PUT LIFE INTO YOUR CONTRACT

Your second main job is handling grievances. Without you and your fellow stewards, the best contract can be a dud. You give it life. You make it work. The smartest union officer cannot build the union alone. The most efficient union representative cannot make it run smoothly without your help.

Later we’ll discuss the whole procedure of grievance handling and establishing good relations with your supervisors. But there’s an important job related to this which is sometimes overlooked. Be on the lookout for bad conditions or situations that need remedying ad do something about them before they become serious grievances. That is, nip grievances in the bud! (These are bound to arise as long as we’re human beings without a private island for each of us.) Together you and the supervisor may be able to ease the situation and make for better understanding and cooperation among the workers involved.

By getting at these things before they become serious grievances you’re apt to get better results. Psychologically it’s easier to go to your supervisor and point out something that you can remedy together. It’s not a question then of who wins the grievance case, management or labor. Rather, the issue is cooperative effort resulting in better working conditions, greater job security, and fairer wages for the workers, and thus better production. Of course this same cooperative approach works in handling grievances, too!

If you can handle a situation outside the grievance procedure, do it. But do not horse trade or violate the contract.