Last year, members of Local 205 working at Methodist Medical Center filed a grievance over radical changes to the company's attendance policy. After initial attempts to find a solution failed, both parties agreed to arbitration to resolve lingering issues.

After hearing all sides, the arbitrator issued a decision on the Local's grievance at MMC. Here are the major findings:

1. He agreed with SEIU that Methodist's drastic cut in the number of occurrences needed to get a first-step verbal warning was unreasonable.
2. He agreed that MMC's cut in the number of occurrences needed for progressive discipline was also unreasonable.
3. He rejected MMC's claim that it could make these changes as a "management right" and ordered them to rescind these changes and go back to the previous standards.
4. He also ruled that MMC should not have based any discipline under the new policy on occurrences happening before January 1, 2013 and ordered that those disciplinary actions be removed.

The arbitrator did find that counting a failure to clock in as a tardy was not unreasonable, but he recognized there are exceptions to this that should be handled on a case-by-case basis. He also said that it was not unreasonable to count an absence from a voluntary extra shift as an occurrence.

The arbitrator did find that counting a failure to clock in as a tardy was not unreasonable, but he recognized there are exceptions to this that should be handled on a case-by-case basis. He also said that it was not unreasonable to count an absence from a voluntary extra shift as an occurrence.

"This is a big victory for all workers at Methodist Medical and it shows that when we stand together, workers can win," says RN Chief Steward Kay Golden, who was a key witness in the arbitration.

"With contract negotiations coming up this year, we know there are challenges ahead, and we need to be strong and united," says S&T Chief Steward Jeff Massey. "If you are a member... we need you to get more involved and talk to your co-workers who are not members yet. Remind them that this is a major victory that would not have happened without our union."