This is the first of what will be regular grievance corner blogs, intended to provide insight into the work of the grievance committee, and grievance processes more generally. As a first entry, I want to provide context to the work of the committee, by reviewing what is and is not a grievance, and what you should do if you think that you have experienced something that should become a grievance.
What is and what is not a grievance
Article 9.1 of the Collective Agreement states that “A grievance is a claim, dispute or complaint involving the interpretation, application, administration, or alleged violation of the (Collective) Agreement”. Article 9.1 also states that “The Grievor is the Association, which initiates a grievance on behalf of a member or group of members or itself”.
These two statements highlight the central aspects of the grievance process. The first is that filing a grievance is a responsive, rather than preemptive process that occurs only once a violation of the Collective Agreement has been claimed, disputed, or complained about. This statement signals that even when a member has experienced what they perceive as an injustice, not everything can be grieved.
The second thing to note is that grievances are not filed by members themselves, but by the Association on behalf of a member, a group of members or by the Association on its own behalf. While the Labour Relations Officers and Grievance Officer work closely with members who feel that they may have a grievable issue, the ultimate assessment of whether a grievance should be filed is made by the Grievance Officer, in consultation with the Labour Relations Officers, the grievance committee and when needed (for example if the situation is unclear or very complex), the TFA executive. This assessment considers among other things, whether the issue is a labour relations matter, and whether the issue can be argued under the Collective Agreement.
If a grievance is deemed appropriate, a formal grievance letter, outlining the focus of the grievance and signed by the grievance chair, is emailed to the appropriate decision maker – generally the relevant Dean or the Vice Provost, depending on the issue. If a grievance is not deemed as the appropriate process, the member will be supported to direct their concern to the appropriate University office and will continue to be represented by the Labour Relations Officers as appropriate. If the situation changes, reassessment will always occur and the need to file a grievance reconsidered.
Explaining “Grievance”
Grievances are generally grounded in the University’s responsibility to provide TFA members with “an administrative structure and climate in which effective teaching and Scholarly, Research and Creative activities may take place”, and in which “every opportunity will be provided for personal academic growth and development” (Article 7.2). Grievances may focus on relevant Articles under the Collective Agreement and/or breaches to University and/or other relevant policies and legislation, including the TMU Harassment and Discrimination Prevention Policy (DHPP), the Civility Policy, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and the Provincial Human Rights Code. For example (and this is not an exhaustive list), a grievance might be filed when a member has:
- faced unjust discipline (Article 20, Article 7.2);
- been denied tenure or promotion (Article 5);
- experienced unfair processes, practices or procedures related to their workload (Article 10, Article 7.2);
- experienced a violation of their Academic Freedom (Article 14, Article 7.2, Civility Policy, DHPP);
- had complaints of threat, incivility, harassment and/or discrimination ignored or discounted by the Administration and/or HRS (Article 7.2, Article 8; DHPP, Respectful Workplace Policy, Human Rights Code).
Some grievances are filed as ‘individual grievances’ and focus directly on an issue experienced by an individual or group of members. The TFA may also file a policy grievance to highlight and attempt to address University policies, practices and procedures that are fundamentally flawed and violate members’ rights to procedural fairness and natural justice. Grievances that traverse individual issues and policy violations may be filed as both an individual and policy grievance. In a future grievance corner, I will talk more about some of the grievances that have been filed over the last few years.
While I have only touched the surface of the grievance process, I hope that it provides some insight into what is grievable under the Collective Agreement. Although not everything is grievable, our Labour Relations Officers can provide advice, clarification, and representation around your employment rights under the Collective Agreement, support you in dealing with unfair or flawed processes and procedures, and identify when a grievance should be filed. Please do not hesitate to reach out to them, or me, should you have questions or concerns.
Corinne Hart, Chair of the TFA Grievance Committee