Message from the UEA Executive Director - Curt Lange
About Grievance Procedures . . . .
March 17, 2008
When laws are broken, the courts and judicial system exist to provide remedies and to interpret the law in an authoritative and binding way. Rules would be next to useless without a set method of interpretative and enforcement procedures. Any set of rules will raise honest questions of interpretation and frequently require the assistance of a neutral third party to understand or enforce their meanings.
Local associations as “exclusive employee representatives,” are charged with the responsibility of seeing to it that local school boards adhere to the policies, rules or regulations, contracts or the negotiated agreement. Local associations have the legal, ethical and moral obligation to see to it that an employee’s terms and conditions of employment are equally applied to all in a fair and consistent manner.
One of the provisions that exists between school boards and its employees is a grievance procedure. This is the provision that tells how differences of opinion between the interested parties will be resolved. Often the grievance procedure is the only vehicle by which board policies and administratively implemented procedures can be interpreted, as well as who will interpret them. In theory, the grievance procedure sets out a procedure to which both parties have agreed (and are bound) to fairly resolve differences.
Sometimes school employees feel that grieving is “unprofessional.” Some may feel a grievance procedure is unnecessary because they can take care of themselves. Still others feel grievances disrupt education because some administrators may feel threatened by the process. Most school employees, however, recognize the value of this problem-solving machinery.
It is important to remember the grievance procedure is agreed upon in advance. It is the machinery for resolving disputes that may arise concerning the interpretation and application of your terms and conditions of employment. The grievance procedure is also the avenue by which griping can be reduced and frustration in the work place be lessened. More importantly, the grievance procedure is a method to realistically deal with complaints in a forthright and hopefully healthy atmosphere.