WO toolkit 2012 complete.pdf - GMB

SECTION 4.4
DEALING WITH MEMBERS’GRIEVANCES
Your employer should have a grievance procedure for individual problems.
A member or members with a grievance against management will expect your help if they cannot sort
the issue out themselves with line management.Make sure you are familiar with the grievance
procedure where you work and that the member understands that this has to be followed.
You will submit any grievance on behalf of your member and seek a meeting for the grievance to be
heard.
Make sure your grievance letter is short and to the point.It should refer to the relevant sections of
the procedure.Avoid going into the detail of your member’s case.
Arrange a meeting in work time that is convenient for your member and gives you time to prepare.The
meeting should be arranged within the time limits set in your employer’s written procedure.If any
move is made by your employer to postpone a hearing ask for a full written explanation of the reasons
and,if you accept the reason,agree a new date.
A sample grievance letter can be found at the end of this section.
BEFORE THE HEARING
You should also make sure that you have a copy of the member’s contract of employment/written
statement of terms and conditions to hand and all other material that supports the case.
It is vital when handling either grievance or disciplinary issues that you begin by establishing the facts.
You must avoid meeting management when they are better informed than you are.Take the member(s)
involved to a private place,preferably the trade union office(individual matters should always be dealt
with on a confidential basis and you should not discuss them with anybody who is not involved).
SPECIFICALLY YOU NEED TO ESTABLISH
• The exact nature of the problem.
• The names of the people involved.
• Exactly when the problem occurred,not‘about a week ago’but the exact date and time.
• Exactly how many times the problem has occurred,not‘a lot’but the number of times.
Having established the facts you will have to exercise your judgement.Questions you must satisfy
yourself about include:
• Is the grievance valid?
• Are current agreements being followed?
• Is the law being broken?
• Are there health and safety implications?
If you decide that the situation warrants further action you must consult the member(s)involved and
ensure that they understand the consequences of taking the matter further,both if the matter is
resolved in their favour and if it is not.To do this you yourself must have a thorough understanding of
your grievance procedure,so study it in advance.As a general rule the pressure for action should be
coming from the member(s),not from you.
You must also be satisfied that the grievance is valid.You are not obliged to represent members in
pursuing invalid grievances,you will undermine your credibility with management if you do.
You should then prepare your arguments and identify your aims in a methodical way,specifically:
• Which events clearly illustrate the nature of the problem? Try to select incidents which are simple
to explain.
• What are your members aims? Try to have some idea of the minimum acceptable outcome.