Step 4 - Arbitration a. If the Union is dissatisfied with the written decision at Step 2 or if the mediation is not successful, within twenty-five (25) days of the Step 2 meeting, the Union may advance the grievance to arbitration. Only the Union (not an individual Bargaining Unit Faculty member) may process a grievance to arbitration.
b. Within thirty (30) days of notice of proceeding to arbitration, the Union and the College shall select an impartial third party to be Arbitrator. In the event the parties cannot agree on the selection of an impartial third party, they shall request a list of Arbitrators from Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
c. Within five (5) days of receipt of the list, the parties shall alternately strike names from the list until one name remains. The person whose name remains shall be the Arbitrator.
d. Each party shall bear the expense of preparing and presenting its own case. The costs of the arbitration proceedings, including compensation, fees and expenses of the Arbitrator, and the cost of any hearing transcript, shall be borne equally by the College and the Union. Unless otherwise mutually agreed, each arbitration hearing shall deal with no more than one (1) grievance.
e. Subject to the availability of the Arbitrator selected, arbitration shall begin within thirty (30) days unless a delay is agreed upon by both parties.
f. The Arbitrator shall have no power to add to, subtract from, modify or disregard any of the provisions of this Agreement. The decision of the Arbitrator shall be final and binding on the parties, although each side retains whatever rights it has under state or federal law to challenge the decision and award. The Arbitrator shall have no jurisdiction or authority to issue any award changing, modifying or restricting any action taken by the College on matters committed to the College’s discretion under Article 23, Management Rights, which are not further abridged by other terms of this Agreement. Jurisdiction shall extend solely to claims of violation of specific written provisions of the Agreement and involve only the interpretation and application of the Agreement.
GRIEVANCE AND ARBITRATION 15.01 Either the Employer, the Union or any employee has a right to lodge a grievance with respect to any matter arising out of this Agreement or concerning the interpretation, application or alleged violation of this Agreement.
15.02 Any employee believing that he has been unjustly dealt with or that the provisions of this Agreement have not been complied with, shall have the right to place such grievances in the hands of the Union for review and adjustment by the Employer, if necessary. Such grievances shall be processed as follows: - Between the employee concerned, his Union representative and the Company. The grievance must be filed within eighteen (18) working days after the event giving rise to the grievance occurs and within this period of time it shall be discussed at this Step. The Manager shall give an oral decision within four (4) working days from the date the discussion took place. If the Union wishes to appeal to the next Step, the grievance shall be reduced to writing and the appeal shall be filed with the Store Manger within six (6) working days from the Store Manager's oral decision. Between the employee concerned, the Union representative, the Department Manager, and the Company. The discussion at this Step shall be held within seven (7) working days of the date of the appeal. The decision of the Employer at this Step shall be in writing and be made within four (4) working days of the date of the meeting. Should the Union wish to appeal, such notice of appeal must be in writing to the Company/operator within one (1) week of the decision of the Company at STEP TWO. The grievance shall be forwarded to the Employer, which shall have one (1) week to dispose of the grievance. The disposition shall be in writing and returned to the officers of the Union. If considered necessary by the parties, a meeting may be held by the parties and may include the interested persons. If a meeting is held, the decision shall be given to the other party within seven (7) days from the date of the meeting.
15.03 In the case of a dismissal, a grievance may be filed by an employee who feels he was unjustly dealt with. Such grievance must be filed within five (5) working days from the date of dismissal and shall commence at STEP TWO. In any subsequent disposal of this case during the grievance procedure, the Employer may re-instate the employee with full back pay, suspend the employee for a definite period or sustain the discharge.
15.04 Grievances concerning rates shall be handled in accordance with the above procedure and the disposition of such grievances, if sustained, shall include the determination of the effective date of the increase with retro-activity thereto.
15.05 The Employer and the Union may file grievances commencing at STEP THREE.
(a) Failing settlement under the foregoing procedure, such grievance may be submitted to Arbitration, as hereinafter provided;
(b) The time limits as prescribed above may be modified by mutual agreement of the parties.
Expedited Arbitration (a) The Parties may by mutual agreement refer to expedited arbitration any outstanding grievances considered suitable for this process, and shall set dates and locations for hearings of groups of grievances considered suitable for expedited arbitration.
