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. It would constitute a breach of duty of fair representation for a union to weigh the cost of arbitrating a grievance with the likelihood of its success.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The duty of fair representation requires a union to represent all members fairly, without discrimination, and in good faith. Weighing the cost of arbitrating a grievance against the likelihood of its success is a standard practice in determining the merits of pursuing a case and does not in itself constitute a breach of this duty.

Laura Chan Worked as a Primary School Teacher in a Small