When the Boss is in the Bargaining Unit
April, 1997
For most stewards, having a member come to you with a complaint about a supervisor is a routine matter. For some, though, it can present a difficult situation -- especially when the supervisor being complained about is a member of your own union.
It's one thing to find yourself squaring off against a former co-worker who has been promoted out of the bargaining unit, into management's ranks. But it's quite another when the "supervisor" is carrying the same union card that you and the grievant are carrying, and sits a couple of chairs away at the union meetings.
This is a real-life situation in a lot of workplaces, especially in the crafts.
In the printing and publishing industry, for example, many production-end supervisors continue to be union members despite their management role, and a lot of white collar workers are also directed by members of their own union.
In the building trades, union contracts usually require "working foremen" who must be union members, even though they direct work for the contractor. The same is frequently true in the entertainment industry, where, for example, the Theatrical and Stage Employees union (IATSE) represents members who are not only supervisors but who also hire crew members and lease personal equipment to a production company.
For stewards in such situations, the challenges can be great. You have to represent the aggrieved worker with your full resources and to the best of your ability. But you also have to be sensitive to the reality that you're challenging another union member who can claim the same rights to representation -- under your union's bylaws and under the Duty of Fair Representation.
Here's some advice:
1. Remember that the union contract is an agreement between the union and the employer, not between a group of individuals and their boss. If you have to file a grievance, file it against the employer, not against an individual supervisor or manager, even though the supervisor's actions may have provoked the dispute.
When you begin to organize in support of a grievance, direct your anger at the employer, not at an individual. That's good advice in most every situation, but especially when the supervisor is a union member.
2. Next time the union is in negotiations, the leadership might want to consider trying to exclude union-covered supervisors from participation in a grievance process. Specify, for example, that a Step 1 grievance will go to someone who is out of the bargaining unit.
In a Shipbuilders contract with Bethlehem Steel Shipyard in Baltimore, for example, it has become a past practice, clearly understood by union and management, that a union member -- even one classified as a "supervisor" -- may not be called upon to testify against another union member. Not only does that make life easier for everyone, but there have been several awards in which the arbitrator noted that the company's case fell apart because it could not call on a "supervisor" as a witness against a grievant.
3. The ability of a steward to work as a kind of mediator becomes very important. A "grievance" may really only be a "gripe." Try to get members to work out their differences, even at the risk of seeming to take sides in a personal dispute.
The issue becomes sharper when contractual matters are involved: try to discourage an ambitious union member from advancing over the discipline cases of other union members.
4. The most painful issue comes in matters of credibility:
when a member accuses another member of a misdeed to which there were no witnesses, like one taking something from another's locker. When both the accuser and the accused are members of the union, it is virtually impossible because both members can demand representation -- and are legally entitled to it. Meet informally with everyone involved and try to resolve the situation without dragging it through the grievance procedure: it may not make everyone happy but it will avoid the risk of tearing up your local.
Finally, prevention is essential. It is important to informally urge any member who is considering a "union supervisor" position not to provoke grievances, so no one will have to get tangled up in conflicting rights. Best advice: if you don't start trouble, there won't be any.
-- Bill Barry. The author works in the Labor Studies program at Dundalk (Md.) Community College.