OSEA Chapter No. 600 Lane County Head Start
Your Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) or Contract has language that requires both your union and Head Start of Lane County, Inc., resolve contract issues fairly.
Binding Arbitration is the final step in our grievance procedure. Article 17 of our Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Grievance Procedure, serves to resolve violations of the contract, with the hope that this could be done at the lowest possible level. When this isn't possible, however, a series of steps are prescribed. In the past, before we gained the CBA, final decision was left in the hands of the Executive Director.
Now each side in the Grievance submits information to a neutral professional, an Arbitrator. Both sides are bound by the Arbiter's lawful decision.
The importance of such a step in a Grievance Policy is that the ultimate authority is no longer in the hands of anyone who might have a personal or professional bias, but - in theory at least - with someone who is trained to weigh issues dispassionately and equitably, and everyone agrees to abide by this judgement.
The most critical factor in any grievance is timeliness - read your contract and understand the timelines required. Don't wait too long, contact your union as soon as you feel your contractual rights were violated.
—Blake
Union Stuff Demystified
Arbitration is the thinking persons' alternative to going on strike.
If we employees cannot reach agreement at the Bargaining Table, in Negotiations, with Head Start over some issue or other, both Teams can agree to take our arguments to a neutral third party, an Arbiter, who will hear both sides of the argument and make a decision that will settle the issue.
The Arbiter is usually paid for the time it takes to hear both claims and to do whatever research, confer with colleagues, or read tea leaves, to come to a decision.
The cost can be shared by both sides, in the best case, or paid only by the "losing" side.
The Feds have an Arbitration Bureau and so does the State of Oregon.
Head Start of Lane County is a hybrid, as it is a private, non-profit, corporation that operates only inside the State of Oregon, but most of our' funding comes from the Federal government.
During negotiations for our first contract, the attorneys from both sides asked the State Employment Relations Board if they would hear our case in the event that we needed arbitration, and the ERB agreed to do so.
And that is why we do not have to worry about going on strike, as long as we have a contract. (See Article 5, 5.3 of your Contract.)
Some would say that our contract "protects" us from going on strike. Others could say that it "forbids" us from going on strike.
I believe that negotiation, and if need be, arbitration, is a better idea.
Wilbur Gregg