What Does Your MTI Contract Do for You? Just Cause; Wisconsin Labor History Society’s High School Essay Contest Submission Deadline February 14

Madison Teachers, Inc. eNewsletter via a kind Jeannie Kamholtz email (PDF):

UST CAUSE does not mean “just because”. It establishes standards and procedures which must be met before an employee can be disciplined or discharged. Fortunately, for members of MTI’s bargaining units, all have protection under the JUST CAUSE STANDARDS. They were negotiated by MTI to protect union members.
There are seven just cause tests, and an employer must meet all seven in order to sustain the discipline or discharge of an employee. They are: notice; reasonableness of the rule; a thorough and fair investigation; proof; equal treatment; and whether the penalty reasonably meets the alleged offense by the employee.
MTI’s various Contracts enable a review and binding decision by a neutral arbitrator, as to whether the District’s action is justified. The burden of proof is on the District in such cases.
These steps are steps every employer should have to follow.
Unfortunately, every employer is not obligated to do so. However, MMSD must follow them, because of the rights provided to MTI members by MTI’s Contracts. Governor Walker’s Act 10 destroys these protections. MTI has preserved them.