(b) All grievances shall be considered suitable for and resolvable by expedited arbitration except grievances in the nature of:
(1) dismissals;
(2) rejection on probation;
(3) suspensions in excess of twenty (20) workdays;
(4) policy grievances;
(5) grievances requiring substantial interpretation of a provision of the Collective Agreement;
(6) grievances requiring presentation of extrinsic evidence;
(7) grievances where a Party intends to raise a preliminary objection; and
Advisory Arbitration Any dispute or grievance which has not been resolved by the grievance procedure may be submitted to advisory arbitration by the Association Representative or the City without the consent of the other party providing it is submitted within ten (10) working days, following its termination in the grievance procedure. The following Advisory Arbitration procedures shall be followed:
(1) The requesting party will notify the other party in writing of the matter to be arbitrated and the contract provision(s) allegedly violated. Within five (5) working days of the receipt of this notice, the parties may agree upon an arbitrator, or a panel of three arbitrators trained in conducting grievance hearings. If agreement on an arbitrator cannot be reached, the State Department of Industrial Relations shall be requested by either or both parties to provide a list of five arbitrators. Both the City and the Association shall have the right to strike two names from the list. The party requesting the arbitration shall strike the first name; the other party shall then strike one name. The process will be repeated and the remaining person shall be the arbitrator.
(2) The arbitrator shall hear the case within twenty (20) working days after the arbitrator has been selected. The arbitrator may make a written report of their findings to the Association and the City within fifteen (15) working days after the hearing is concluded. The arbitrator shall make rules of procedure. The decision of the arbitrator shall be advisory to the City Manager who shall render a final decision within ten (10) working days. The arbitrator shall have no authority to amend, alter, or modify this agreement or its terms and shall limit recommendations solely to the interpretation and application of this agreement. The above time limits of this provision may be extended by mutual agreement.
(3) Each grievance or dispute will be submitted to a separately convened arbitration proceeding except when the City and the Association mutually agree to have more than one grievance or dispute submitted to the same arbitrator.
(4) The City and the Association shall share the expense of arbitrators and witnesses and shall share equally any other expenses, including those of a stenographer, if required by either party. If either party elects not to follow the advisory decision rendered by the arbitrator, that party shall pay the entire cost of the arbitration process, including the expense of the arbitrator, witnesses, and/or stenographer.
GRIEVANCES AND ARBITRATION Should any dispute or grievance arise be tween the Employer and the Union or be tween the Employer and its employees, con cerning the application and/or construction of this Contract, the parties agree that such matter shall be adjusted, if possible, by ne gotiations. In the event the dispute or griev ance cannot be resolved by negotiations within fifteen (15) days after the inception of the matter in dispute, then it shall be sub mitted immediately to a Board of Arbitra tion, consisting of three (3) persons, for final and binding decision. Either party may in stitute said arbitration proceedings by giving the other party notice thereof in writing, naming one person to act on his behalf on said Arbitration Board; and the other party shall, within five (5) days after receipt of such written notice, name one person to act on his behalf on said Arbitration Board. These two so selected shall designate the third member or referee of the Board. In the event these two so selected shall be unable, within fifteen (15) days, to agree upon the third member or referee, then the third mem ber of the Board shall forthwith be desig nated under the rules and procedures of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The Board shall hold hearings and render its decision in writing within thirty (30) days with respect to a dispute under Article I, Section 1.2(d) and within ninety (90) days with respect to any other dispute. The Board’s decision shall be final and binding upon the grievant employee, the Union and the Employer. The decision of any two mem bers of the Board shall be the decision of the Board. If the parties shall agree upon one person to act as Arbitrator, his decision shall be as binding as that of a Board of Arbitra tion. The compensation and expense, if any, of witnesses and the cost of other evidence shall be borne by the party on whose behalf witnesses are called or the evidence is in troduced. Each party shall pay for the com pensation and expenses of the Arbitrator appointed by it. The compensation and ex penses of the third Arbitrator and all other costs incurred in conducting the arbitration proceedings shall be borne equally by the parties hereto.
Step Four - Arbitration 1. With respect to all non-disciplinary grievances and disciplinary cases involving the discharge, suspension of three (3) days or more, or the reduction in rank, the OPBA may make a written request that the decision of the underlying grievance be submitted to binding arbitration pursuant to Step Four, hereunder. A written request for appellate arbitration must be submitted to the other party within fourteen (14) calendar days following such party’s receipt of the written decision at Step 3. In the event the decision at Step 3 is not referred to arbitration within the time limits prescribed, the decision of the Trustees or Designee shall be final and binding upon the OPBA, the member and the Township.
2. Upon receipt of a request for appellate arbitration, the Township and the OPBA shall, within fourteen (14) calendar days following the request for arbitration, jointly agree to an arbitrator or request a list of seven (7) impartial arbitrators from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). Upon receipt of the list of seven (7) arbitrators, the parties shall meet to select an arbitrator within fourteen (14) calendar days from the date the list is received. The parties shall use the alternate strike method from the list of seven (7) arbitrators submitted to the parties by the FMCS. The party requesting the arbitration shall be the first (1st) to strike a name and alternate in this manner until one (1) name remains on the list. The remaining name shall be designated as the arbitrator to hear the dispute in question. Either party shall have the right to elect to reject the list in its entirety and to request the submission of a new seven (7) member panel, which election may only be exercised once. All procedures relative to the hearing shall be in accordance with the rules and regulations of the FMCS. The arbitrator shall hold the appellate arbitration promptly and issue a decision within a reasonable time thereafter.
