A grievance hereby is defined to be any controversy, complaint, misunderstanding or dispute arising from the interpretation, application or observance or enforcement of any of the provisions herein or any supplement hereto. If an employee has a grievance, complaint or dispute, it shall be handled in the following manner.
For the purpose of the section, days are defined as official office days, Monday - Friday, excluding weekends and holidays.
FIRST STEP: When an employee has a grievance, he shall notify the Grievance Representative of the Association within five (5) days of the occurrence or knowledge thereof. The grievance shall be in writing. The Grievance Representative shall, upon notification of an employee's grievance, along with the employee, discuss the grievance with each superior in rank, if possible, in the chain of command within five (5) days following notification of occurrence. Each superior in rank should attempt to settle the dispute with the Grievance Representative and the employee involved, following procedures as agreed to by TFCA and the Chief/Director. If the chain of command cannot be exhausted within seven (7) days after notification of the grievance, the Association shall have the right to proceed to the next step.
SECOND STEP: If at the end of twelve (12) days the dispute is not settled to the satisfaction of all parties concerned, the TFCA shall submit, in writing, the grievance to the Chief/Director of the Department. The Chief/Director shall attempt to settle or have settled by his designated representative the grievance within seven (7) days after the written submission to this office. If the answer of the Chief/Director or his designated representative is not satisfactory, then the employee and the TFCA shall have seven (7) days to decide if he wishes to appeal the grievance to the third step of this procedure.
THIRD STEP: If the dispute is not settled to the satisfaction of all concerned parties, the TFCA shall submit the grievance in writing to the Director of Public Safety and the Director of Human Resources who shall attempt to settle the dispute. The Directors shall give a written answer to the grievance within seven (7) days after the matter has been submitted. If the answer of the Directors is not satisfactory, the employee and the TFCA shall have thirty (30) days to appeal the grievance to the fourth step of this grievance procedure.
FOURTH STEP: If the answer of the Directors is not satisfactory, then the Executive Board (TFCA) and the employee will have 30 days as stated in the Third Step to call for a binding arbitration. The name of the arbitrator to be selected will be from a panel requested by the parties from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The City or the TFCA shall request a panel of seven (7) names from the FMCS. The parties shall select the arbitrator using the alternate strike off method.
Within seven (7) days of the receipt of said panel, the City and Association shall strike names.
In the event more than one grievance is referred to the same hearing, the costs of the arbitration shall be divided proportionately. All other expenses for witnesses or otherwise shall be borne by the party incurring the cost. However, any on-duty Department of Fire & Rescue Operations member called as a witness or as a representative by either side will continue to receive his regular rate of pay while attending such hearing, not to exceed the normal hours he would have been on duty.
Arbitration shall be limited to matters concerning the interpretation or application of provisions as listed herein. The interpretation or implementation of the Department of Fire & Rescue Operations' Rule Book and/or Policies shall be subject to the grievance procedure through arbitration, provided however that the issuance of such new Rules are subject to the grievance procedure consistent with Section 2113.43. The arbitration costs shall be borne by the non-prevailing party. The arbitrator must state in his decision which of the parties is non-prevailing. The decision of the arbitrator will not amend or modify, but may clarify, the terms and conditions of this agreement.
Any of the above-listed steps in the grievance procedure may be waived by mutual agreement. Time limits may also be extended or waived by written agreement.