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To Union Representatives

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act applies to unions as well as to employers. Unions have a duty to make a good faith effort to stop employment discrimination including filing grievances in appropriate cases. Therefore it is very important that sexual harassment complaints be taken seriously and grievances or other appropriate action be promptly initiated.

In many instances, it will be a supervisor or other management person who is the harasser. These situations should not pose any particular problems for the steward. However, there are situations where the harasser or harassers are other union members. This may occur, for example, where a woman is in a non-traditional job. In these cases the steward may feel "caught in the middle," but there are appropriate ways to deal with the situation.

  • Try to stop any harassment you observe, whether or not the victim has complained. If this is unsuccessful, do not do or say anything that could be interpreted as condoning the harasser's behavior.

  • Put management on notice about what is going on. Regardless of who is doing the harassing, management is responsible for providing an harassment-free work environment. Telling the supervisor, "Joe is really giving Mary a hard time," or "things are getting out of hand; we have a potential sexual harassment problem," may get management to do something before the problem escalates.

  • Disclose information only to the extent necessary to protect the confidentiality of all who are involved.

  • If the sexual harassment victim comes to you for help, try to informally resolve the complaint by talking to the harasser. If that is ineffective, file a grievance against management. Management is responsible for the behavior of their employees.

  • When the union also represents the harasser, make sure that his (or her) rights under the contract are protected. One AFSCME local has successfully handled member-versus-member sexual harassment complaints by using two stewards—one to deal with each party.

  • Do not hesitate to ask for assistance from the council representative, business agent or local officers. It may be better for all concerned if someone from the outside who is more detached gets involved.

  • Not all stewards are comfortable handling sexual harassment problems. Therefore the union officers may want to consider designating specific stewards to take care of sexual harassment grievances, provide them with additional training, and let the members know they are available. Since the vast majority of sexual harassment victims are female, the union officers might consider designating specific women stewards as those having special responsibilities for sexual harassment problems. This technique is often used by police departments who use specially trained female police officers to assist rape victims.