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Section 9. Union Grievances This shall constitute the exclusive procedure available to the Union for the resolution of grievances. a. A grievance initiated by the Union must bear one signature of an official(s) or representative(s) designated by the President or Executive Vice President of Local 12. b. Union-Filed Institutional Grievances A grievance filed by Local 12 which does not seek personal relief for a particular employee or group of employees, but rather expresses Local 12's disagreement with Management's interpretation or application of the Agreement and which seeks an institutional remedy, shall be processed as follows: 1. On a matter involving more than a single DOL Agency, the grievance shall be filed with the Office of Employee and Labor-Management Relations. If the matter has not been resolved after ten (10) workdays of the receipt of the grievance, Local 12 may invoke arbitration within the next twenty five (25) workdays. 2. On a matter specific and limited to a single DOL Agency, the grievance shall be filed with the Administrative Officer. If the matter has not been resolved after ten (10) workdays of the receipt of the grievance, Local 12 may invoke arbitration within the next twenty-five (25) workdays. 3. A grievance filed in accordance with paragraphs (1) or (2) above must be filed within twenty (20) workdays of when the Union knew or should have known of the alleged violation. 4. Union-Filed Employee Grievances 5. If the Union files a grievance seeking personal relief for an individual employee or group of employees, the grievance(s) should be filed in accordance with the procedures delineated in Article 47, Section 8, just as if the affected employee(s) had initiated the grievance(s). 6. Where mutually agreeable by the parties, Union-filed grievances on the same matter on behalf of two (2) or more employees may be processed as a single grievance for the purpose of resolving the grievances. a. If the employee grievants are under the supervision of a single supervisor, the Step 1 grievances may be consolidated as a single grievance with that supervisor. b. If the employee grievants are under the supervision of different supervisors within a single DOL Agency, the grievances may be consolidated with the Agency Administrative Officer at Step 2. If the matter has not been resolved after ten (10) workdays of the consolidation, Local 12 may invoke arbitration within the next twenty-five (25) workdays. c. If the employee grievants are under the supervision of different supervisors in more than one (1) DOL Agency, the grievances may be consolidated and filed at Step 2 with OELMR. If the matter has not been resolved after ten (10) workdays of the consolidation, Local 12 may invoke arbitration within the next twenty-five (25) workdays.
Section 10. Department of Labor Grievances If the Department of Labor wishes to file a grievance, the Director of OELMR will sign and file a written grievance with the Local 12 President within twenty (20) workdays of when the Department knew or should have known of the alleged violation. The grievance will detail the nature of the harm, the violations of law, rule, regulation, and/or collective bargaining agreement violated, and the relief requested. If the grievance is not resolved, the Local 12 President shall issue a written decision within ten (10) workdays. Upon receipt of the decision, the Director may, within ten (10) workdays, invoke the grievance to arbitration. The Director may also invoke the grievance to arbitration within ten (10) workdays of when the decision of the Local 12 President is due.
Section 11. Grievance Procedure for Adverse and Performance-Based Actions An employee who wishes to appeal an adverse action or performance based action decision may file an appeal with the MSPB or a grievance under this article, but not both. An employee shall be deemed to have exercised his/her option depending upon which forum the employee files in first. Similarly, if an employee raises an allegation of discrimination in connection with an adverse action, the employee may elect to file only one of the following: a grievance, or an appeal to the MSPB, or a formal EEO complaint. An employee shall be deemed to have exercised his/her option depending upon which forum the employee files in first. When an employee elects to appeal an adverse action or performance based action under the negotiated grievance/arbitration procedure, Steps 1 and 2 of the grievance procedure are waived. The Union must proceed to invoke arbitration within twenty-five (25) workdays of the date of the decision by filing a completed grievance form signed by the grievant.
Section 12. Invocation of Arbitration Upon receipt of the Step 2 decision or if no decision is rendered in a timely fashion, the Union or the Department respectively, within twenty five (25) workdays, may invoke arbitration by giving notice of such intent to the other (Director of OELMR or the Union) as provided in Article 48 of this Agreement.
Section 13. Grievability/Arbitrability If either the Department or the Union considers a grievance nongrievable or non-arbitrable, it should communicate such determination to the other party in writing and this will become part of the record. While such notice should be provided as early as possible, either party reserves the right to assert jurisdiction at any time.
Section 14. Termination of Grievance A grievance shall terminate only at the employee's request, with Union approval, or for failure to proceed to the next step in a timely fashion, or if an arbitrator renders a decision, or a final decision is rendered on an appeal from the arbitrator's decision.
Section 15. Modification of Procedures a. The time limits delineated in this Article may be modified by mutual written agreement of the parties. Absent such mutual consent, the failure to timely file an initial grievance, timely appeal the grievance to Step 2, or timely invoke the grievance to arbitration shall result in a dismissal of the grievance. b. The parties may mutually agree in writing to waive Step 1 or 2 of this procedure. c. For expeditious processing of grievances, the parties, by mutual agreement, may consolidate grievances concerning similar issues into a single grievance. d. No issues/allegations shall be raised in the appeal/arbitration of a grievance which were not contained in the Step 2 grievance process.
Section 16. Failure to Meet Requirements a. Failure to sign or date a grievance form will have the effect of nullifying the grievance. An electronic grievance will be considered filed and signed by the sender on the date received. b. Failure on the part of an aggrieved employee to prosecute his/her grievance within the stated time periods at any Step of this procedure will have the effect of nullifying the grievance. c. Failure on the part of the Local 12 or the Department to prosecute its grievance, filed in its own behalf within the stated time periods at any Step of this procedure will have the effect of nullifying the grievance. d. Failure on the part of Department to meet any of the time requirements of this procedure will permit the aggrieved employee or the Local 12 to move to the next Step. |
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Article 47 Grievance Procedure (Cont.) |
