Responsibilities
The functions of this Committee shall be to advise members of their rights under the Collective Agreement and to co-ordinate and process grievances in conjunction with the Stewards on behalf of members of the bargaining unit. The committee meets regularly to review the grievance files that have completed Step 2 (as defined by Article 8.04) and make recommendations to the Executive Board about proceeding to mediation and/or arbitration. Individual committee members attend Step 2 meetings (on a rotation) and other mediation/arbitration proceedings as necessary to support members and act as observers, participants, and note-takers.
Members and Composition
Per Article 5, the Grievance Committee shall consist of four Union Stewards (see Article VII – Stewards). Selection of members of this Committee and members to sit as their alternates, by vote among the Stewards, shall take place immediately after the Biennial General Elections. All Grievance Committee members must remain a Steward while sitting as members of the Grievance Committee. A member of the Grievance Committee shall sit as a member of the Bargaining Committee. The Chair and Vice-Chair will be members of the Committee, elected at the beginning of each term by the Committee (see Constitution Article V, Section 1).
The Chair will:
- Call meetings of the Committee
- Prepare agendas and chair meetings of the Committee
- Draft communications on behalf of the Committee related to the Committee’s work
- Report to the Executive Board on the work of the Committee
- Act as a liaison between the Committee and the Executive Board
- Represent the Committee as a voting member on the Executive Board.
The Vice-Chair will act in the absence of the Chair.
A Committee member who does not uphold their responsibilities or misses a significant number of meetings without a reasonable explanation may be asked by the Executive Board to resign from the Committee. If the member refuses to resign, recall/de-appointment action may be taken to remove the member from the Committee (see Article VI, Sections 3 and 4).
Term
The term for all Grievance Committee members is two years and begins on January 1 of the first year, until December 31 of the following year.
Communication & Meetings
According to the Constitution (Article X, Section 4) all Committees shall meet as required. The Committee will meet, at minimum, once a month. The meetings are normally in-person, but in special circumstances may be by teleconference or electronically, (e.g. Zoom) and are normally one-hour long. If a member is not able to participate in a meeting, that member may speak to the Chair in advance so that the Chair can share the member’s perspective at the meeting. That member may also submit written comments or documents in advance of the meeting. Whenever possible, issues that arise from meetings or between meetings that can be handled via email are done so electronically.
According to the Constitution (Article XVI, Section 2) all meetings shall be governed by the Constitution. In cases where this is inadequate, Bourinot’s Rules of Order shall govern.
Minutes
Minutes should be taken at all meetings, typically in the form of recommendations on each grievance file, and submitted to the YusApuY office for record-keeping and archiving as soon as possible after the meeting.
Quorum
Attendance by fifty percent of the Committee members shall constitute a quorum. Any vacant position shall not be counted for quorum (see Article X, Section 4).
Decision-Making
Wherever possible, decision-making by consensus is preferred. If consensus cannot be achieved, the Committee members must agree on how to deal with the outstanding issue (i.e., vote; continue the discussion; table the issue for another meeting; take the issue to the Executive Board.) There shall be no proxy voting or email voting unless explicitly determined by the Committee in advance of the vote.
Accountability & Governance
According to the Constitution (Article V, Section 1) all Committees are responsible to the Executive Board, and according to Section 2 of the same Article, all Committees are required at minimum, to prepare and present semi-annual reports, during the months of May and October, to the Executive Board. The reports will be made available to the membership after having been presented at the Executive Board. Normally the reports will be drafted by the Committee Chair and agreed upon by the Committee members prior to being presented at the Executive Board. The Committee cannot commit the use of YUSAPUY financial or human resources without prior approval from the Executive Board.