1585 Parden v. Region 1A

The withdrawal of Parden’s grievance was inconsistent with the standard established by the UAW for grievance handlers representing high seniority employees. The Regional Representative’s general notion of how arbitrators deal with cases involving the use of drugs and alcohol does not provide a basis for his decision not to pursue arbitration of a grievance involving the discharge of an employee with 23 years of seniority for registering less than 0.02 on a breath alcohol test. Furthermore, we can find no rational basis for the Representative’s decision to withdraw the grievance despite the Local Union’s expectation that it would be held open until the upcoming Local negotiations. The International Union is instructed to make an effort to persuade the Company to reopen Parden’s grievance. We will retain jurisdiction to consider alternative remedies in the event that this effort is unsuccessful.

The parties entered into a settlement agreement on October 7, 2008.