Unions, Employers Take the Offensive Against Workplace Violence

In response to violence ranging from verbal abuse to murder, many employers and unions have crafted contract language addressing the needs of their particular workplaces.

Homicide is the second leading cause of death in the workplace and about I million people are assaulted on the job each year, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reported last year.

NIOSH considers workplace violence to encompass “violent acts, including physical assaults and threats of assault, directed toward persons at work or on duty."

Examples of preventive efforts include providing armed escorts for home health care workers, providing escorts to parking facilities and during commutes for late-shift medical staff or plant workers, calling for police protection in public workplaces, ensuring that service technicians do not work alone in dangerous locations, and evacuating schools in case of bomb threats.

Contract provisions addressing post-incident issues include those establishing a chain of command for reporting incidents and requiring the employer to report crimes to police.

Assistance for victims of workplace violence includes paid leave for court appearances, medical treatment, or recovery; reimbursement for personal loss as a result of robbery; legal assistance; reimbursement for uninsured medical care; and transfer to another location.

Joint Programs Prove Successful

While it is more common for an employer to unilaterally implement a workplace violence policy, some parties have found that comprehensive joint programs can work well.

For example, plagued by a high rate of violence-4,712 assaults during the 1995-1996 school year, the New York City school district and the United Federation of Teachers in 1996 negotiations strengthened joint prevention efforts.

The parties' contract calls for legal assistance for assault victims, a comprehensive safety plan for each school to be updated annually with union input, and a joint citywide security and discipline committee.

The parties also jointly operate a victim support program that offers counseling, information about school safety procedures and the criminal justice system, accompaniment to medical offices and the courts, and violence prevention training.

A special grievance process applies if the safety plan development process or a plan itself is violated, said Jim Baumann, director of the UFT's school safety department. Grievances are handled first in mediation and can be appealed in fast-track arbitration.

Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers in 1993 and 1996 con tract talks agreed to design and implement national procedures for handling "behavioral emergencies" and "critical incident stress debriefing." The procedures call for each plant to form a team of union and management representatives as well as security, health and safety, medical, and other personnel, to respond to violent incidents.

The national office assists the teams in designing plans and trains them in related skills. The response has been good at the local plant level," said Bill Corey, UAW's coordinator of joint programs.

Violence prevention strategies include counseling, intervention, and treatment referral for employees who display "warning signs." Precautions to be taken when a possibly dangerous worker on non-work status enters the plant or returns to work also are suggested.

Stress debriefing procedures intended to help employees recover from the shock of any "abnormal event" include providing leave, discussing the incident with workers, and informing employees of available support services.

While implementing the stress debriefing procedures has not been a problem, said Corey, the "behavioral emergencies are a little harder because every situation is different." However, "you can see the difference," he added. "People now have roles in responding" to violence.

Mediation for Prevention

Noting that "labor-management hostility is typically a barrier to designing an effective response" to workplace violence, Richard Denenberg, director of the nonprofit consortium Workplace Solutions Inc., recommended the use of mediation.

"The existing grievance and arbitration procedures in collective bargaining agreements are not really adequate" to address underlying conflicts in the workplace that can erupt in violence, Denenberg said.

Mediation can help the parties in developing a policy or can be used as a conflict resolution mechanism. For example, a mediator can resolve tensions between workers that could result in violent behavior that normally would lead to arbitration. Employees trained in mediation can settle disputes on site, Denenberg said. "A good policy needs to have everyone in the workplace involved."