3. The arbitrator shall determine the grievance in accordance with the terms of the Agreement in effect on the date of the incident giving rise to the grievance.
4. The arbitrator shall not have the authority to add to, subtract from, modify, change or alter any provision of this Agreement. The arbitrator shall be confined solely to the issues submitted for arbitration. The arbitrator shall not establish any new or different wage rates not negotiated as part of this Agreement. In cases of discharge, suspension or reduction in rank, the arbitrator shall have the authority to order modification of said discipline for the offense charged. In the event of a monetary award, the arbitrator shall limit any retroactive settlement to no earlier time than forty-five (45) calendar days prior to the date the grievance was presented to the Township in Step One of the Grievance Procedure.
5. The question of arbitrability of a grievance may be raised by either party before the arbitration hearing of the grievance, on the grounds that the matter is non- arbitrable or beyond the arbitrator’s jurisdiction. The first question to be placed before the arbitrator will be whether or not the alleged grievance is arbitrable. If the arbitrator determines the grievance is not arbitrable, the arbitrator shall render no decision on the merits.
6. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding upon the OPBA, the member and the Township. Any cost involved in obtaining the list of arbitrators shall be equally divided between the Township and the OPBA. All costs directly related to the services of the arbitrator shall be paid by the losing party. Expenses, if any, of the witnesses shall be borne by the party calling the witness except that member witnesses on duty time shall not lose any wages due from the Township. The fees of the court reporter shall be paid by the party asking for one. The fees of the court reporter shall be split equally if both parties desire a court reporter’s recording, or request a copy of any transcript. The Township shall not incur any overtime expense as a result of this Step.
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE AND ARBITRATION 8.01 Any employee or the Union has the right to lodge a grievance with respect to any matter arising out of the interpretation, application or alleged violation of this Agreement.
8.02 At the time formal discipline is imposed or at any stage of the grievance procedure, including the complaint stage, a nurse is entitled to be represented by her/his union representative. In the case of suspension or discharge, the Employer shall notify the nurse of this right in advance. The Employer also agrees, as a good labour relations practice, it will also notify the Bargaining Unit.
8.03 It is the intent of the parties that complaints of employees shall be adjusted as quickly as possible, and it is understood that the Union has no grievance concerning an individual nurse until the Director of Care or her/his designate has been given an opportunity of adjusting the complaint. Such complaint shall be discussed with the Director of Care within fifteen (15) working days after the circumstances giving rise to it have occurred. This discussion may include consultation, advice and assistance from others. If there is no settlement within nine (9) working days, it shall then be taken up as a grievance within nine (9) working days in the following manner and sequence: The Union may present the grievance to the Administrator, or her/his designate, who shall render her/his decision within five (5) working days after the presentation of the grievance to her/him. The parties may, if they so desire, meet to discuss the grievance at a time and place suitable to both parties. If the decision is unsatisfactory, then the grievance may be presented in the following manner: Within ten (10) working days after the decision is given at Step No. 1, the aggrieved employee, and/or the Grievance Committee shall meet with a committee appointed by the Board of Directors of the Manor to consider the grievance. At this stage the employee and/or the Grievance Committee may be accompanied by a representative of the Union. The decision of the committee of the Board of Directors will be rendered in writing to the Labour Relations Officer and the bargaining unit representative within ten (10) working days following such a meeting.
Disputes and Arbitration Any dispute concerning a question of fact arising under this contract shall be disposed of by good faith negotiation between duly authorized representatives of the District, the Office of the State Auditor, and the Firm. Such a resolution shall be reduced to writing and a copy thereof mailed or furnished to the Firm and shall be final and conclusive.
