After the contract has been negotiated and approved by both sides, a s

QUESTION

After the contract has been negotiated and approved by both sides, a situation arises in which a new employee is slightly sickened when a supervisor instructed her to enter a greenhouse too soon after fumigation.

The worker, accompanied by a union steward, presents a grievance to the supervisor, who insists that the injury was caused by the worker’s negligence. If the matter cannot be resolved at this level, what is the most likely next step?
A) A public union meeting informs employees of what has happened and what the issues are.
B) The greenhouse’s top manager confers with Florabunda’s CEO.
C) The employee, backed by union representatives, tells the story to an investigative reporter.
D) An outside arbitrator is selected to investigate the matter.
E) The UFCW’s grievance committee discusses the matter with the greenhouse’s human resources manager.

ANSWER

Answer: E
Explanation: E) In the usual grievance procedure, a dispute that cannot be resolved between the worker and the immediate supervisor must come to the attention of the ranking personnel manager and a group of higher union officials. So Choice E is correct: the matter should be handled internally at the HR level before being turned into a more public affair. The other choices are all too extreme or counterproductive. If the matter is resolvable at a lower level, then intervention by either top management (Choice B) or an arbitrator (Choice D) is appropriate. (If the matter cannot be resolved at the HR level, of course, both steps may follow in due time.) Overall, the grievance process is best handled internally, rather than being turned into a public controversy, either before the workforce (Choice A) or the general public (Choice C).