Loading...
The City shall make available during the term of this agreement the opportunity for all employees to participate through payroll deduction in a Deferred Compensation Plan (Section 401-K Plan or Section 457 Plan) developed and administered by a provider designated by a joint labor management committee, set up and chaired by the Association.
The provisions of this Agreement shall be applied to all employees, without discrimination as to age, sex, marital status, race, color, creed, national origin, or political affiliation. The failure of the City or the Association to apply this agreement without discrimination, when brought to the attention of either party, shall be subject to the provisions of the grievance procedure.
All references to employee in this Agreement designates both sexes, and where the male gender is used, it shall be construed to include male and female.
The City agrees not to interfere with the rights of employees to become members of the Association, and there shall be no discrimination, interference, restraint, or coercion by the City or its representatives against any employee activity in an official capacity on behalf of the Association.
The Association recognizes its responsibility as bargaining agent and agrees to review and/or present all employee grievances in the bargaining unit without discrimination, interference, restraint or coercion. The Association agrees not to intimidate or coerce any employee in an effort to recruit membership.
The City agrees to furnish glass enclosed bulletin boards with locks at all separate Police facilities where requested for the use of the Association to post notices relative to Association affairs.
Articles posted on the Association bulletin boards shall not be removed or tampered with by the City.
Bulletin board placement shall be mutually agreed upon.
Effective January 1, 2010, there shall be a total of nine (9) representatives determined by the association. If the Department designates a third district station, the number of representatives shall increase to twelve (12) and remain at that level as long as the three district stations are designated by the Chief.
These representatives shall be authorized to represent the employees in the First Step of the Grievance Procedure. The employee who has a grievance shall be entitled to only one (1) representative of his choice in the first step of such procedure. The representative shall be allowed reasonable time to investigate the grievance with the employee in such a way that will not unnecessarily interfere with the police operations. The President of the Association and/or his designees shall continue to represent the Association in subsequent steps of the grievance procedure.
The Association representatives shall make every effort to assist the supervisor in settling grievances in the First Step of the Grievance Procedure. When the grievance cannot be settled at the First Step, then the Association representative will refer it to the Association for further handling in accordance with the grievance procedure provided herein.
If an employee is to be reprimanded by the supervisor, then he shall have the right to be represented by the Association Steward before the supervisor.
The Association President and/or his designee will be allowed sufficient time to conduct other necessary Association business.
The Association President shall be scheduled to work on the Administrative Schedule. The Association President shall report to the Desk Lieutenant by phone on days he is scheduled to work and shall be considered as full time released. Additionally, a designee of the president shall be placed on the day schedule and shall be provided union release time as needed. The designee shall notify the Commander of Personnel relative to release time needs.
The Association elections shall be conducted in the Safety Building and the City agrees to permit two (2) police officers as designated by the Association President to provide security for the period of the election. The Association President agrees to assign off-duty personnel to provide the security when practical.
The City agrees to afford the Association seventy-five (75) additional days of release time for the purpose of attending conferences, lectures, educational seminars and union related activities per year.
The Association is entitled to have four representatives (exclud ing the President and the designee of the President) released for contractual negotiations. The members of Association bargaining team shall receive ninety (90) days release time prior to the beginning of bargaining over the next collective bargaining agreement which release time shall terminate upon ratification of a new contract or on December 31, 2014, whichever occurs first. Additional time shall be granted for fact finding and conciliation hearing dates. Any other release time for preparation of the latter shall be as needed with any dispute over release time being resolved with an agreed upon third party on an expedited basis.
The definition of a grievance shall be any dispute or difference that arises between the City and the Association as to the interpretation or application of any provisions of this agreement. Such dispute or difference (hereinafter referred to as "grievance") shall be settled in accordance with the grievance procedure set forth.
It is the mutual desire of the City and Association to provide for prompt adjustment of grievances in a fair and reasonable manner, with a minimum amount of interruption of the work schedules. Every reasonable effort shall be made by both the City and Association to effect the resolution of grievances at the earliest step possible. In the furtherance of this objective, the following procedure shall be followed:
(a) FIRST STEP: When an employee has a grievance, the employee shall contact the Association steward and they shall verbally discuss the matter with his Section Commander or his designee and attempt to resolve the problem. The grievance must be brought to the attention of the Section Commander or his designee within ten (10) work days of the employee having, through the exercise of reasonable diligence, gained knowledge that a grievance exists. If the grievance cannot be resolved through verbal discussion, then it shall be reduced to writing and presented to the Bureau Commander or Section Commander by the Association. The specific contract section(s) at issue must be cited in the grievance. The Bureau Commander or Section Commander shall indicate, in writing, his response to the grievance by the end of the shift, on the tenth (10th) work day following the day on which the written grievance was presented.
If the answer of the Bureau Commander or Section Commander is not satisfactory, then the Association shall have ten (10) work days to appeal the grievance to the Second Step of this grievance procedure.
"Work days" for purposes of all provisions of this collective bargaining agreement shall be Monday through Friday, excluding major holidays. Any reference to days herein, unless specified as calendar days, shall be considered as "work days".
