Labor Relations 12th Edition by John Fossum

Exercise 5

Cases
About six months after the new GMFC-Local 384 contract was ratified, four grievances were sent to arbitration by the union. The company and the union agreed that all four grievances would be heard on separate dates by the same arbitrator. Your name was on the panel the FMCS sent to the parties, and they selected you to arbitrate the grievances. You agreed and have heard all four grievances over the past three days. Now you have to prepare your awards.
CASE 3
The maintenance electricians in the unit are assigned to repair jobs around the Central City facilities shortly after they report to work at their central shop at the beginning of a shift. Before ratification of the most recent contract, electricians traditionally returned to the shop for their afternoon coffee breaks. All of the electricians left their work so that they would arrive at the shop at the beginning of the break, and they left the shop at the end of the break to return to work.
The electrical shop supervisor, Ken Bates, issued a new policy after the new contract was approved, stating the break would commence once work stopped at the assigned location and end when work was restarted. This policy change meant some electricians would have insufficient time to return to the shop for their breaks.
The union filed a grievance alleging that the company had revoked a prevailing practice that had the effect of a contract term. It also argued it had not been consulted, as Article 12.03 of the contract required. The company denied the grievance, citing the language in Section 12.02.
Should the grievance be sustained?
If it should be sustained, what is your reasoning and what should the award be? If it should be denied, what is the basis for the denial?