My column for tomorrow for WTF in Suns Star Baguio...:) WTF By Anthony R. de Leon Fostering Better Hospitality Labor Relations through the Grievance Machinery Disputes and grievances are usual in any workplace or organization. When this happens, we all endeavor a peaceful resolution. The law provides for this via Article 211 of the Labor Code, which stipulates the policy of the State, to wit: (1) To promote and emphasize the primacy of free collective bargaining and negotiations, including voluntary arbitration, mediation and conciliation, as modes of settling labor or industrial disputes; (2) To promote free trade unionism as an instrument for the enhancement of democracy and the promotion of social justice and development; (3) To foster the free and voluntary organization of a strong and united labor movement; (4) To promote the enlightenment of workers concerning their rights and obligations as union members and as employees; (5) To provide an adequate administrative machinery for the expeditious settlement of labor or industrial disputes; (6) To ensure a stable but dynamic and just industrial peace; and (7) To ensure the participation of workers in decision and policy-making processes affecting their rights, duties and welfare. The spirit of the grievance machinery is outlined by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) as follows (1) provide for peaceful resolution of disputes; (2) provide a systematic way to resolve problems through fact finding; (3) provide a method of interpreting the contract ; (4) protect the integrity of the contractual agreement; (5) improve the efficiency of the organization ; (6) improve labor-management relations; (7) identify problems in plant operations or the contract itself; (8) keep the lines of communication between the parties open during the life of the contract; (9) give employees an opportunity to voice their concerns; and finally, (10) to provide the individual union member with the ability to appeal a decision and ultimately allow the member to resolve the problem through exhausting his/her rights under the grievance procedure, or possibly by overturning the decision of management through arbitration What goes on during the Grievance Process? Typically, the grievance process covers union members and the management meeting together to resolve the grievance in question in attaining a mutually acceptable resolution. Essentially, the grievance process is defined and laid out in the collective bargaining agreement. The agreement specifies the process in handling grievances, setting the timelines for each side. The consequences for not complying with the deadline or any of the requirements are defined and outlined as well, and if the grievance is not settled on a particular level or is waived, each side moves to the next step or level. What are the characteristics of an Effective Grievance Machinery? The NCMB has outlined what makes for an effective grievance machinery as follows: (1) The successive steps in the procedure, the method of presenting grievances or disputes, and the method of taking an appeal from one step to another should be so clearly stated in the agreement as to be readily understood by all employees, union officials and management representatives; (2) The procedure should be adaptable to the handling of various types of grievances and disputes, which come under the terms of the agreement; (3) The procedure should be designed to facilitate the settlement of grievances and disputes as soon as possible after the arise; To this end: The agreement should provide adequate stated time limits for the presentation of grievances and disputes, thus rendering of decisions, and the taking of appeals. Issues should be clearly formulated at the earliest possible moment. In all cases, which cannot be settled in the first informal discussions, the positions of both sides should be reduced to writing. NCMB stipulates that management and union should encourage their representatives to settle at the lower steps grievances, which do not involve broad questions or policy, or of contract interpretation and should delegate sufficient authority to them to accomplish this end. Provision should be made for priority handling of grievances involving discharge, suspension, or other disciplinary action; (4) The procedure should be open to the submission of grievances by all parties to the agreement. In a typical organization that has a collective bargaining agreement in place where a grievance process is established, the following is a given example. (Please note that the grievance procedure may vary for other organizations) Typically, the Union Representative is present in all levels of the grievance machinery. 1st level: Section Head/Department Head Level. The employee presents the grievance to the section or department head who would listen to the employee and record the facts of the problem. The section head or department head should settle the grievance within, say, three (3) days. If the employee is not satisfied with the solution, the grievance is elevated to Human Resources Level. 2nd Level: Human Resources Level (HR Level) the problem or grievance is discussed between the employee, the section or department head, with human resources personnel present. If no satisfactory solution has been arrived at within seven days, the process is elevated to Top / Executive Management Level. 3rd Level: Top / Executive Management level. The grievance or the problem/case is resolved involving the section or department head, the complainant, and top management (President or General Manager). If no satisfactory solution has been arrived at within ten (10) days, the process is elevated to the Arbitrator’s Level. 4th Level: Arbitrator’s level. The problem or grievance may be taken to voluntary arbitration for final decision. Not many employees who are members of the Union are fully aware of their options. The grievance machinery offers them an opportunity to exercise their rights to have their grievances addressed properly through a dialogue with their immediate heads, which in essence, provides a second chance for labor and management to improve their relations and amicable settlement sans the costs of legal fees because of arrogant, myopic and haphazard thinking and decision making, which is in the long run costly for both parties, especially to the employee. It is unfortunate that some employees, in the height of their obstinacy, lack of professional maturity or failure to evaluate their own participation to the problem or lack of it,in the exercise of their responsibilities, are often the ones who have the temerity to go immediately to NLRC and file a case against their employer without exhausting the democratic process via the grievance procedure. When this happens, labor relations flies out of the window and the spirit of the grievance machinery is unheeded. If you are a responsible member of a union, know your rights. Know your options. It is ironic that in most cases, the management, is often the one having to remind employees of these options and measures. We should at least expect, the governing bodies through the Arbiters, who are supposed to be the at the forefront in promoting labor relations, to be the ones to instruct or offer sound advice to these employees to go back to the negotiating table with the employer via the grievance procedure towards a peaceful and amicable resolution. *** Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous - Confucius
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 04:08:24 +0000
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