Policy Grievance – Union Grievance The Union may institute a grievance alleging a general misinterpretation or violation of this Agreement by the Employer by submitting a written grievance at Step No. 1 within twenty (20) days after the circumstances have occurred. This section shall not apply to disciplinary grievances or application of competitive clauses under this Agreement.
Union Grievances 4/8/1 Union officers and grievance representatives who are members of the bargaining unit shall have the right to file and process a grievance when any provision of this Agreement has been violated or when the Employer interpretation of the terms and provisions of this Agreement lead to a controversy with the Union over application of the terms or provisions of this Agreement. Such grievances must be designated as Union grievances at the initial step and must comply with the time limits previously set forth in this Article.
Group Grievances No more than five (5) grievants will be permitted to attend grievance meetings.
Group Grievance Where a number of employees have identical grievances and each employee would be entitled to grieve separately they may present a group grievance in writing signed by each employee who is grieving to the Administrator or her designate within ten (10) days after the circumstances giving rise to the grievance have occurred or ought reasonably to have come to the attention of the employee(s). The grievance shall then be treated as being initiated at Step No. 1 and the applicable provisions of this Article shall then apply with respect to the processing of such grievance.
COMPLAINT AND GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE 9.01 Where a difference arises between the parties relating to the interpretation, application or administration of this Agreement, including any questions as to whether a matter is arbitrable, or where an allegation is made that this Agreement has been violated or whenever an employee who has completed the required probationary period and has been accepted by the Employer for employment in the permanent service, claims that he/she has been disciplined or discharged without reasonable cause, such difference, allegation or claim being hereinafter referred to as the grievance, the grievance procedure set forth below shall apply.
9.02 The Association shall name, appoint or otherwise select a Grievance Committee of no more than three (3) who shall be members of the Association and shall have reached at least the rank of First Class Fire Fighter and other advisors as deemed necessary at the expense of the Association. The Employer shall recognize and deal with the Grievance committee with respect to any matter or dispute which properly arises from a breach of the Collective Agreement from time to time during its term. This committee shall suffer no loss as a result of their attendance at such grievance meetings, hearings, etc.
9.03 No grievance will be considered where the circumstances giving rise to it occurred or originated more than ten (10) full working days before the submission of the grievance.
Step 1 - An employee having a grievance will take the matter up through their Association representative. The President or designate shall contact Fire Management to seek a resolution.
Step 2 - If the grievance is not settled within five (5) working days, the Association shall submit the matter in writing to the Fire Chief or designate within five (5) working days of receiving the reply from Step 1. The Fire Chief or designate shall render the written decision to the Association within five (5) working days after receiving the written grievance. In the context of this Article a working day shall be deemed to be Monday to Friday excluding designated holidays.
Step 3 - If the reply of the Fire Chief is not acceptable to the Association the grievance may be referred to the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) or the Director of Human Resources within five (5) working days of the written decision of the Fire Chief. The CAO or the Director of Human Resources, who together with the Fire Chief and any other advisors deemed necessary, shall meet with the Association Representatives within 5 working days to consider the grievance. Within five (5) working days of the aforesaid, the CAO or the Director of Human Resources will render a written reply to the employee and the Association.
Step 4 - If no resolve is reached at Step 3, the matter shall be submitted to arbitration. Notice shall be given within 5 business days. The parties agree that, for the purposes of this collective agreement the words of the expedited arbitration provisions of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 as amended (Section 49), will be deemed to have been incorporated into this collective agreement. Accordingly and notwithstanding any other provisions of this article (the grievance/arbitration provisions); either party may refer a grievance to expedited arbitration in accordance with the provisions of Section 49. The parties further agree that neither party will raise any jurisdictional or other objection to the application of Section 49 to a grievance under this collective agreement as it pertains to the right to an expedited arbitration. Either party is entitled however, to raise any objection, with the arbitrator with respect to whether the provisions of Section 49 have been properly utilized in respect of any specific grievance (e.g. objections with respect to time limits etc.). Such an appointment by the Minister of Labour or his or her designate will be determined to be a joint appointment in accordance with Section 53(3) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act.
9.04 Extensions to the time limits in 9.03 may not be unreasonably withheld.
9.05 The employee in all steps of the grievance procedure shall be confined to the grievance and redress sought as set forth in the written grievance initially filed as provided.
Settlement of Grievances The applicable procedures of this Agreement shall be followed for the settlement of all grievances. All grievances shall be considered carefully and processed promptly.
Policy Grievance – Employer Grievance The Employer may institute a grievance alleging a general misinterpretation or violation by the Union or any employee by filing a written grievance with the Bargaining Unit President, with a copy to the Labour Relations Officer within twenty (20) days after the circumstances have occurred. A meeting will be held between the parties within ten (10) days. The Union shall reply within ten (10) days after the meeting, and failing settlement, the matter may be referred to arbitration.
