Originally from:
Labor Arbitration: What You Need to Know - Revised 5th Edition - Hardcover
Labor Arbitration: What You Need to Know - Revised 5th Edition- PDF

CHAPTER FOUR - Preview Page

ARBITRATION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR GRIEVANCE ARBITRATION


The major use of arbitration in public-sector labor relations is to
settle employee grievances. Arbitration has proven to be a sound
system for dealing with disagreements over the day-to-day
administration of collective bargaining contracts between unions and
public employers. The AAA publishes two monthly reports describing
such cases—Labor Arbitration in Government and Arbitration in the
Schools. They show how the system works.

Under private-sector contractual grievance procedures, the parties
have an early opportunity to resolve the problem internally. Even
arbitration is carried out under full control of the parties. In contrast,
civil-service review procedures involve a legalistic format within
which the parties’ control is easily detached.
In some states, grievance arbitration has completely replaced the
disciplinary review function of civil service for organized workers.
Both unions and local governments tend to prefer arbitration to the
statutory review procedures.

Even the most comprehensive labor contract cannot anticipate
every problem that may arise-e.g., disciplinary problems, changes in
operation, and new demands by the public. A grievance procedure
provides the parties with a format for resolving such questions. The
union can play a useful role in such situations. The grievance
procedure can help to build operating efficiency.

With the development of sound labor relations, arbitration need
seldom be used. The key to a successful grievance procedure is the
first-line supervisor. In public employment, it may be difficult to
persuade supervisors to become totally committed to management’s
position. Supervisors are themselves often unionized. Having been
promoted from the workforce, they may not be conditioned to think of
themselves as management. It is vital, however, that supervisors
represent the employer’s interests. They need to be given training to
ensure that they recognize their managerial responsibilities.