Duhaime's Law Dictionary Grievance Definition: A claim by a union or a unionized employee that a collective bargaining agreement has been breached. The formal document in which a union claims that the employer has breached the collectrive bargaining agreement and for which, arbitration is convened. In Alam, the arbitrator wrote: "A grievance is an allegation of a breach of the collective agreement." In Missoula, the court rejected the union's claim that an initiative by the employer to eliminate a school program was a grievance: "The (union) has failed to allege a violation of a specific provision of the (collective bargaining) agreement. "A mere allegation that a collective bargaining agreement has been violated is not sufficient to justify an order to arbitrate. A party must point to a specific provision of the contract to support its demand for arbitration." In the context of a unionized workplace, it is standard though not necessarily absolute, that a union champion an employee's grievance, by its endorsement. In other words, if a union representative does not endorse an employee's complaint in regards to an alleged violation or breach of the collective bargaining agreement, it may not be a grievance and on that basis, precluded from proceeding to arbitration. REFERENCES: Alam v. Power Workers' Union 1994 OLRB Rep. 627 (Ontario) duhaime.org, Employment and Labour Law International Union v Acme Precision 521 F. Supp. 1358 (1981) Missoula County High School Education Association v Board of Trustees 857 P. 2d 696 (Supreme Court of Montana, 1993) Categories & Topics: Duhaime's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Law Dictionary Duhaime's Employment & Labour Law Dictionary Always looking up definitions? Save time with our search provider (modern browsers only) If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Law Dictionary, or if you have suggestion for a legal term, we'd love to hear from you!