GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE 6.01 An employee shall have the right to grieve any complaint arising from the application, interpretation, administration or alleged violation of this Agreement. It is understood that nothing contained in this Article is intended to preclude the informal discussion and review of employee concerns or complaints between employees and members of management. No employee shall have a grievance until the employee, with the assistance of a Union representative if so desired, has given his or her immediate supervisor an opportunity to resolve the complaint.
6.02 It is the mutual desire of the parties hereto that grievances of employees be adjusted as quickly as possible and it is understood that if an employee has a grievance, it shall be discussed with his or her supervisor within thirty (30) days of when the circumstances giving rise to the grievance were known or should reasonably have been known to the grievor in order to give the supervisor an opportunity of adjusting the grievance. The discussion shall be between the employee and/or the Union xxxxxxx and the supervisor, but the supervisor may elect to have the assistance of another person. The supervisor’s response to the grievance shall be given within seven (7) days after such discussion.
6.03 Failing settlement, the grievance may be taken up in the following manner and sequence provided it is presented within fifteen (15) days of the supervisor’s reply to the grievance: The Union shall present the grievance in writing signed by the employee, in the case of an individual grievance, to the Editor-in-Chief, or designate, setting forth the nature of the grievance, and the remedy sought. The Editor-in-Chief or designate shall arrange a meeting with the Union within seven (7) days of the receipt of the grievance at which the grievor, in the case of an individual grievance, may attend, if requested by either party, and discuss the grievance. The Editor-in-Chief or designate may have such assistance at the meeting as is considered necessary. The Editor-in-Chief or designate will give the Union a decision in writing within seven (7) days following the meeting with a copy to the grievor.
6.04 In the event the grievance has not been satisfactorily settled under the foregoing Grievance Procedure, the matter shall then, by notice in writing given to the Employer within thirty (30) days of the date of the decision from the Editor-in-Chief or designate, be referred to arbitration as hereinafter provided.
6.05 Any matter so referred to arbitration, including any question as to whether a matter is arbitrable, shall be heard by an independent arbitrator. The notice of the party referring the decision to arbitration shall contain the names of three (3) neutral persons, any one of whom it is prepared to accept as Arbitrator. The recipient of the notice shall within fourteen (14) days advise the other party of either its acceptance of one of the proposed persons as the Arbitrator or shall suggest the names of other neutral persons it proposes to act as Arbitrator. If the recipient of the notice fails to respond, or if the two (2) parties fail to agree upon a neutral person to act as Arbitrator, within the time limits, the appointment shall be made by the Minister of Labour upon the request of either party. The Arbitrator shall hear and determine the matter and shall issue a decision. The decision shall be final and binding upon the parties and upon any employee affected by it.
6.06 Either party may, in the correspondence contemplated under Article 6.05 notify the other party of its suggestion to proceed before a Board of Arbitration. Provided both parties agree, an Arbitrator selected in accordance with articles 6.05 shall be appointed as chair of the Arbitration Board. Each party shall be responsible for naming its own nominee to the Arbitration Board and will advise the other party and the Chair of the name of its nominee ten (10) days prior to the date scheduled for the hearing. Where the parties have agreed to a Board of Arbitration, references in this Article to Arbitrator will be read to mean Arbitration Board, where appropriate.
6.07 The Arbitrator shall not be authorized to alter, modify or amend any part of the terms of this Agreement, nor to make any decision inconsistent therewith. Any individual who is selected as an Arbitrator cannot at any time have been involved in attempting to solve the grievance or been involved in any way in the negotiation of this collective agreement.
6.08 The Employer and the Union shall each pay one-half (1/2) of the remuneration and expenses of the Arbitrator and if a Board of Arbitration is agreed to, each party shall pay the remuneration and expenses of its nominee. Neither party shall be obligated to pay any part of the cost of any stenographic transcript of an arbitration hearing without its expressed consent.
6.09 It is agreed that the time limits set out with respect to grievances and arbitrations are mandatory. The time limits imposed upon either party of any step in the Grievance Procedure may be extended by mutual agreement. A request for extension of the time limit made prior to the expiry of such time limit shall not be denied on an arbitrary basis.
6.10 Where the Arbitrator determines that a disciplinary penalty or discharge is excessive, he or she may substitute such other penalty for the discipline or discharge as it considers just and reasonable in all the circumstances.
6.11 The Employer shall have the right to file a grievance in writing signed by the Director of Human Resources or designate, with the Union within thirty (30) days of when the circumstances giving rise to the grievance were known or should reasonably have been known to the Employer. Failing settlement, a meeting will be held with the Union within seven (7) days of the presentation of the grievance and the Union shall give the Employer its written reply to the grievance in seven (7) days following the meeting. Failing settlement, such grievance may be referred to arbitration under this Article within thirty (30) days of the date the Employer received the Union’s reply.
6.12 The Union shall have the right to file a grievance in writing with the Editor-in-Chief within thirty (30) days of when the circumstances giving rise to the grievance were known or should reasonably have been known to the Union. Failing settlement, a meeting will be held with the Union within seven (7) days of the presentation of the grievance and the Employer shall give the Union its written reply to the grievance in seven (7) days following the meeting. Failing settlement, such grievance may be referred to arbitration under this Article within thirty (30) days of the date the Union received the Employer’s reply. The Union shall not have the right to initiate an individual grievance and such grievances shall be initiated by the employee concerned. This restriction shall not apply to a grievance involving the discharge of an employee. For the purpose of this Agreement, ‘individual grievance’ means a grievance that requests a remedy for an individual employee and does not arise out of the interpretation, application or alleged violation of an Editor-in-Chief department wide policy affecting bargaining unit employees generally.
6.13 Policy grievances and grievances involving the discharge or discipline of an employee may be submitted at Step 2 of the Grievance Procedure.
6.14 If two (2) or more employees have the same individual grievance arising out of the same circumstances and based on the same incident, such grievances may be combined and treated as a group grievance.
6.15 For the purpose of this Agreement, ‘day’ means a calendar day and ‘grievance’ means a complaint arising from the interpretation, application, administration or alleged violation of the Agreement.
