Employee Grievances (a) Grievances on behalf of employees shall be handled as follows:
Policy Grievances Where either party to this agreement disputes the general application, interpretation or alleged violation of an article of this agreement, the dispute shall be discussed initially with the Executive Director or designate or the President of the Union within 14 calendar days of the occurrence. Where no satisfactory agreement is reached, either party, within a further 14 calendar days, may submit the dispute to arbitration.
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.
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.
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
Group Grievances No more than five (5) grievants will be permitted to attend grievance meetings.
Grievances Any Complaint alleging Discrimination or Harassment shall be pursuant to Board Rule 4001.2 and 4001.3 as they existed on July 10, 2021. Any amendments to Board Rule 4001.2 or 4001.3 which occur after July 10, 2021 will be submitted to the Union for approval prior to implementation for employees covered by this Agreement. Any other grievance, complaint, disagreement or difference of opinion between the District, the Union or the employees covered by the Agreement concerning application of the terms of this Agreement will be processed using the following grievance procedure:
(A) Any Employee or the Union may present a Grievance. Any Grievance which is not presented within fifteen (15) days following the event giving rise to such a Grievance shall be forfeited and waived by the aggrieved party. The grievance form shall state the name of every employee authorizing the filing of the grievance, and all grievances shall be signed by at least one aggrieved employee. An aggrieved employee shall have the right to a Union Representative appointed by the Union.
(B) The grievant shall first take up the Grievance by presenting it in writing to their immediate supervisor or designee. If the Grievance is not satisfactorily adjusted with five (5) days from the meeting with the supervisor, the Employee or the Union representative shall present the grievance in writing to the Chief Financial Officer or his or her designated representative.
(C) The Chief Financial Officer or his or her designated representative shall within ten (10) days from the day it was received, make a determination and submit the determination to the aggrieved party in writing.
(D) Each party reserves the right to litigate a question presented by the Grievance by bringing an original action in any court of competent jurisdiction in the event such party shall not be satisfied with the resolution of the Grievance. However, no such litigation may be maintained until all available steps under this grievance procedure have been pursued and exhausted. It is understood and agree to between the parties that the role of the Chief Financial Officer or his or her designee in the grievance procedure is not an exercise of a judicial or quasi-judicial function, but solely as a means to allow the parties to resolve disputes informally.
(E) Definitions: Days shall mean calendar days.
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.
Facilities for Grievances The Employer shall supply the necessary facilities for the grievance meetings.
DISPUTES AND GRIEVANCES Section 1. This Agreement is intended to provide close cooperation between management and labor. Each of the Unions will assign a representative to this project for the purpose of completing the construction of the project economically, efficiently, continuously, and without interruptions, delays, or work stoppages.
Section 2. The Port of Seattle, Contractors, Unions, and the employees, collectively and individually, realize the importance to all parties to maintain continuous and uninterrupted performance of the work of the project, and agree to resolve disputes in accordance with the grievance-arbitration provisions set forth in this Article.
Section 3. Any question or dispute arising out of and during the term of this Project Agreement (other than trade jurisdictional disputes) shall be considered a grievance and subject to resolution under the following procedures:
(a) When any employee subject to the provisions of this Agreement feels he/she is aggrieved by a violation of this Agreement, he/she, through his/her local union business representative or designated Union Representative, shall, within five (5) working days after the occurrence, or had knowledge of or should have known of the alleged violation, give notice to the work-site representative of the involved Contractor stating the provision(s) alleged to have been violated. The business representative of the local union or the designated Union Representative and the work-site representative of the involved Contractor and the Owners Representative shall meet and endeavor to adjust the matter within three (3) working days after timely notice has been given. The representative of the Contractor shall keep the meeting minutes and shall respond to the Union representative in writing and the Owners Representatives at the conclusion of the meeting but not later than twenty-four (24) hours thereafter. If they fail to resolve the matter within the prescribed period, the grieving party may, within forty-eight (48) hours thereafter, pursue Step 2 of the Grievance Procedure, provided the grievance is reduced to writing, setting forth the relevant information concerning the alleged grievance, including a short description thereof, the date on which the grievance occurred, and the provision(s) of the Agreement alleged to have been violated.
(b) Should the Local Union(s) or the Project Contractor or any Sub-Contractor of whatever tier have a dispute with the other party and, if after conferring, a settlement is not reached within three (3) working days, the dispute may be reduced to writing and proceed to Step 2 in the same manner as outlined herein for the adjustment of an employee complaint.
Step 2. The International Union Representative and the involved Contractor shall meet within seven (7) working days of the referral of a dispute to this second step to arrive at a satisfactory settlement thereof. Meeting minutes shall be kept by the Contractor. If the parties fail to reach an agreement, the dispute may be appealed in writing in accordance with the provisions of Step 3 within seven (7) calendar days thereafter.