(a) Where a difference arises between the parties relating to the interpretation, application or administration of this Agreement, including any questions as to whether a matter is arbitrable, or where an allegation is made that this Agreement has been violated, either of the parties may, after exhausting the grievance procedure established by this Agreement, notify the other party in writing of its decision to submit the difference or allegation to arbitration, and the notice shall contain the name of the first party's appointee to an Arbitration Board. The recipient of the notice shall, within ten (10) days, inform the other party of the name of its appointee to the Arbitration Board. The two appointees so selected shall within ten (10) days of the appointment of the second of them, appoint a third person who shall be the Chairperson. If the recipient of the notice fails to appoint a nominee, or if the two nominees fail to agree upon a Chairperson within the time limit, the appointment shall be made by the Minister of Labour for Ontario upon the request of either party.
(b) Within thirty (30) calendar days of the receipt of notice referred to in Article 8.12(a) above, either party may require a process for a sole arbitrator where the grievance concerns:
i) a job posting ii) a short term layoff
Disciplinary Grievances If the grievance is not resolved at Step 2, the Union may file a request for mediation with the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) in accordance with WAC 000-00-000, with a copy to the Office of Financial Management/SHR/Labor Relations Section (OFM/SHR/LRS) and the Human Resources Office within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the Step 2 decision. In addition to all other filing requirements, the request must include a copy of the grievance and all previous responses.
Grievance Mediation Nothing in this Article precludes the Parties from mutually agreeing to grievance mediation during any stage of the grievance procedure. The agreement shall be made in writing and stipulate the name of the person and the time line for grievance mediation to occur.
PROFESSIONAL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE A. Any claim by the Association or a teacher that there has been a violation, misinterpretation, or misapplication of the terms of the Agreement or violation of any established policy shall be a grievance and shall be resolved through the procedure set forth herein.
B. In the event that a teacher, or the Association believes there is a basis for a grievance, the teacher or representative of the Association within thirty (30) working days of the time the teacher knew of the circumstances giving rise to the grievance, shall first discuss the alleged grievance with the building principal either personally or accompanied by the Association Representative. The grievance process may begin at the Superintendent’s level when the building principal is not involved with an alleged incident.
C. If, as a result of the informal discussion with the building principal, a grievance still exists, the teacher or representative of the Association may, within ten (10) working days, invoke the formal grievance procedure through the Association on the grievance report form, signed by the grievant and a representative of the Association. Said form shall be available from the Association Representative in each building. A copy of the grievance form shall be delivered to the building principal, it may be filed with the Superintendent or a representative designated by him.
D. Within five (5) working days of receipt of the grievance the principal shall meet with the Association in an effort to resolve the grievance. The principal shall indicate his/her disposition of the grievance in writing within five (5) working days of such meeting and shall furnish a copy thereof to the Association. If the Association desires to proceed to the next step, it shall do so within fifteen (15) calendar days of the principal’s disposition.
E. If the Association is not satisfied with the disposition of the grievance, or if no disposition has been made within five (5) working days of such meeting (or ten [10] working days from the date of filing, whichever shall be later) the grievance shall be transmitted to the Superintendent. Within seven (7) working days the Superintendent or his/her designee, shall meet with the Association concerning the grievance and shall indicate his/her disposition of the grievance in writing within five (5) working days of such meeting, and shall furnish a copy thereof to the Association.
F. If the Association is not satisfied with the disposition of the superintendent, or if no disposition has been received within five (5) working days of such meeting the Association may proceed to a Board Level Hearing. This grievance hearing shall be heard in closed session, so long as it does not violate the open meetings act. If the grievance is not settled at the preceding step, it may be submitted to binding arbitration. Within fifteen (15) working days of the receipt of the Superintendent’s answer, the party choosing to arbitrate must give written notice to the other party, setting forth specifically the nature of the dispute to be arbitrated. The charging party shall file a Demand for Arbitration with the American Arbitration Association within fifteen (15) days from the notification date that arbitration will be pursued. The arbitrator shall be selected by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its rules, which shall likewise govern the arbitration proceedings.
G. The arbitrator shall have no power to rule on any of the following:
1. The termination of services of or failure to re-employ any probationary teacher.
2. Any claim or complaint for which there is another remedial procedure or forum established by law or by regulation having the force of law, including any matter subject to the procedures specified in the Teacher’s Tenure Act (Act IV Public Acts, Extra Session of 1937 of Michigan, as amended).
3. Any matter involving the content of a teacher evaluation.
H. The Board and the Association shall not be permitted to assert in such arbitration proceedings any ground or to rely on any evidence not previously disclosed to the other party. The arbitrator shall have no power to alter, add to, or subtract from the terms of this Agreement. Both parties agree to be bound by the decision of the arbitrator and agree that judgment thereon may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.
I. The fees and expense of the arbitrator shall be shared equally by both parties.
J. The time limits provided in this Article shall be strictly observed but may be extended by written agreement of the parties. In the event a grievance is filed after May 15 of any year and strict adherence to the time limits may result in hardship to any party, the Board shall use its best efforts to process such grievance prior to the end of the school term or as soon thereafter as possible.
