Ocurre más rápido de lo que piensas: un día llegas al trabajo y te das cuenta de que tienes una diana en la espalda. Incluso los empleados buenos y de larga duración con revisiones de rendimiento estelares no son inmunes. 

Maybe you’ve got a new manager who wants to “shake things up” a bit, or your boss suddenly decides he wants to crack down on union supporters.  Or maybe you’re facing turbulence in your personal life – a major illness or divorce – that is making it difficult to concentrate on the job.  

Whatever the reason, when your employer comes after you, you need a strong union that will fight to protect your rights at work.

Teamsters 117 is that union.  Every year, the Local 117 Legal Department wins dozens of arbitration cases in defense of members whose rights have been violated on the job.

Recently, your Local Union won a full back pay arbitration award for a Department of Corrections employee, who was demoted without just cause.  The employee, Peggy Smet of the Airway Heights Corrections Center in Spokane, had worked for the DOC for over 19 years.   

Smet había recibido constantemente evaluaciones positivas de su desempeño, pero a pesar de su larga permanencia en el cargo y de sus sólidas evaluaciones, el Departamento de Operaciones de Mantenimiento de la Paz acabó degradándola después de que el Departamento hubiera reducido el personal de su unidad. "Estábamos sobrecargados de trabajo. Yo estaba trabajando una carga de trabajo y media, y estaba cansada", dijo Smet. "Estaban viendo los resultados de no tener todo el personal de la unidad."

After exhausting the grievance process, Teamsters 117’s General Counsel Spencer Thal took the case to arbitration.  A hearing was held on June 4, 5, and 11 in Spokane.

Thal argumentó que el empleador no había seguido una disciplina progresiva y había violado el contrato al degradarla. El árbitro estuvo de acuerdo. "Las cuestiones de rendimiento que el empleador podría considerar adecuadamente no son suficientes para justificar una degradación permanente", escribió la árbitra Katrina Boedecker, en su decisión de 24 páginas.

Smet had worked for the DOC for 14 years in two different job classifications without discipline.  By the Department’s own admission, she had an above average record.  No doubt, she deserved better treatment from her employer.  And thanks to the good work of her union, she was reinstated to her previous position and made whole.

“I’m so relieved and excited to have won,” she said.  “I’m happy that the Teamsters were there and that they didn’t give up on me.”