Should You Work Through Your Union or Go to Court?

By Thomas McKinney
Partner

Unfortunately, sometimes a union does not aggressively represent one of its members.  Your union representative tells you “not to make waves” and to ignore your employer’s violations of your union contract or the law.  What to do?  The first thing is to figure out if you can go beyond your union to a lawyer.  You can do that if your concern is not covered by your union contract.  Typically, things like discipline, job duties, and shift assignments are contractual and should be grieved through the union in the process specified in the collective bargaining agreement.  But if you believe you are being denied overtime pay or suffering from discrimination, harassment, or retaliation then your problem can be handled by an attorney without wading through the union grievance process.

January 22, 2011 – Castronovo & McKinney, LLC – Paul Castronovo

About the Author
Tom McKinney is an experienced NJ Employment Lawyer in all major areas of labor and employment law, including discrimination, harassment, overtime violations, wage and hour claims, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, LAD, FLSA, and all other employment law claims. Tom is admitted to practice in the States of New Jersey and New York, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Southern District of New York, District of New Jersey, and United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Prior to forming the firm, Tom practiced at Gibbons P.C. in Newark, NJ. If you have any questions regarding this article, contact Tom here today.