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From the March 2007 issue of $100 Plus Club News #105
UA (Plumbers & Pipefitters) Local 375 Breakthrough in Protecting Member Rights: Hiring Hall Rule Provides For Member Recourse
(updated 5/17/07)
Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 375 in Alaska has added an unusual provision
to its hiring hall rules. Section 3 provides formal recourse for members
who feel that they have been unfairly treated in job referrals. Complaints
are first filed with the business manager, who must rule within 30 days.
If dissatisfied, the complainant is entitled to a hearing before the union's
Hiring Committee, which must rule in writing on the appeal and post a
copy in the hiring hall. Complainants who are still dissatisfied can then
demand a final decision before an impartial arbitrator under the rules
of the American Arbitration Association.
All construction workers, take notice! This is something you may want to consider for your local.
There are questions. Who, for example, pays the costs of arbitration? How are rank and file workers to know which arbitrators are most likely to be really impartial and fair in a dispute between a mere individual and an established officialdom? These are aspects to be worked out. Still, these procedures are innovative. For the construction trades, they are not only unique, they are remarkable.
For one thing, by addressing the issue, Local 375 acknowledges that there is or can be a problem that should be dealt with. This is a far cry from the familiar reaction in those construction unions which not only deny discrimination in their hiring halls, but which resist tenaciously every effort by victims to seek justice. Also, the Local 375 rule does more than offer empty homilies; it prescribes specific procedures and time limits for resisting unfair practices. Above all, however, by accepting AAA-type arbitration as the final solution, it recognizes that justice in hiring disputes requires that complainants must have final recourse outside the union's own power structure to an impartial agency.
Section three of Article IV "Responsibilities of Hiring Committee and Hiring Agent" of Local 375 of the Plumbers & Pipefitters, is reproduced below in its entirety. Thanks to AUD friend, attorney William Schendel for bringing this to our attention.
"... Sec. 3. Complaints about the Hiring Hall; Appeal; Arbitration.
Any applicant or registrant of the Hiring Hall who believes that he or she has been the subject of a violation of the Hiring Hall Rules shall promptly report the facts by contacting the Business Manager no later than ten (10) calendar days after the date of the alleged violation, or after the date of discovery of the alleged violation, whichever is later. If the aggrieved person is not satisfied with the Business Manager's informal resolution of the matter, or if the Business Manager fails to respond, the aggrieved person shall file a written complaint with the business manager no later than twenty (20) calendar days after the date of the alleged violation or after the date of discovery of the alleged violation, whichever is later. The complaint must be in writing; must be signed by the aggrieved person; must state the nature of the complaint and must identify the conduct alleged to be offensive; and must state the relief or remedy that would cure the complaint. The Business Manager shall promptly investigate and take all necessary remedial action. The Business Manager shall reduce his or her decision to writing within 30 calendar days, and shall deliver a copy of said decision to the complaining party.
If the complaining person is dissatisfied with the decision of the Business Manager, he or she may ask the Hiring Committee for a hearing to review the matter by delivering a written notice of appeal to the Business Manager no later than fifteen (15) calendar days after receipt of the decision by the appealing party.
Hearing procedures shall be informal and subject to such uniform rules of procedure as the Hiring Committee may adopt. The decision of the Hiring Committee shall be in writing and shall be delivered to all persons entitled thereto and posted at the Hiring Hall for the period of not less than thirty (30) days.
If the complaining party is dissatisfied with the decision of the Hiring Committee, he or she shall obtain review of the matter through impartial arbitration by delivering a written request for arbitration to the Business Manager no later than fifteen (15) calendar days after the receipt of the decision by the complaining party. Arbitration shall be governed by the Alaska Arbitration Act and the rules of the American Arbitration Association.
No action will be taken against any person who opposes or reports any unlawful conduct."
Questions or comments, are more than welcome. Please call AUD at 718-564-1114 or email info@uniondemocracy.org. We'll print letters or emails (with your permission) in the next issue of Union Democracy Review.
Other articles on the UA:
UA Local
375 hiring hall rule provides for member recourse
How
the Ironworkers and Pipefitters rig trusteeships
Hiring
hall procedures in the construction trades
The
eternal quest for fair hiring in construction
Last
year's scandal hangs over next Plumbers convention
Top
Plumbers international officers expelled
UA's
Maddaloni and Patchell ousted after disastrous pension investments in Florida
hotel
Interview
with UA reformer Frank Natalie
New voices at AUD construction
trades conference
Court orders Plumbers
and Fitters to remove anti-democratic rule
Pipefitters win
points in battle for democracy.
Links to UA member sites.
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Next Article: Mob ousted, reformers win in ILA Local 1588
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