School district’s CBA silence on discipline sinks union arbitration bid

The employee signed the letter to acknowledge receipt – but wrote next to the acknowledgment that he “signed under protest/subject to grievance.” 

His unions filed a grievance, arguing the suspension violated their collective bargaining agreement, in effect since July 2019. The parties worked through the first three steps of the CBA’s four-step grievance procedure without resolution. When the unions moved to the final step – binding arbitration – the school district refused. 

Its position was blunt: the CBA does not cover discipline. 

The unions went to court in April 2024 to compel arbitration. The district court sided with the school district, finding the CBA unambiguously excludes discipline from the grievance process. No just-cause clause – meaning the contract set no standard the district had to meet before disciplining someone. No article addressing discipline at all. 

Iowa law gave the district solid ground. State legislation reserves to public employers the exclusive power to suspend or discharge employees for proper cause. Unless an employer specifically agrees to hand that authority over through bargaining, it stays with management.