Information requests are a valuable tool

They can be used for more than just gathering facts

TO HANDLE A GRIEVANCE properly, you need a lot of information. Often your search for facts will lead you to make a request to your employer for information they have on file.

Employers have a legal obligation to provide information that union stewards need in order to handle a grievance or to negotiate changes in working conditions not covered by the collective bargaining agreement.

The company may initially resist turning over the documents and other items you seek, but an outright refusal to comply with a legitimate request can result in an unfair labor practice charge.

Stewards can request a wide range of documents, data, and other materials, as long as they are relevant to the grievance. Items requested might include accident reports, attendance records, disciplinary records, OSHA logs, timecards, vacation requests, work rules – even photographs and drawings. For disciplinary grievances, it’s a good idea to request the entire contents of the grievant’s personnel file and the names of other employees who have committed similar offenses, along with the penalties imposed on them.

To get the most out of your information request, here are some things to consider:

• Make your request in writing. Employers often stall responding to requests or do not provide all the information requested. You may need written evidence of when you made the request and exactly what you asked for. If you initially make your request orally, immediately follow up with a letter confirming your request. For example, you might begin your letter with: “As I indicated in our conversation earlier today, to process this grievance I will need the following records...”
• Be specific in what you ask for, but open the door for other information that could be relevant. You might say something like, “To process this grievance, I need the attendance records for the third shift of the press room for the past year, disposition of other employees who have exceeded the absence rule, and any other company records that have a bearing on this grievance.”
• If you are asking for a lot of records, specify that the various items can be provided separately, so the company doesn’t treat the request as all-or-nothing. “Please provide these records by end of business Friday, Oct. 31. If not all records can be supplied by that deadline, the union will accept a partial response with the understanding that the union is entitled to all of the documents as soon as it is practical to deliver them.”
• Anticipate the company’s objections and find ways around them. For example, employers do not have to provide records that disclose confidential information. But you may be able to pre-empt this objection by agreeing to accept records with confidential information blacked out, or you can submit written privacy waivers from the members whose records you need.
• Consider other sources. If the information you need can be obtained through another method – a government agency, for example – you can avoid going to your employer. This can be helpful if you know the company will stall you, or if you don’t want the company to get wind of your strategy.
• Sometimes making an information request can yield results even though you never get the information. If the company doesn’t want to release the information, or if complying with the request would be burdensome, they may be willing to agree to a reasonable compromise on the grievance to avoid giving you the information. However, don’t make an overly broad or burdensome request just to have something to bargain with. The law doesn’t protect “fishing expeditions,” nor do you have the right to information that you cannot clearly link to the grievance in question.

Information requests are an important tool in the steward’s toolbox. You can’t argue a case well unless you have all the facts. Like every interaction you have with your employer, a professionally-handled information request raises your credibility — with the company and, if the grievance goes to arbitration, with the arbitrator as well.