Letter in File: More and Different Tools May 13, 2009 Material in File
Pre-2005: •In 95%-98% of the LIF grievances filed, the arbitrator rewrote the letter to make it fair and accurate and the letter remained in the file forever . •Observation reports were virtually never removed from a member’s file because an arbitrator would not substitute his/her judgment for those of the principal (based on Leass Arbitration,1979) Material in File
Post-2005: Tools We Continue to Have Article 21A1 “…an incident which has not been reduced to writing within three months of its occurrence, exclusive of the summer vacation period, may not be later added to the file.” Material in File
Post-2005: Tools We Continue to Have Article 21A2 “The teacher shall have the right to answer any material filed and his/ her response shall be attached to the file copy.” Material in File
Post-2005: Tools We Continue to Have Article 21B4 “All counseling memos will be permanently removed from employee’s official school files three years after the latest incident referred to in the memo.” Material in File
Post-2005: New Tools Article 21A5 Pre-2005 “…material that a teacher claims is inaccurate or unfair may be rewritten so as to be accurate and/or unfair only by… the order of the arbitrator mutually agreed upon to hear grievances…” Post-2005 “…if accusations of corporal punishment or verbal abuse against a UFT- represented employee are found to be unsubstantiated, all references to the allegations will be removed from the employee’s personnel file.” “…the teacher shall have the right to append a response to any letter. If disciplinary charges do not follow, the letter and response shall be removed from the file three years from the date of the original material is placed in the file.” Material in File
Post-2005: New Tools Article 21A6 The following issues shall not be the basis for discipline of pedagogues: a) the format of bulletin boards; b) the arrangement of classroom furniture; and c) the exact duration of lesson units. Material in File
Todd Friedman Arbitration June 2008 “…if material is placed in a teacher or employee file under circumstances that are alleged to constitute a violation of substantive collective bargaining agreement provisions other than for [fairness or accuracy], the Union and the employees it represents retain the right to grieve alleged substantive violations of those contractual provisions. “…this award recognizes that there are grievances which may continue to arise where the Union may seek the removal of a letter as a remedy for a specific violation of a provision of the Agreement other than for [fairness and accuracy].” Material in File
Gail Friedman Arbitration July 2008 An incident not reduced to writing within three months of its occurrence may not be later added to the file. Material in File
Letter in File STRATEGY 1: File a grievance under Article 1 “Nothing contained herein shall be construed to prevent any individual employee from informally discussing a complaint with his/her immediate supervisor.” If you are denied that meeting, file a grievance under article 1. Material in File
Letter in File STRATEGY 2: Monitor your file Check the official file twice a year for all material that is more than three years old and inform the principal of all material to be removed from the file. • If the material is not removed, file a grievance under Article 21A5. • If denied access to file, file a grievance under Article 21A3. Material in File
Letter in File STRATEGY 3: Counseling memos Check your file for any counseling memos that are over three years old and need to be removed from your file. If any such memos are in file, file a grievance under Article 21B4. Material in File
Letter in File STRATEGY 4: Always write a response File an objective response to each letter so that a third party would have a clear picture of what happened. If denied the right to append a response, file a grievance under Article 21A5. Material in File
Letter in File STRATEGY 5: File a grievance using the Todd Friedman award Examples: • Attendance Letter - file a grievance under Articles 16 and 20 (Chancellor’s Regulation C-601) • Corporal Punishment/Verbal Abuse Letter- file a grievance under Article 20 (Chancellor’s Regulation A-420) • Observations- file a grievance under Articles 8J and 20 (Teaching for the 21st Century) • Bulletin Boards/Classroom Furniture/Lesson Units- file a grievance under Article 21A6 In all instances, the member must show that the contractual article or the chancellor’s regulation was violated and as a remedy that the letter should be removed from the file. Material in File
Letter in File STRATEGY 6: File a grievance using the Gail Friedman award Supervisors have three months from the date of an incident to place a letter in file (exclusive of summer vacation). If a letter is placed in file when more than three months have elapsed since the incident, file a grievance under Article 21A1 and the Gail Friedman arbitration award. Material in File
Grievance Listing Screen Material in File
Step 1 Grievance Screen (pre-post observation) Material in File
Step 1 Grievance Screen pre-post observation close-up Material in File
Step 1 Grievance Screen (corporal punishment) Material in File
Step 1 Grievance Screen Corporal punishment close-up Material in File
Step 1 Grievance Screen (bulletin board) Material in File
Step 1 Grievance Screen Bulletin board close-up Material in File
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