Grievance Procedure Problems.

This paper presents two actual problems involving grievance procedures. Both problems involve pending litigation and one of them involves pending arbitration. The first problem occurred in a wealthy Minnesota school district and involved a seniority list. Because of changes in the financial basis for supporting public schools, it became necessary for some very wealthy districts in Minnesota to cut down on the mill levy and to lay off teachers. The school district was faced with the problem of setting criteria for determining who goes and who stays. In the second school district, the teacher association and the board, negotiating a contract, could not agree on anything. After 15 months, an arbitration award came down in which the arbitrator provided the entire contract, including a grievance procedure. However, the arbitrator failed to draft the type of grievance procedure required by Minnesota law in such a situation. The Minnesota Education Association has taken the matter to court in an effort to vacate the grievance procedure provision. The report discusses the two cases. (Author/JF)