Labor Lawyers Advice?
Lots true there, but thats not all you do as a steward,...how about the guy who is late cause his kid was sick, and the company wants to dock him. This is where FMLA and sick days come in,...even non union employees benefit from this,...eventually a bad employee will be ousted if you give him enough rope to hang himself,...nobody wants to be that guy.
The best employees usually get tapped for management, and if its a good company, you'll do well. But remember not all companies have there employees best interests at heart, as seen at the start of this thread...Believe It or not, some companies consider you a liability, not an asset, no matter how stellar your job performance is. In today's world, you are just a number, and if that company can get your job done 5 cents an hour cheaper by outsourcing, your history. Thats business.
Somewhere in the middle the company and the union will meet so as to keep your job secure and the company making money.
And not everybody lives to work, some of us work to live. I firmely believe that no man should be forced to work more than 40 hours to keep his head above water
I have been directly involved in Union negotiations, on both sides of the table, and I've managed union shops for decades. Presently I own a couple of small non-union companies. Let me tell you this, Anyone can be fired from a union shop at any time. There is no contract written that stops the company from firing people. All the contract does, is establish the parameters of doing so. It's called "Progressive Discipline". A bad employee can usually be weeded out by the supervisor simply by documenting the on going infractions, and following the rules of progressive discipline. Even verbal warning are to be noted, and dated, and always witnessed by the Shop Stewart. The normal progression usually goes something like this:
1.Verbal warning (with a written memo for the record dropped in the personnel file).
2. Second Verbal or First written warning. If it's a 2nd verbal, a memo for the record should be put into the personnel file. If it is a first written warning, copies go to: the employee, the SS, HR, and the Union Hall.
3. Second written warning. Copies go to: the employee, the SS, HR, and the Union Hall.
4. One to three day suspension without pay, accompanied by a written warning with copies to the employee, the SS, HR, and the Union Hall
5. One week suspension without pay, accompanied by a written warning, copies to the employee, the SS, HR, and the Union Hall.
6. Termination of employment. it's best to terminate the employee position with the company in the presence of both the Shop Stewart, and the Local Union Delegate, and accompany it with a letter spelling out all of the previous issues, verbal and written warnings, and suspensions. As usual copies to the employee, the SS, HR, and the Union Hall.
There are also a number of things for which can result in immediate termination of employ. Things like fighting, theft, threatening anyone, industrial espionage, drug use drinking on the job. Some companies have stipulations in their contracts that an employee can be sent home from work and lose the day's pay if he/she, has been drinking with in 4 (or 6, or in some extreme cases even 8 hours) before reporting for duty.
First offense: loss of day's work.
Second offense: Suspension.
Third Offense: Termination of employ.
Likewise, supervisors also have a lot of room in dealing with good employees. Like the guy who is late due to no fault of his own, or the day off because of a sick child. I, and most managers will always bend for good employees. people who don't take advantage of situations,and people who give you a good day's work, and people who have good employment and attendance records. That might not seem fair to you if you're a crappy employee, but, it is fair, nonetheless, to the employee who makes it a habit of protecting his job.
I tell my employees, even to this day, to call me if they are going to be late for any reason. Even if it's a last minute thing. I can always get cover for their jobs until they can get there.
It isn't always black and white. There is a lot of gray area when dealing with people, their jobs, families, even transportation issue. If you give a Crap about your job, you do what needs to be done to protect it.
When you develope the US and Them mentality regarding the relationship between labor and management, you're usually done.