The Steward's Guide to Grievances

Is this a grievance?

Not every workplace problem is a grievance. Pick the forum before you start a clock you cannot stop.

• Stay informal. A one-off mix-up, a question about how a rule works, or something the supervisor can fix today. Log the conversation. Do not file to vent.
• Grievance. A named CA article, past practice, or labour law looks broken, a member is harmed, and you can name a remedy. Open a file.
• Right to refuse. Imminent danger or a health and safety refusal is an OHSA process, not a grievance form. Use the right-to-refuse playbook, then file a grievance only if the CA or the refusal outcome requires it.
• Seniority or bumping. Displacement, recall, or a bump claim. Use the seniority playbook and the committee worksheet. A grievance may follow if the employer skipped the CA process.
• Joint table. A campus-wide practice that belongs at a union-management committee, not a single-member grievance. Use the joint-committee playbook.

The 6 W's that teach

Write facts another steward can pick up on Monday. Print the intake worksheet and keep it on your device — not on an employer computer.

• Who. Good notes name roles and shifts: the member (a pseudonym is enough), the supervisor who acted, witnesses who saw it. Leave out character judgments and unrelated complaints about the same people.
• What. Good notes are observable: what was said, written, or done, in order. Leave out what you think it really means and what should happen next — that belongs in Want.
• Where. Good notes pin the place: department, room, remote or on site, which campus. Leave out a tour of every other location where similar things always happen.
• When. Good notes give date and time of the incident and when the member told you. The filing clock usually starts here. Leave out a vague “last week” if you can still pin the day.
• Why. Good notes cite the CA article, past practice, or statute you believe was broken — quote the clause, do not paraphrase from memory. Leave out a general “this is unfair” with no article.
• Want. Good notes name a specific remedy: full back pay, the warning pulled from the file, the overtime paid. Leave out “make them sorry” or “we will win at arbitration.”

Jump to the printable intake sheet

How to count clocks

Your CA invents the clocks. Officer Hub tracks them. A missed deadline can kill the file even when the facts are strong.

• Find the trigger. Most clocks start when the member knew or ought to have known, or when the employer acted. Write that date on the worksheet the same day you hear the story.
• Calendar vs working days. Read the article. Some CAs count working days and skip weekends and holidays; others count calendar days. Do not assume “10 days” means two weeks on the wall calendar.
• Extend in writing. If you need more time, get the employer's written agreement before the clock expires. A hallway “sure, take another week” is not a record.
• What a missed deadline does. Many CAs treat a late filing as abandoned. Flag the risk the same day. Do not wait until after vacation to discover the clock ran out.

Your CA names the steps

Informal discussion, a written grievance, and a referral to mediation or arbitration are jobs, not a universal three-step map. Read the article. Copy the names your CA uses onto the file.

The grievance meeting

You are not a silent witness. You are the union in the room.

• Speak for the file. Ask what policy or article they rely on. Request specifics. Caucus with the member before anyone signs a statement.
• Take your own notes. Write who said what. Do not rely on the employer's minutes as the only record.
• Protect the member. Stop a rush to confess. Ask for a break. The goal is an accurate record, not a fast meeting.

Worked file: one discipline week

A member texts Friday night: a written warning landed after a meeting you did not attend. Walk the file in order.

• Friday night — intake. Reply: send the warning and any emails. Do not discuss the file with the supervisor over the weekend. Put the incident date on the worksheet.
• Monday — 6 W's. Interview the member. Cite the discipline article. Name witnesses. Write the remedy: warning removed from the file. Check whether an informal step is still required or already spent.
• Wednesday — informal or written. If the CA still requires an informal raise, do it and log the answer. If the supervisor already issued the warning in writing, file the written grievance on the CA clock.
• The following week — denial. Employer denies. Calendar the next step. Brief the chief steward. If officers later decline to refer, that letter belongs in the DFR playbook — not a hallway no.

What kills a file

Most losses are process, not weak facts. DFR keeps how to decline in writing. This list is how files die before that decision.

• Missed clock. The article expired while the worksheet sat in a bag. Fix: write the trigger date the same day; put the due date on a calendar the steward on coverage can see.
• No CA article. The form says “unfair” and names no clause. Fix: quote the article or past practice before you file.
• Mixed forums. A health and safety refusal, a bump, and a discipline grievance in one letter. Fix: pick the forum; file the others on their own clocks.
• Hallway promise. “We will get this thrown out.” Then the file is denied. Fix: promise process and timelines, not outcomes.
• Empty file on vacation. You leave Friday with notes in your head. Coverage cannot find the clock. Fix: the worksheet and Officer Hub are the shared record.

What to tell the member

Good intake conversation prevents hallway promises and DFR complaints later. Plain language, realistic timelines, and a written next step.

• Do not promise a win. Say: “I will investigate, log the facts, and the executive decides whether to file.” Not: “This is a slam dunk” or “They always lose these.”
• Name the next update. If you promise news by Wednesday, send it — even if the answer is “still waiting on documents.” Silence reads as abandonment.
• Prep them for the meeting. Explain who will be in the room, that you may caucus, and that they should not rush to sign employer notes. The goal is an accurate record.
• If officers later decline to refer. Point to the written explanation and the DFR playbook. Do not debate outcomes in a group chat. A hallway no is not a record.

Duty of Fair Representation

Before you file — quick checklist

Run this list on paper or in Officer Hub before the written step leaves your hands.

• Right forum. Not a refusal, bump, or joint-table issue dressed up as a grievance.
• Trigger date written. Incident date and the date the member told you — same day you hear the story.
• CA article quoted. Clause number or past-practice reference — not “unfair treatment.”
• Remedy named. Specific ask: back pay, warning removed, schedule restored.
• 6 W's complete. Who, what, where, when, why, want — facts a coverage steward can read cold.
• Clock on a calendar. Due date visible to coverage — not only in your head.
• Coverage knows. Officer Hub or a shared folder: next step, due date, and your contact.
• Member knows the plan. They know the next meeting or update date and what you need from them.

6 W's intake sheet (print or export)

Use this on your own device during the first interview. Export a blank branded Excel sheet or fill fields in Document Generator before you print.

• Fields. Incident date · CA article · Who · What · Where · When · Why · Want · Witnesses · Clock notes
• Witnesses and documents. List names and what they saw. Attach emails, warnings, or schedules the member can share — not employer systems you cannot access.
• Footer. Steward name, intake date, and Officer Hub case ID once the file is open.

Opens Document Generator with a blank grievance intake grid ready to export on your device.