Article 12 Grievance and Arbitration Procedures
Article 12: Grievance and Arbitration Procedures
12.01 The parties agree that a grievance shall be any disagreement respecting the working conditions outlined in this agreement. The parties agree, furthermore, that they will endeavour to settle a grievance as promptly as possible.
12.02 Nothing in the present article must be considered as preventing the Union or an employee, accompanied by his/her union delegate, from discussing with the university representative any employee relations problem before resorting to the grievance procedure. The University
representative must allow the presence of the union delegate who accompanies the employee.
12.03 A technical error in the grievance procedure does not invalidate a grievance.
12.04 a) A grievance is presented either in French or in English. It contains a summary of the facts, written in such a way as to be able to identify the problem raised, as well as the redress sought and, for information, the article or article in the agreement which is/are concerned.
b) A grievance may be amended provided that the amendment does not alter the nature of the grievance. If the amendment is presented at the hearing, the arbitrator may decide to postpone the hearing in order to protect the rights of the parties.
12.05 The discussions between the parties concerning a grievance are held between the Grievance Committee and the representative(s) of the University designated for this purpose.
Nevertheless, the university representative(s) with whom a grievance is discussed may invite another representative of the University to participate in the discussions.
12.06 The employee who files a grievance has a right to be present at all stages of the grievance and arbitration procedures. However, the final settlement of a grievance will take place between the Grievance Committee and the authorized representative of the University.
12.07 No employee will suffer loss of pay for any time spent discussing a grievance with representatives of the University or with members of the Grievance Committee during regular work hours.
In the event of arbitration, the members of the Grievance Committee, the griever(s) who are implicated or any other employee who serves as a witness are granted leave without loss of pay to attend the hearing. Any meeting, regarding a grievance between members of the Grievance Committee and the employees implicated in the grievance shall be held in a confidential location.
The time and reasonable duration of this meeting must be agreed to with the immediate supervisor. Moreover, a period of three (3) hours without loss of pay is granted to employees referred to in the present clause within the two (2) weeks preceding the arbitration hearing.
12.08 An employee who files a grievance must not in any way be penalized or inconvenienced as a result.
12.09 The Union may file a grievance on behalf of an employee, a group of employees, or all of the employees. In such a case, the Union must conform to the procedure provided in clause 12.10.
12.10 The University and the Union agree to adhere to the following procedure for all grievances:
a) The grievance is submitted to Employee Relations, with a copy to the immediate supervisor, within thirty (30) working days of the incident or awareness of the incident which gave rise to the grievance.
b) At the request of either party, a meeting between the Grievance Committee and the University takes place within fifteen (15) working days following the filing of the grievance. The party requesting the meeting shall give a minimum of three (3) working days’ notice of such a meeting.
c) The University must submit its decision within the fifteen (15) working days following the meeting between the parties, with a copy to the employee.
d) If no meeting is held, the University must render its decision within twenty-five (25) working days following the receipt of the grievance, with a copy to the employee.
12.11 After having completed the grievance procedure described in clause 12.10, the Union may submit the grievance to arbitration by giving notice of its intention to Employee Relations within twenty (20) working days following receipt of the University’s decision.
12.12 Prescription
Whatever the stage of the grievance and arbitration procedures, a grievance is deemed to have been settled, that is to say that it is accepted as valid or that it is abandoned, upon failure of either party to respond or to proceed to the next step, including arbitration, within the time limits stipulated above, unless the parties have mutually agreed in writing to modify the said time limits.
12.13 Arbitration Process
a) Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties, all grievances are heard before a single arbitrator.
b) The jurisdiction of the arbitrator is limited to conditions established in the present agreement and in no case does the arbitrator have the power to add to, subtract from or modify the Collective Agreement in any way. The decision of the arbitrator is final and binding on the parties.
c) In the event that the arbitration addresses disciplinary measures, the arbitrator may uphold or reject the decision of the University, or render any other decision he/she judges equitable under the circumstances, as well as determine, if appropriate, the amount of compensation and/or damages to which an employee unjustly treated may be entitled.
d) The fees and expenses of the arbitrator will be divided equally between the parties.
12.14 Grievances will be addressed in the following order of priority:
1) dismissals and disciplinary measures
2) harassment
3) health and safety
4) interpretation
The following arbitrators are selected in turn. If an arbitrator cannot hear a case in the six (6) months following the request, the next arbitrator is contacted, and then the next:
1) Jean-Yves Brière
2) Éric Lévesque
3) Nathalie Massicotte
4) Nancy Ménard Cheng
5) Yves St-André
6) Andrée St Georges
The parties may agree to choose another arbitrator.
12.15 In the case of a resignation, the arbitrator may take into account the circumstances surrounding the resignation of the employee and the validity of the consent.