Level Four - Arbitration a. Within ten (10) school days after such written notice of submission to arbitration, the Board and the Association shall attempt to agree upon a mutually acceptable Arbitrator and shall obtain a commitment from said Arbitrator to serve. If the parties are unable to agree upon a mutually acceptable Arbitrator, or obtain such a commitment within the specified period, a request for a list of Arbitrators may be made to the Public Employment Relations Commission by either party. The parties shall then be bound by the rules and procedures of the Public Employment Relations Commission in selection of an Arbitrator.
b. The Arbitrator so selected shall confer with the Committee of the Board and the Aggrieved Person and Association representative, and hold hearings promptly and shall issue his decision not later than twenty (20) days from the date of the close of the hearings, or if oral closings have been waived, then from the date the final statements and proofs on the issues are submitted to him. The Arbitrator's decision shall be in writing and shall set forth his findings of fact, reasoning and conclusions on the issues submitted. The Arbitrator shall be without power or authority to make any decision which requires the commission of an act prohibited by law, or which is violative of the terms of this Agreement. The decision of the Arbitrator shall be submitted to the Board and the Aggrieved Person and Association representative, and shall be final and binding on the parties. The Arbitrator shall be limited to the issues submitted and shall consider nothing else. The Arbitrator can add nothing to, nor subtract anything from the Agreement between the parties.
c. The costs for the services of the Arbitrator, including per diem expenses, if any, and actual and necessary travel, subsistence expenses, and the cost of the hearing room, shall be borne equally by the Board and the Association. Any other expenses incurred shall be paid by the party incurring same.
Mandatory Arbitration Except as provided in subsection (h) of this Section 31, any Dispute must be resolved by binding arbitration in accordance with the following:
(a) Either Party may begin arbitration by filing a demand for arbitration in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the AAA (the “Arbitration Rules”) and concurrently notifying the other Party of that demand. If the Parties are unable to agree upon a panel of three neutral arbitrators within twenty days after the demand for arbitration was filed (the Parties agree to a reasonable, one-time extension of that twenty-day period), either Party may request the Houston, Texas office of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) to appoint the arbitrator or arbitrators necessary to complete the panel in accordance with the Arbitration Rules. Each arbitrator so appointed shall be deemed accepted by the Parties as part of the panel. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Parties, by mutual consent, may agree to a single arbitrator instead of a panel of three arbitrators and, in such event, references herein to “panel” shall refer to the single appointed arbitrator.
(b) The arbitration shall be conducted in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area at a place and time agreed upon by the Parties with the panel, or if the Parties cannot agree, as designated by the panel. The panel may, however, call and conduct hearings and meetings at such other places as the Parties may agree or as the panel may, on the motion of one Party, determine to be necessary to obtain significant testimony or evidence.
(c) The panel may authorize any and all forms of discovery upon a Party’s showing of need that the requested discovery is likely to lead to material evidence needed to resolve the Dispute and is not excessive in scope, timing, or cost.
(d) The arbitration shall be subject to the Federal Arbitration Act and conducted in accordance with the Arbitration Rules to the extent that they do not conflict with this Section 31. The Parties and the panel may, however, agree to vary to provisions of this Section 31 or the matters otherwise governed by the Arbitration Rules as permitted by law.
(e) The arbitration hearing shall be held within 60 days after the appointment of the panel. The panel’s final decision or award shall be made within 30 days after the hearing. That final decision or award shall be made by unanimous or majority vote or consent of the arbitrators constituting the panel, and shall be deemed issued at the place of arbitration. The panel’s final decision or award shall be based on the terms and conditions of this Agreement and applicable law.
(f) The panel’s final decision or award may include injunctive relief in response to any actual or impending breach of this Agreement or any other actual or impending action or omission of a Party under or in connection with this Agreement.
(g) The panel’s final decision or award shall be final and binding upon the Parties, and judgment upon that decision or award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. The Parties waive any right to apply or appeal to any court for relief from the preceding sentence or from any decision of the panel that is made before the final decision or award.
(h) Nothing in this Section 31 limits the right of either Party to apply to a court having jurisdiction to (i) enforce the agreement to arbitrate in accordance with this Section 31, (ii) seek provisional or temporary injunctive relief, in response to an actual or impending breach of the Agreement or otherwise so as to avoid an irreparable damage or maintain the status quo, until a final arbitration decision or award is rendered or the Dispute is otherwise resolved, or challenge or vacate any final arbitration decision or award that does not comply with this Section 31. In addition, nothing in this Section 31 prohibits the Parties from resolving any Dispute (in whole or in part) at any time by mutual agreement or compromise. This Section 31 shall also not preclude the Parties at any time from mutually agreeing to pursue non-binding mediation of the Dispute.
(i) The panel may proceed to an award notwithstanding the failure of any Party to participate in such proceedings. The prevailing Party in the arbitration proceeding may be entitled to an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with the arbitration in such amount, if any, as determined by the panel in its discretion. The costs of the arbitration shall be borne equally by the Parties unless otherwise determined by the panel in its award.
(j) The panel shall be empowered to impose sanctions and to take such other actions as it deems necessary to the same extent a judge could impose sanctions or take such other actions pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and applicable law. Each Party agrees to keep all Disputes and arbitration proceedings strictly confidential except for disclosure of information required by applicable law which cannot be waived.
