Ontario Public Service Employees Union - Carriage Rights

Carriage Rights

Unlike most unions, OPSEU members have personal carriage rights over their grievance(s). In most unions, once a grievance is filed the union takes carriage of the grievance at the corporate level. For OPSEU members, this means that the individual member, or group of members, who filed the grievance(s) have the right to make all decisions with regard to settlement, withdrawal and the decision whether or not to proceed with litigation. This can potentially be costly to the union as the grievor may refuse to settle or withdraw a frivolous or groundless grievance. However, mediated arbitration is often used as a cost effective method for determining a grievance's potential before a settlement board if the grievor chooses not to settle at that stage. The grievor's union representative will then counsel the grievor on the best course of action. Often if it appears that a grievance could be lost with prejudice (i.e., the settlement could negatively impact future, similar grievances by setting precedent) then the representative may recommend that the grievor tactically withdraw it at that stage.