bility of the association to resolve it
in accordance with the law.
Additionally, no other organization
has the right to process grievances.
Once the association is recognized
as the bargaining agent, it has the
sole and exclusive authority to
process grievances. NJSA 34:13A-1
et seq. states, “. . . a minority organization
shall not present or process
grievances.”
It is clear that an employee organization
may grieve on behalf of itself
as well as individual members. The
N.J. Supreme Court in Red Bank Reg.
Ed. Assn. V. Red Bank Reg. HS. Bd.
of Ed., 78 NJ 122 (1978), ruled that a
majority representative has the right
to process a grievance on behalf of
an individual and that an employer
may not insist that an employee
pursue his grievance personally
when the majority representative
wished to present and process that
grievance. In the case of Saginario v.
Attorney General 87 NJ 480 (1981),
the Court held that an individual
employee who may be adversely affected
by the outcome of a grievance
is entitled to be heard at some point
during the grievance processing. The
individual employee may be represented
by his/her association, or if
the employee’s position is in conflict
with the association’s, by a personal
representative or pro se.
Tips for ARs who process
grievances
1. Investigate and handle every
case as though it will eventually
end in an arbitration hearing.
2. Your procedure needs a final
step – arbitration.
3. Give the member a full hearing
about his/her grievance and
counsel the member as to the
association position.
32 – AR Handbook
4. Make sure you are within the
agreement time limits and
that the grievance meets all
other procedural requirements
dictated by the agreement.
5. Examine the agreement and the
agreement provision carefully.
6. Make a full record of both
the member’s and the board’s
positions, arguments, witnesses,
evidence, and participants in all
discussions.
7. Examine the correspondence
records for similar or identical
grievances that have been
resolved in the past. It is best to
know the results of grievances.
8. Carefully record all results of
your investigation.
9. Present all records that are
germane to the case.
10. Identify the specific agreement
clauses allegedly violated.
Determine whether the matter
can properly be defined as a
grievance.
11. Identify the relief being sought
by the member and guide
the member to a reasonable
solution.
12. Advise the member of the
collective action you and the
association plan to take.
13. Fully inform your grievance
committee and/or regional
UniServ office of all discussions
with grievant and of all
decisions reached.
14. If the grievance was untimely
raised or filed, argue the merits
of the grievance first.
15. Make all settlements within the
terms of the agreement. Discuss
all matters with the grievance
committee.
16. Don’t ask favors of the board
or administrators. They won’t
forget and they will someday
expect a reciprocal concession.
17. Do not depend upon the board
and the administrators to assume
authority for solving your
problems. Exercise authority
and dispose of issues promptly.
18. Control your emotions. Control
your remarks. Control your
behavior.
19. Pass along to your negotiating
team your experience with any
troublesome agreement clauses.
Duty of Fair Representation
PERC has cited as its standard for
the Duty of Fair Representation the
U.S. Supreme Court’s decision of
Vaca v. Sipes, 386 US 171 (1967). In
this landmark case the Court said:
“A breach of this statutory duty of
fair representation occurs only when
a union’s conduct toward a member
of this collective bargaining unit is
arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad
faith.”
In subsequent cases, the federal
courts and the National Labor Relations
Board, to which PERC looks
for guidance, have probed the vigor
with which an association has investigated
all aspects of a grievance, the
communications between the union
and affected members, the absence
of procedures for handling grievances,
and negligence in meeting time
lines.
PERC has left open the question of
whether or not a majority representative
may be forced to present
every grievance. It has indicated that
although an organization is not obligated
to present every grievance, if
combined with a failure to notify the
grievant of the right individually to
present the grievance, such a refusal
could be construed as a violation of
the duty of fair representation.