Victory for Missoula Head Start members

January 28, 2009 / Comments (0)

News

Congratulations to our MEA-MFT members in the local Missoula Head Start union, who recently won an important case in district court.

 

The court ordered Missoula Head Start management to arbitrate a grievance over management’s failure to follow the contract with respect to reduction in force (RIF).

 

According to MEA-MFT Field Consultant Tom Gigstad, the bargained contract requires management to RIF by seniority, but management simply cut every employee by a week.

 

When the local union filed a grievance, management refused to recognize the grievance because it was filed by a union. The contract language refers to grievances from “employees.”

 

“We said, among other things, ‘this is absurd, the union is a group of employees,'” said Gigstad. The court agreed and sided with union members. Fairness prevailed, for now. Management has appealed to the state Supreme Court.

 

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