Know your Contract
One of the most important benefits of belonging to a union is your legally enforceable contract that your employer is required to follow. However, if you don’t know what is in the contract, you may not realize that the employer is doing something wrong or failing to provide benefits that the union fought to win. Reading and understanding your contract is key to employer accountability.
Your local has elected officers and/or an assigned labor representative who can help you with contract questions. You can find links to your bargaining unit, contract, and local representatives here.
File a Grievance
What happens if your employer doesn’t follow the contract or policy or issues corrective action that is unfair and/or excessive? File a grievance! The grievance procedure is the formal contractual process for addressing contract violations.
Filing a grievance is a protected activity, and it is unlawful for an employer to retaliate against you for filing. Grievances are the most helpful tool in our arsenal to enforce the contract language that your union fought to win.
Your collective bargaining agreement may contain a form that you can fill out. However, the basic elements of a grievance are:
- Name and contact information – Grievances cannot be anonymous. The employer needs to know who you are to remedy the violation.
- Section of the contract that has been violated – This will usually be a specific Article and section or employer policy. You have local unit officers and/or an assigned labor representative who can help you.
- Statement of the grievance – How did the employer violate the contract? Were you canceled out of turn? Were you given a written warning that was unfair? This is the section that explains the issue to the employer.
- Remedy – Every grievance must have a remedy that fits within the contract! What can the employer do to make the situation right? Do you need to be paid for hours that should have been yours? Do they need to remove a disciplinary action from your personnel file? (*Note – Firing or disciplining another employee is not a legitimate remedy.)
Collective bargaining agreements have specific timelines for filing grievances. If you miss that deadline, your grievance may be barred from filing. If you need help filing a grievance, you can find links to your bargaining unit, contract, and local representatives here.
File an ADO
An Assignment Despite Objection (ADO) form can be filed for a variety of workplace issues that affect your ability to adequately care for your patients. This can include scenarios involving workplace violence, understaffing, unsafe conditions and safety concerns, inadequate equipment or supplies, missed breaks and denied earned time, and adequate ability to take breaks for breastfeeding or pumping.
ONA has used ADO data for wide-ranging purposes, including issue-based organizing campaigns, the development of model contract language, and legislative initiatives. Every ADO is read by ONA staff and truly is the best way to provide real-time information for an immediate concern.
You can file an ADO here. If you need help filing an ADO or the unsafe condition persists, you should reach out to your local officers and/or labor representative. That information can be found here.
Get Involved
An involved, engaged union is a strong union! Locals are always looking for members to help, regardless of the amount of time that you have to give. You can find information on your local unit officers and/or labor representatives here.
Don’t have a union but like what you’re reading? You can find information on forming a union here.