Local 5621 Grievance Process

Hello, my name is Tracy L Cefaratti and I am the grievance chair for our local union. I wanted to take the opportunity to review the grievance process. Please take a few minutes to read over the following as it is important as a union nurse to know and understand this process. You should first review our union contract. You can find it online here: Local 5621 Contract or you can get book from a unit rep or officer. The unit rep list is available online and on the bulletin board by the employee entrance in Mullica Hill. Here is a direct link to the list: Local 5621 Rep List

I recommend everyone take a picture of this list to have on hand, so you have our proper contact information. Our local union officers (LEB) have all posted our cell phone numbers and personal email addresses. You can text, call or email to reach us. WE DO NOT DO UNION BUSINESS THROUGH OUR WORK EMAILS AND WE WILL NOT RESPOND TO ANYTHING SENT TO OUR IHN ACCOUNTS. Please also do not use your IHN email or work phone to get in touch with us. Thank you in advance for respecting this.

If you believe any part of our contract has been violated, please reach out to either a unit rep or me to follow up. We will help you investigate the suspected violation and file a grievance if warranted. It is extremely important to remember that we only have 10 days to file a grievance from the date the violation occurred.

We also have Weingarten Rights as members of a union. This gives you the ability to have a union rep present with you if you are being called into an investigatory meeting with management. So if you are asked to meet with management, you have the right to ask if the meeting could lead to discipline. You should take a rep with you if the answer is yes. You should then text/call through the rep list to see who is available to attend with you. You have the right to have a meeting at a date/time that is mutually agreeable to both parties. This is generally within a 48-hour time frame of whenever management proposed to meet.

Once it is determined that a grievance should be filed, I will file it on your behalf and send it to the appropriate recipient based on the level of the grievance. There can be 4 steps to the grievance process.

1. Step 1 grievances go to your direct manager; they have 10 days to respond in writing.
2. Step 2 grievances go to Terri Spoltore (VP of Nursing). This step includes a meeting which you and I will attend together. She has 10 days to respond in writing after the meeting.
3. Step 3 grievances go to Denise Lambrecht (Director of Labor Relations). This step also includes a meeting that you and I will attend together. She has 10 days to respond in writing after the meeting.
4. We have the right to file the grievance for arbitration if we are not successful during this process. The officers will vote to have the case considered for arbitration. This then goes to our union’s statewide arbitration committee for final approval. As you can imagine this can be a very timely process, however the results can be a victory for you as well as our union.

In Solidarity,

Your Grievance Chair,
Tracy L Cefaratti MSN, RN, CCRN
tracycef5621@gmail.com