At present, the Association has moved two grievances to binding arbitration.  Coincidentally, both grievances involve teachers who were discharged by their respective employers.  We are seeking to have each reinstated and made whole, as far as lost wages and benefits are concerned, over the time they have been out of work.  Why have these grievances gone to arbitration, one might ask, while many other grievances filed by SDACT members never make it to this final stage of the grievance procedure?  Many times, we find our members are upset when they learn that their grievance, after not being resolved at lower levels of the grievance procedure, will not be moved to arbitration.  Has the union played favorites in decisions such as these?  Has the union violated the rights of its members?  This is certainly a fair question.  All SDACT members should be aware of their rights.  The right we are talking about here is our members’ right to “fair representation.”

    The Duty of Fair Representation means that a union has a legal obligation “to represent the interests of all members, without hostility to any.”  At the same time, however, the Association has a fiduciary responsibility to all of its members to see to it that Association funds are not used unwisely. Few Association undertakings are more costly than advancing a grievance to binding arbitration.  The arbitrator’s fee, rental of meeting space and legal defense fees cost anywhere from $3000 to $5000.  Therefore, before spending such huge sums, the Association is very cautious.

   Thus, in order to discharge both duties, the Association follows a very strict procedure in deciding which grievances it will forward to arbitration.  If a grievance advances through the earlier steps of the grievance procedure unresolved, the SDACT Executive Board forwards the grievance to our attorneys.  We require them to give us a written opinion on whether the grievance has merit, and whether the facts give us a reasonable chance of success in proving our case before an arbitrator.  If our attorneys reply affirmatively, the grievance is sent to arbitration; if they reply negatively, we do not.

   As noted above, not everyone is happy with this procedure, but it is the best way the Association has found to do what is right for all of our members.