Laura Chan worked as a primary school teacher in a small town for 10 years. She and her colleagues were represented by the Teachers' Association in collective bargaining. Recently, the school board received complaints from some irate parents that Laura was teaching her students elementary Cantonese vocabulary which they felt was unnecessary and detracted from the more important core curriculum. The school board, having previously asked her to refrain from this practice, decided to suspend Laura for the short period of ten days until the end of the school year and hoped that the issue would be forgotten by the fall when classes commenced. Laura grieved the suspension. If the Teachers' Association refuses to take Laura's grievance to arbitration, Laura may initiate her own legal action against the school board and the Teachers' Association.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In many jurisdictions, if a union (like the Teachers' Association) refuses to take a grievance to arbitration, the aggrieved party (in this case, Laura) may have the right to pursue her own legal action against both the employer (the school board) and potentially the union for failing to represent her interests, depending on the specific labor laws and collective bargaining agreement terms.

Laura Chan Worked as a Primary School Teacher in a Small