An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

I recently got a call from a client who told me, “I have a grievance meeting today, and I plan to tell the union steward that he can attend but he cannot talk – he will be a silent witness.  He and I don’t get along and I don’t want him to interrupt the meeting.”

I advised him that the steward has a duty of fair representation (DFR) under the National Labor Relations Act (the Act), which gives him both the right and the duty to fully represent the worker at the grievance meeting.  He is a participant – not just a witness – in his efforts to ensure that the worker has all the protections afforded by the Act and the collective bargaining agreement.

That means he can ask questions, advise the worker, ask for a time-out for caucus, make statements, and basically act like the worker’s lawyer in the meeting.  The union is the exclusive bargaining agent for the worker and the client must respect that.  Of course, the steward should not answer questions asked specifically of the grievant.  And he can require that the meeting be conducted in a professional manner.

My client thanked me for the advice (grudgingly, of course), and to my knowledge the grievance meeting went off without a hitch. 

But without the call to me, my client would have undoubtedly committed an unfair labor practice (ULP) under the Act.  The relationship between the union and company would suffer.  The conduct would probably lead to another grievance to discuss the failure to allow Weingarten representation. 

This exchange highlights the value of training in labor relations for all of management, as well as for union stewards and officials.

My client is fairly new to work in a unionized environment.  And as such, he is prone to make all kinds of mistakes – mistakes that are easily prevented by training such as we provide at MARC.  And mistakes can result in costly and relationship-damaging grievances, arbitrations, agency actions and litigation.

My career was in an industry with safety-sensitive jobs where at least four years of training is required before some workers can perform all the duties of the job.  Yet we promoted those workers to supervisory positions and told them “good luck” without any training whatsoever and few, if any, restrictions on their duties.  Some of them get labor relations training and leadership training along the way.  Few of them get it either before or at the onset of their promotions into management.

I know of no better way to fix those problems than MARC’s two-and-a-half day labor relations training course for supervisors.  It is comprehensive, operational, and speaks clearly to the day-to-day needs of a first-line supervisor or those in higher levels of management.  MARC provides an incredible, easy-to-use resource manual that will guide the supervisor throughout his or her career.  This three-ring binder is indexed by subject matter and contains both reading material to educate supervisors and checklists to help supervisors through such things as discipline, coaching, counseling, grievance meetings, working with unions, the supervisor’s role and many other subjects. 

MARC training and the resource manual cover conflict prevention and management techniques to ensure that all workers are treated fairly, respectfully, and in compliance with applicable laws and contracts.

In essence, an investment in MARC drives trust between unions and companies and mitigates risks for all involved.

As a MARC facilitator who spent over 20 years in labor relations using MARC, I can assure you that this “ounce of prevention” is way better than the “pound of cure” that mistakes can bring.

Please reach out to Gary Kleckner. MARC Vice President: 216-973-7323, and see what MARC can do for you.