Some people ask me how Honesty and Integrity are upheld with a Union when disciplinary matters take place. And heres how. Did you know that with an IAM contract you are entitled to have a trained representative accompany you to any management meeting pertaining to anything disciplinary in nature? This means that if you are contacted by Inflight to have a meeting regarding, perhaps, a negative letter from a customer or even a co-worker, that meeting cannot take place until a union representative is available to attend the meeting with you. At your discretion you can attend the meeting without a union representative by yourself, or in most circumstances you may elect to take someone else who is simply and plainly a line flight attendant who agrees to bear witness. Should you elect an IAM representative, In the meeting the union representative will keep notes regarding the allegation, and managements questioning, and anything else administrative during the meeting. These trained union representatives also have Contract knowledge, so in some cases they are a good reference point for you in the meeting regarding contractual matters and the subsequent communications with management over these matters. You as well should take notes in case they become pertinent at a later time. If the company moves forward with what is called formal disciplinary action, which may include termination, you will have the right to file what is called a Grievance. Some contracts have a pre-grievance clause which enables what could be grievances to be settled prior to filing a formal grievance. The formal grievance procedure will have an entire chapter in the contract regarding all the elements to its process. The formal grievance is an alleged wrong-doing by the company regarding your discipline or adverse employment action. It serves as an otherwise notification of disagreement on your behalf regarding the punishment prescribed by the company. In grievance proceedings, where a flight attendant has submitted such a notification to the company, the company is required to submit their Burden of Proof. In other-words this means that you, as a regular flight attendant, are innocent until proven guilty. Think Checks and Balances! If the evidence is not sufficient to prove that you are guilty of the offense youve been charged, or discipline youve been described then the following are common adjustments made in my experience of this process, and are referred to as to be Made Whole -Removal Of Disciplinary Status -Removal of adverse subject matter from personal file (a contract would also limit the time any adverse information could be contained in a FA file as well as for the time the adverse information can be used to influence progressive disciplinary action. - Reinstatement of employment when a termination has taken place - Reward of due pay: In some instances, i.e. scheduling violation, the flight attendant is Made Whole after they receive any pay that is due. - Various other types of agreements can be made with YOUR consent.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 18:53:42 +0000
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