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What’s going on with grievances
By Liz Brown
Guild administrative officer
As a union, the Guild-CWA always encourages
members and shop stewards to resolve disputes as quickly as
possible, and at the lowest level in the workplace as possible.
But when all else fails, we file grievances
The Seattle Times is our largest employer, and
it usually produces the most grievances. So far this year,
the Guild has filed 18 grievances, with one at the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer, one at The Herald in Everett and all the
rest at the Times
A new trend this year is the increasing number
of employees filing harassment grievances against supervisors
at The Seattle Times. Allegations of harassment or mistreatment
can be difficult to resolve through grievances since the contract
provides no clear remedy. Usually we simply demand that the
unwanted behavior cease. Sometimes what feels like harassment
would be seen by an arbitrator as close supervision. Because
of these difficulties, the union hasn’t taken a harassment
grievance to arbitration
That doesn’t necessarily mean that filing
a harassment grievance is a lost cause. Frequently, simply
holding a grievance meeting with the employer can clear the
air and set the stage for change. At the very least, the employee’s
objection to a manager’s behavior is on the record
The following grievances are open and active
07-010, challenging a written warning for performance
given to a Times Circulation district advisor. The Times agreed
to reduce the warning to a verbal
07-011, challenging a verbal warning given to
a Times News employee who offered money to a co-worker to
substitute for him on a weekend shift
07-012, challenging the P-I’s hire of
an “online reporter” as a violation of the union’s
jurisdiction
07-013 and 07-015, over harassment and an account
revenue issue in Times Advertising, and challenging retaliation
from the manager after the first grievance was filed
07-014, challenging a verbal warning and performance
plan issued to a Times Advertising employee
07-016, challenging a verbal warning given to
a Times Circulation employee
07-017, challenging a verbal warning and performance
plan issued to a Times Advertising employee.
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