose your grievance!
Here is quick snapshot of the steps that pertain to you:
Step 1:
An informal meeting with a superintendent or manager within 15 calendar days or 30 calendar days for payroll errors.
Step 2:
Your submission of a written grievance (the Grievance Report) to management within 5 calendar days of the Step 1 meeting.
Step 3:
Forwarding the grievance to our Teamsters Union Business Agent Barry CAPOZZI for further action.
YOU Are Responsible For Writing The Grievance!
It is important to understand that you are responsible for writing the Grievance Report. Your shop steward is there to help you and guide you through the process – but you are responsible for gathering the facts and writing the grievance.
In some cases your shop steward or business agent will write the grievance. We will tell you specifically when that is the case. Policy grievance will be done by your union business agent. Group grievances are grievances that involve more than one person and will usually be filed by a shop steward. You will ALWAYS fill out the Grievance Report form.