The grievance procedure is that unique happening that permits the worker an avenue of redress for wrongs done to him or her according to the Working Agreement between the Union and the Company. Therefore, a grievance must constitute a violation of the Working Agreement. As is often the case, many grievances are written on sentiment rather than violations of the working agreement. Often it is very hard for the individual worker to differentiate between a violation and a past practice that has been in existence without challenge, but suddenly stopped by the Company.

The grievance procedure that our people use is identical with others used in many industries throughout the land, a three step procedure.

The grievance procedure, like the Union itself, is a procedure that many of our people take for granted and shouldn't. There are still many places in the nation where a meaningful grievance procedure doesn't exist, because such places lack Union representation. In many of the so-called "right to work" states, where Union influence is watered down because Union employees must work alongside non-Union employees on the same job, the grievance procedure has a totally different meaning. This is also the case where there is no Union representation at all.

Here, in the state of Michigan, and in general, the Midwest, where industries are heavily unionized, young workers who enter the job can't remember not having a Union to represent them. He or she is not aware of conditions to the contrary that are in existence in other parts of the country. They are inclined to be very demanding and critical of not only the Company, but the Union as well.

The Grievance procedure, and arbitration as well, really got a toehold during World War II, when the War Labor Board was developed for the purpose of keeping steady employment, minus the threat and practice of strikes, for the purpose of keeping productivity at a peak during the war effort. It was during these years that the grievance procedure reached its first real recognition as a means of preventing strikes and at the same time giving the worker an opportunity to air his differences with the employer. Since the years of World War II, the grievance procedure and arbitration of irreconcilable differences have become the nationally recognized method of dealing with labor problems.

The Working Agreement between the Union and the Company is a legal and binding document that was secured through the collective bargaining system. Like any legal document or set of laws, its meaning is taken for granted until such time as it is challenged. Also, like new state laws that are developed by the legislature, the meaning of such laws are not known until they are challenged and tested in the courts. So it is with the Working Agreement between the Union and the Company.

Our Working Agreement is under constant challenge by either the Union or the Company. Our method of challenge is the arbitration process. This process is not unlike a judicial proceeding that you may find in the courts of the land, except that it is a much less formal procedure. The Company is usually represented by one of its many attorneys, while the Union is usually represented by one of its Council Officers.

Like the infantry in the Army, the Steward is the front line of defense for the Union. The Steward is where it all happens and his or her powers of observation must be 20/20. In being a successful Steward, one must have an excellent working knowledge of the contract and be able to apply it reasonably. He or she must have the skill and knowledge to deal with the fellow employees that they represent. There are times when the general attitude of their fellow workers will be such as to demand of them immediate retaliation against the Company for some fancied offense or violation of the agreement that doesn't exist at all. In situations of this nature, he or she must be a diplomat of extraordinary talent. The easy thing to do would be to "pass the buck" on to the next highest Union officer, but at best, this only brings temporary relief. Therefore, they must become highly skilled in their job.

The Steward has, perhaps, the most thankless job of all Union officials since it is seldom that they get paid for their efforts. The only consolation that he or she gets for their efforts is that feeling of self-satisfaction that comes from knowing that one has performed one's job with dedication and to the best of their ability.

Like the person who contributes their spare time to the Boy Scouts, the United Fund, the YMCA, or the Big Brother program, the Steward, in this case, contributes his or her time to the Union because they believe in what they are doing and because they know that the job they are doing is absolutely necessary. As a worker, they are among the first to realize any fruits that their efforts may have achieved.

Unlike the Company, the success of a Union Officer doesn't hinge upon the amount of educational background that one might possess, but strictly upon the amount of devotion, effort and dedication that one is willing to put forth. In fact, it can safely be said that success in Unionism depends strictly upon effort and dedication. Unionism is, perhaps, the last bastion in society where educational background is not the controlling factor in an organizational progress. Many of the nation's top Union leaders are people with little or no college background, or for that matter, educational background beyond high school. In light of these facts, success as a Steward depends strictly upon one's knowledge of one's own job, and the rules that apply to it plus a good knowledge of the Working Agreement.

Each Local Union of the Council's 24 Local Unions and their membership are an entity in their own right and operate under the dictates of their own constitutions without interference from the Council or from the National Union. Each Local has its own procedures for the disbursement of its own treasury funds and it also has its own unique system for the processing of grievances. Further, the structuring of the Local organization falls totally within the province of the Local Union. The only time that the Local Union is answerable to the State Council or to the National, is when its practices strongly violate the Working Agreement and those dictums set forth by the Delegates in convention or when its practices may violate the National Union constitution.

Most Locals consist of a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary and a Sergeant-At-Arms. This setup might not be the case in all instances, but basically this is true, and such officers are known as the Executive Board officers. These are the people who are responsible for the conduct of the Local Union and must answer to all critics.

