Senior Counsel Stefanie Vaudreuil in our San Diego Office was able to show that a union filed its grievance after the applicable deadline had passed. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the union and the employer stated that the union must file a grievance within 30 calendar days that the union becomes aware, or should have been aware, of the circumstances giving rise to the grievance.
Here, the grievance was filed in May 2021. The grievance alleged that the employer had violated the terms of the MOU by not giving union-represented employees 2.5% salary increases pursuant to a “fairness agreement.” Attorney Vaudreuil and our client were able to show that the union should have known of the salary increase for another bargaining unit when the employer approved that unit’s MOU in January 2020. This MOU also was posted on the employer’s website in March 2020. Further notices were posted in August 2020.
The arbitrator dismissed the entire grievance on grounds of timeliness and our client prevailed.