Reduction in Employee Grievances

By Terry Richardson

Employee/Management disputes are common in any large organization and they're an unfortunate fact of life in the City of Portland with more than 5000 employees. Sam had a hunch, however, that formal grievances--which cost the City substantial sums of money--could be reduced if quick, informal facilitation could occur.

Sam assigned longtime labor leader Terry Richardson to be his liaison on personnel matters and asked him to work to reduce grievances. Compared to 2005, grievances for 2006 were reduced from 18 to 11, and Terry played a role in resolving four. We're proud to have Terry helping employees find timely and appropriate resolution to their concerns while saving taxpayers money at the same time.