So my ATM did not concur with my hardship but my union rep did. I'm considering filing a grievance since it not only took her about 25 days to finally do anything but there is no reason given as to why she denied it (not sure if that's required).
Would filing a grievance even do anything? My local rep made the comment that she could just deny it at the local level if I even file one. Never actually submitted one and the couple people I talked to never have either. Also, does something like that look bad on you later on if you did try to get picked up somewhere?
If you believe the contract was violated, get your rep to help you file a grievance.
your ATM has to report that up their chain and they will have a whole separate labor relations FAA person breathing down their neck.
even if it’s denied at the local level, your rep can elevate it above your managers head. If you‘re just grieving the timeline then its an easy win but no clear remedy. If you are grieving the timeline AND the result of the hardship request, you can ask for the remedy to be for Your hardship to be handled by the ARVP/ GM / district level since your manager is not treating your request with good faith.
Many people are afraid to file a grievance but they serve a very valuable purpose, to make sure that the FAA follows the contract. You can still be very pleasant to the manager and tell them you respectfully disagree with their decision and timeline and than hand them the grievance and make them sign the reciept.
TLDR the more grievances you file the faster management will get you out of your facility.