The AFL-CIO is a group of National Unions that have combined into a single entity in order to deal with problems facing labor groups throughout the entire nation and are headquartered in Washington D.C., the seat of our national government. They are, in turn, broken down organizationally into State and County organization who deal with problems on the local scene. They derive their financial support by per-capita assessment of moneys from the member organization who make up their being.

The AFL-CIO has a vast and efficient research staff who is busily engaged in the business of studying national labor, economic, social and political trends as they effect the working men and women of the nation. Their resource information is available to all member unions upon request and through publications that are dispensed periodically. The AFL-CIO also publishes a newspaper that is dispensed to all local member unions.

There has been a Union on the property of the Consumers Power Company since the year 1937. At that time an organizing drive was initiated by the United Auto Workers among our membership. The Auto Workers were, of course, members of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Their drive was successful and on June 8, 1937, the first Union-Company working agreement was signed between the parties, in Washington, D.C.

We continued with the United Auto Workers through the year of 1940, at which time a fight between the C.I.O. and the A.F. of L. took place to see which of the organizations would represent us. The A.F. of L. was the eventual winner of this dispute and as a result of this we became affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 876 of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

This relationship continued through the years of 1941 through 1943, at which time another fight erupted between the C.I.O. and the A.F. of L., at which time the Utility Workers Organizing Committee of the C.I.O. won the right to represent the workers on the property of Consumers Power Company.

This arrangement continued in effect until such time as an outright charter was issued in the name of the Utility Workers Union of America. This, then, is the national union which we hold membership today.

During the early years of unionism, with the existence of the two major national unions, the A.F. of L. and the C.I.O., membership 'raiding' between the two organizations was a common thing, and local unions took full advantage of their positions to bandy their affections on the national organization that promised them the most for their money. However, with the merger of the two large national unions that took place in the year of 1956, membership 'raiding' came to an abrupt halt. Since the merger of the A.F. of L. and the C.I.O., labor peace among the various organizations has become a thing of stability.

1. Roll Call of Officers
2. Report of Credentials Committee
3. Reading of the Minutes of the previous meeting
4. Reading of Communications
5. Financial Report
6. Committees' Reports
7. Unfinished Business
8. New Business
9. Nomination, election, and obligation of Officers
10. Good and Welfare
11. Adjournment

Rule 1. Before putting a question to the vote, the presiding officers shall ask, "Are you ready for the question?" Then it shall be open for debate. If no member rises to speak, the presiding officer shall then put the question, and after the vote is taken, they shall immediately announce the results.

Rule 2. When the presiding officer has commenced taking the vote, no further debate nor remarks shall be allowed, unless a mistake has been made, in which case, the mistake shall be rectified, and the presiding officer shall recommence taking the vote.

Rule 3. Before the presiding officer declares a vote on a question, any member may ask for a "Division of the House" and the Chair is then duty bound to comply with the request, and a standing vote shall be taken.

Rule 1. When a question is before the meeting, no motion shall be in order except:

1. To adjourn
2. To lay on the table
3. For the previous question
4. To postpone to a given time
5. To refer or commit
6. To amend
7. To substitute

Rule 2. The following motions are not debatable:

1. To adjourn
2. To lay on the table
3. For the previous question

Rule 3. If a question has been amended, the question on the amendment shall be put first, if more than one amendment has been offered, the question shall then be put as follows:

1. Amendment to the Amendment
2. Amendment
3. Original proposition

Rule 4. A motion to adjourn shall always be in order, except:

1. When a member has the floor
2. When members are voting

Rule 5. When a question has been postponed indefinitely, it shall not come up again, except by a majority vote.

Rule 1. A motion to be entertained by the presiding officer must be seconded, and the mover as well as the seconder must rise and be recognized by the Chair, stating names and Local Unions.

Rule 2. Resolutions, resignations, and motions shall be submitted in writing if so requested by the Secretary-Treasurer.

Rule 3. In presenting a motion, a brief statement of its object may be made, but no discussion on its merits shall be permitted until the question has been stated by the Chair.

Rule 4. Any member having made a motion can withdraw it with the consent of their seconder, but a motion once debated, cannot be withdrawn, except by unanimous consent or by a majority vote for a motion authorizing withdrawal.

Rule 5. A motion to amend an amendment shall be in order, but a motion to amend an amendment to an amendment shall not be in order. Any amendment may not be directly contrary to the original motion.

Rule 6. Any member may call for a division of a question when the subject admits thereof.

Rule 7. When a question has been decided, it can be reconsidered only by a majority vote of those members present.

Rule 8. A motion to reconsider must be made and seconded by two members who voted with the majority.

Rule 9. All questions, unless otherwise provided, shall be decided as a majority vote shall direct.