- Whose responsibility is it to determine what is meant by the word reasonable in Article 3, Section 1 of the labour agreement? Does this have to be negotiated with the union in more specific terms? Discuss.
- Outline a series of recommendations for Ogaki and/or Niland in order to reach a satisfactory resolution of the problem.
Showdown with the Shop Steward Neko Ogaki supervised a group of 20 employees in the communication services division of a major university. All employees in this division were represented by a local chapter of the Public Employees Office and Professional Union. One day Ogaki called Eleanor Kane into her office. Kane was a technical spe. cialist who served as union shop steward. "Elly," said Ogaki, "it's time that we had a showdown about the amount of time you've been spending on union mat- ters in this office. For the last two weeks you've averaged over two hours each day away from your job, allegedly to handle union grievances. This is entirely too much. I won't tolerate this anymore!" "What do you mean, too much?" responded Kane. "The union contract says I'm allowed a reasonable time to handle union grievances, and it does not specify an upper time limit. I take only the time necessary to do my job as union steward. And lately there's been a flock of complaints and grievances that have come to my attention." "I don't care about your union affairs," replied Ogaki. "You've got a job to do, and being away from your job this much of the time is unreasonable by any standard. From now on, if you're gone more than one hour cach day on union matters, I'm going to dock your pay accordingly." "Neko," snapped Kane, "If you do that, I'll file a grievance right away and will fight you all the way to arbitration if necessary. You haven't got a leg to stand on, and you know it. Go see Larry Niland, your director of human resources. He'll tell you the same thing. In the meantime, I'm going to report this harass- ment to our union business agent at the local union office!" With that, she left Ogaki's office. Ogaki pondered what her next move, if any, should be. She also reviewed Article 3, Section 1, of the current labour agreement, which in part stated as fol- lows: A Union shop steward shall be permitted reasonable time to investigate, present, and process grievances on the Employer's property without loss of time or pay during regular working hours, provided that the steward obtains permission from his or her supervisor prior to such absence from assigned duties. Such time spent in handling grievances during the steward's regular working hours shall be considered working hours in computing daily or weekly overtime if within the regular schedule of the steward
