Grievance Policy¶

1. What is a grievance? How are they delineated?

A grievance is a complaint about a specific injury, injustice, dissatisfaction or wrong decision made by a worker or workers. A grievance will fit into the following categories.

A. A claim that a decision violates existing Co-op policy.
B. A claim that a decision creates an unfair situation for which no policy exists.
C. A claim that a decision duly following Co-op policy creates an unfair situation because the policy itself is inherently unfair or discriminatory.

To determine the type of grievance, review the [[pt:Current Policies]] and [[pt:Chronological Decisions document]] wikis, and see if there is any reference to a relevant policy. If there is a policy and it has been broken, use grievance category A; if there is no policy, use grievance category B; if there is a policy and the policy is the problem, use grievance category C.

2. Form

The grievance form is in the PT Dropbox under Administrative\Grievance Policy and also available as a download here: PT grievance form.doc

3. Grievance decision making process

The decison making process varies depending on the category of grievance, but the base framework is the same.

• The person making the grievance will fill out the grievance form and present it to one or more worker-owners of their choice.
• Those worker-owners and the person making the grievance will decide whether to communicate that to the other worker-owners via private email or in person.
• The grievance will be brought to a full meeting of all involved parties and all worker-owners.
• The grievance will be aired and all parties will attempt to reach consensus as delineated in our decision making policy, with the option of having multiple meetings as needed.
• If a decision is not reached through that process, any person making the grievance may request up to 2 hours of external mediation paid for by the company.
• If the grievance is still not resolved, the final decision will be made by all current worker-owners.

A. For grievances that violate existing Co-op policy, the actions in question will be reviewed and the policy in question will remain static for the duration of the grievance process.

B & C. For grievances where no policy exists or where policy creates an unfair situation, all involved parties will work to craft a new policy, which will then follow the standard policy consensus process until there is consensus or an alternate resolution of all current worker-owners.

4. List of outside helpers

• AORTA Collective http://www.aortacollective.org
• NY Peace society mediation services http://nypeace.org/mediation-services/

5. Who can make a grievance?

Anyone who at the time of the action in question was one of the following:

• worker
• owner
• subcontractor

6. When can you make a grievance?

• no more than 3 months from the time of the most recent action