What to do if your union won’t grieve for you

Q: My union won’t file a grievance — what should I do?

A: in most cases, the decision about whether to file a grievance is completely in the union’s hands. And if one gets filed, the union “owns” the grievance, meaning it decides whether to push the grievance to arbitration or settle with the employer.

Many claims in a unionized workplace can only go through the union. For example, a unionized employee who gets fired cannot sue for wrongful dismissal in the courts.

However, unionized employees in Ontario can file their own claim with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario for discrimination or harassment based on human rights grounds.

Unionized employees can also make a claim to the Ontario Labour Relations Board for reprisal under laws like the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, and they can complain to the Ministry of Labour about breaches of the Employment Standards Act.

The union can make these claims in a grievance, and sometimes that’s the better option for the employee, but you don’t need the union’s permission to go to the Tribunal, Board, or Ministry.

You can also sue your union for violating its duty of fair representation, but these are very difficult claims to win. Unions have plenty of leeway when deciding whether to grieve and how far to push a grievance.

You often need to act quickly to bring any of these claims, and so it’s advisable to speak with a lawyer as soon as your union won’t grieve for you.

This article was originally published by The Hamilton Spectator.