Article 20 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement provides procedures by which faculty members who feel that their contractual rights have been violated can appeal for a remedy.
Every faculty member has the right to file an individual grievance, but if one was not a UFF member when the incident occurred the grievant must represent oneself or retain an attorney. UFF-FSU and its affiliates represent UFF members free of charge in grievances and arbitrations.
If a grievance cannot be resolved through mutual agreement, the next step is to submit it to binding arbitration. UFF retains the sole and exclusive right to invoke arbitration; non-members will not automatically have the right to pursue a remedy beyond the grievance process. If UFF agrees to allow a non-member to proceed to arbitration, the non-member will be responsible for the cost of the arbitration – typically $2,000 to $4,000 – and must provide his or her own attorney, the cost of which can exceed $20,000.
If a non-member informs the chapter of an incident, UFF may file a grievance on behalf of the chapter if it is believed to have chapter-wide impact on the enforcement of the Collective Bargaining Agreement; however, that is at the discretion of the chapter.
If you feel that your contract rights have been violated, you should contact the UFF-FSU Grievance Chair (see the list of UFF-FSU committee chairs). Note that since correspondence involving an FSU e-mail address is potentially public record we recommend that sensitive communications be carried out using a personal e-mail address.
If you proceed to file a grievance (whether with UFF representation or on your own), you will need to access the following forms:
There are also specialized procedures and a specific form for expedited handling of assignment disputes. See Appendix H of the CBA.
FSU Collective Bargaining Agreement (see Article 20 [pp. 72-79] and Appendix H [p. 116])
