When management makes a decision that violates our negotiated contract, our recourse is to enforce the contract through the grievance process. A huge benefit of union membership is having our stewards, staff and legal team fight for you free of charge. Your dues support individual grievances that have an impact on all members.
NAPE filed over 60 grievances on behalf of state employees in 2019. We should not need to file that many grievances, but when management ignores our contract, we must fight back. We are proud that we prevailed over 70% of the time in 2019. We will continue to defend our rights in 2020 and beyond.
Some key victories included:
- The Department of Transportation refused to pay “on call pay” to road workers who had a winter weather on call schedule posted at their yard. NDOT awarded back on call pay for nine employees.
- The Department of Veterans’ Affairs and DHHS withheld holiday pay when members were absent for a portion of time before the holiday. A hearing officer awarded holiday pay to our members and a few cases remain pending as NAPE continues to challenge this practice.
- The Department of Insurance withheld a pay increase after it failed to evaluate our member. A hearing officer awarded the pay increase retroactively.
- Two members were transferred by the Department of Health & Human Services to new work locations without following the negotiated transfer procedures. Hearing officers placed the employees back at their original worksites.
- The Department of Labor issued a written apology after an employee was verbally attacked by her manager in front of colleagues in an open office. It is a contract violation for a manger to behave in this manner and NAPE was proud to stand up for the employee’s rights.
- The Nebraska State Patrol attempted to discipline a member without following the negotiated due process procedures required by law. The Patrol was forced to remove the unjust discipline from the member’s record.
- DHHS frequently denies sick leave and vacation leave to members, usually by using an improper reason for denial such as not having a doctor’s note or sometimes just not responding to a request. We challenged and won a number of these denial cases.
- The terminations of ten members who were fired without just cause were challenged. Five were reinstated with full back pay and benefits and three cases remain pending.
NAPE looks forward to more success in 2020 and beyond. If you think something doesn’t seem right with a management decision, please contact us to discuss the situation right away. Strict timelines apply to filing grievances, so don’t delay if you think something is amiss.