While every grievance begins as a complaint, all complaints do not become grievances. In order to know what complaints can be processed as grievances, you will need to refer to the Collective Bargaining Agreement between Mercer County Community College and the Mercer Community College Professional Staff Federation (You can access the Agreement on this site under “Resources”.)
As you will see in Article 13 of the contract, a grievance can arise from a violation, misinterpretation, or improper application of the Agreement.
The purpose of the grievance procedure is to provide for the speedy, orderly and equitable resolution of disputes. Inherent in the grievance process is the remedy sought which must be identified in order to make the grievant whole. In selecting an appropriate remedy, it is important to keep in mind that the purpose of the remedy is restoration not retribution. The remedy should be consistent with the collective bargaining agreement in order to protect the integrity of the contract.
If you feel that the conditions for a grievance have been met, please do the following:
1. Carefully document all facts including dates and times pertaining to the grievance and any discussions or meetings which have taken place.
2. Contact one of the Grievance Committee members listed below:
At the West Windsor campus:
Marcia Galambos ext. 3725 galambom@mccc.edu CM133
Nin May ext. ext. 3460 mayn@mccc.edu AD209
At the James Kerney campus:
Stacy Denton ext. 3132 dentons@mccc.edu KC146
Debra Lawrey ext. 3154 lawreyd@mccc.edu KC141
Remember that there is a big difference between a gripe and a grievance. A grievance is a formal challenge to the employer that the contract or College policy has not been followed.
Fortunately, most problems can be settled informally without filing paperwork. But it is imperative that you contact your local leadership as soon as possible when you have reason to believe you have a grievance. There are strict timelines for the filing process (which you will also find under the grievance article in the contract), and they start the minute the violation takes place.