Common use of GRIEVANCES AND DISPUTES Clause in Contracts

GRIEVANCES AND DISPUTES. The Parties to this Agreement recognize that the Supreme Court of the United States has consistently held for over fifty years that federal law and policy favors the use and finality of arbitration procedures established through collective bargaining agreements to resolve all nature of disputes affecting the employee-employer relationship. As the designated representative of employees, the Union contracts regarding the specific terms and conditions of employment as well as the enforcement mechanism to ensure those conditions are met, which mechanisms include grievance arbitration. These tenns, conditions and enforcement mechanisms are generally superior to those available to employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements. Grievance arbitration provision in a collective bargaining agreement is reflected in national labor laws and is premised on the federal policy to promote industrial stabilization through the collective bargaining agreement. "A major factor in achieving industrial peace is the inclusion of a provision for arbitration of grievances in the collective bargaining agreement." United Steelworkers of Am. v. Warrior & GulfNav. Co., 000 X.X. 000, 577-78, 80 S. Ct. 1347, 1350, 4 L. Ed. 2d 1409 (1960). X.X. Xxxxxx, Inc. v. N.L.R.B., 737 F.3d 344,361 (5th Cir. 2013) ("[W]e discern ] in the structure of the [National Labor Relations Act] the very specific right of employees to complete the collective bargaining process and agree to an arbitration clause.'' Citing, Blessing x. Xxxxxxxxx, 000 X.X. 000, 343, 117 S.Ct. 1353, 137 L.Ed.2d 569 (1997) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The Parties to this Agreement recognize that the National Labor Relations Board has held that the pursuit of collective or class action claims is concerted action but that a union may waive certain rights to concerted action in a collective bargaining agreement. In doing so, the National Labor Relations Board recognized that a collectively bargained arbitration clause stems from the exercise of rights to act in concert and that "[F]or purposes of examining whether a waiver of Section 7 rights is unlawful, an arbitration clause freely and collectively bargained between a union and an employer does not stand on the same footing as an employment policy ... imposed on individual employees by the employer as a condition of employment." X.X. Xxxxxx Inc., 357 NLRB No. 184 (January 3, 2012). The Parties to this Agreement recognize that arbitration pursuant to the grievance procedure affords numerous benefits including expedited resolution of disputes; reduced cost and expense as compared to litigation; potentially greater monetary relief to individual employees; benefit of the arbitrator's knowledge and expertise with the bargaining parties, the employment relationships governed by the collective bargaining agreement, and the practices of the construction industry; less restrictive rules of evidence; and less formal procedures. The Parties also recognize that class and representative action procedures are designed to afford a mechanism of relief for claims for which the costs of litigation are disproportionate to the available relief and that this grievance procedure addresses the same concerns by providing an expedited mechanism at reduced cost to address such claims without the need for class or representative action procedures. It is therefore the intent of the parties that this grievance procedure provides a mechanism for resolving the individual claims covered herein which balances expedited and complete relief to employees for violations with avoidance of unnecessary costs and disproportionate remedies associated with class and representative actions.

GRIEVANCES AND DISPUTES. The Parties to this Agreement recognize that the Supreme Court of the United States has consistently held for over fifty years that federal law and policy favors the use and finality of arbitration procedures established through collective bargaining agreements to resolve all nature of disputes affecting the employee-employer relationship. As the designated representative of employees, the Union contracts regarding the specific terms and conditions of employment as well as the enforcement mechanism to ensure those conditions are met, which mechanisms include grievance arbitration. These tennsterms, conditions and enforcement mechanisms are generally superior to those available to employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements. Grievance arbitration provision in a collective bargaining agreement is reflected in national labor laws and is premised on the federal policy to promote industrial stabilization through the collective bargaining agreement. "“A major factor in achieving industrial peace is the inclusion of a provision for arbitration of grievances in the collective bargaining agreement." ” United Steelworkers of Am. v. Warrior & GulfNavGulf Nav. Co., 000 X.X. 000363 U.S. 574, 577-78, 80 S. Ct. 1347, 1350, 4 L. Ed. 2d 1409 (1960). X.X. Xxxxxx, Inc. v. N.L.R.B., 737 F.3d 344,361 344, 361 (5th Cir. 2013) ("“[W]e discern discern[ ] in the structure of the [National Labor Relations Act] the very specific right of employees to complete the collective collective-bargaining process and agree to an arbitration clause.'' ” Citing, Blessing x. Xxxxxxxxx, 000 X.X. 000520 U.S. 329, 343, 117 S.Ct. 1353, 137 L.Ed.2d 569 (1997) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The Parties to this Agreement recognize that the National Labor Relations Board has held that the pursuit of collective or class action claims is concerted action but that a union may waive certain rights to concerted action in a collective bargaining agreement. In doing so, the National Labor Relations Board recognized that a collectively bargained arbitration clause stems from the exercise of rights to act in concert and that "“[F]or purposes of examining whether a waiver of Section 7 rights is unlawful, an arbitration clause freely and collectively bargained between a union and an employer does not stand on the same footing as an employment policy ... policy… imposed on individual employees by the employer as a condition of employment." X.X. ” X. X. Xxxxxx Inc., 357 NLRB No. 184 (January 3, 2012). The Parties to this Agreement recognize that arbitration pursuant to the grievance procedure affords numerous benefits including expedited resolution of disputes; reduced cost and expense as compared to litigation; potentially greater monetary relief to individual employees; benefit of the arbitrator's ’s knowledge and expertise with the bargaining parties, the employment relationships governed by the collective bargaining agreement, and the practices of the construction industry; less restrictive rules of evidence; and less formal procedures. The Parties also recognize that class and representative action procedures are designed to afford a mechanism of relief for claims for which the costs of litigation are disproportionate to the available relief and that this grievance procedure addresses the same concerns by providing an expedited mechanism at reduced cost to address such claims without the need for class or representative action procedures. It is therefore the intent of the parties Parties that this grievance procedure provides provide a mechanism for resolving the individual claims covered herein which balances expedited and complete relief to employees for violations with avoidance of unnecessary costs and disproportionate remedies associated with class and representative actions.