(b) SECOND STEP: Grievances not settled in the First Step shall be delivered to the Chief of the Department of Police. The Chief of the Department of Police and/or his designee shall attempt to settle or have settled the grievance within ten (10) work days after the submission to his office. If the answer of the Chief is not satisfactory, then the Association shall have ten (10) work days to appeal the grievance to the Third Step of this grievance procedure.
(c) THIRD STEP: If the dispute is not settled to the satisfaction of all concerned parties, then the grievance shall be submitted to the Director of Public Safety and/or her/his designees who shall jointly attempt to settle the dispute. The Directors shall provide a written answer to the grievance within ten (10) work days after the matter has been submitted. If the answer of the Directors is not satisfactory, the Association shall have fifteen (15) work days to appeal the grievance to the Fourth Step of this grievance procedure.
(d) FOURTH STEP: If the decision of the City as given in the Third Step of the Grievance Procedure is not satisfactory, then the Association shall notify the City in writing within fifteen (15) work days after the answer of the Director, that the grievance is to be submitted to arbitration. The parties may mutually agree to a mediator to discuss any grievance. The mediator may give an advisory opinion as to the merits of the grievances before him/her. Said opinion shall not be used in any subsequent arbitration; nor shall it prejudice the positions of either party. The cost of said mediation shall be borne equally by the parties. Within fifteen (15) work days after notification when a grievance is submitted to arbitration the parties will decide if the Expedited Advisory Labor Arbitration process is to be used as set forth in this contract, or, if not, then the following process for binding arbitration is to be followed. At the request of either party, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or the American Arbitration Association will submit a list of seven (7) names of available arbitrators. In the event that the parties cannot agree on the medium for presentation of these issues, the Federal Mediation Conciliation Service shall be used. Upon receipt of the list within fourteen (14) work days, the City and the Association representative shall alternately strike one (1) name from the list. The side to strike the first name shall be chosen by lot. The person whose name has been chosen shall become the arbitrator. The arbitration shall be heard at the arbitrator's earliest available date. The fees and expenses of the arbitrator shall be paid by the party against whom the arbitrator renders an adverse decision.
In the event more than one grievance is referred to the same hearing, the costs of the arbitration shall be divided proportionately, the loser bearing the proportionate share of the costs for the cases lost. All other expenses for witnesses or otherwise shall be borne by the party incurring the cost. However, any City employee called as a witness by either side, will continue to receive his regular rate of pay while attending such a hearing, not to exceed the normal eight (8) hours.
Arbitration shall be limited to matters concerning the interpretation or application of provisions as listed herein. However, by mutual agreement of the City and the Association, the grievance procedure set forth above may be used in other matters.
All written responses at steps 2 and above are to be sent to the Vice-President responsible for grievances and the President of the Association. All grievances and appeals filed at steps 3 and above are to be sent to the Director of Public Safety, the Director of Human Resources, and the Chief of Police. Grievances, appeals and responses sent by U.S. mail shall be deemed received as of the date of posting.
Any grievance that originates from a level above the First Step of the grievance procedure shall be submitted directly to the step or level from which it originates.
Grievance awards that specify the individual(s) to be paid and the amount shall be issued by the next full pay period after the award date.
The City and the Association shall jointly establish a list which will be defined as an Expedited Labor Arbitration Panel. All grievances referred to this Panel will be by mutual agreement.
The Panel of Labor Arbitrators will be comprised of ten (10) persons and shall be selected from a panel of twenty-five (25) arbitrators as forwarded by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The list shall be put in random order as selected by the parties after a coin toss to determine the first selector. An Arbitrator, upon rendering a decision, shall be placed in the tenth (10th) position and the person originally listed as second will become the next Arbitrator so assigned.
The hearing shall be conducted by the Arbitrator in whatever manner will most expeditiously permit a full presentation of the evidence and arguments of the parties. There shall be no stenographic record of the proceedings, but the Arbitrator shall make an appropriate record of the proceedings. Normally, the hearing shall be completed in one (1) day. In unusual circumstances and for good cause shown, the Arbitrator may extend the hearing beyond one (1) day, and schedule an additional hearing, within five (5) work days.
There shall be no post hearing briefs.
The arbitration may proceed in the absence of any party who, after due notice, fails to be present. An award shall not be made solely on the default of a party. The Arbitrator shall require the attending party to submit supporting evidence.
The Arbitrator shall be the sole judge of the relevancy and materiality of the evidence offered.
When both sides have completed their presentations, the Arbitrator shall ask whether either party has any further evidence to offer or witnesses to be heard. Upon receiving negative replies, the Arbitrator shall declare and note the hearing closed.
The award shall be rendered promptly by the Arbitrator and, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, not later than five (5) work days from the date of the close of the hearing.
The awards shall be in writing and shall be signed by the Arbitrator. If the Arbitrator determines that an opinion is necessary, it shall be in summary form.
The expenses of non-City employee witnesses for either side shall be paid by the party producing such witnesses. City employees called as witnesses shall be paid if called during normal working hours.
The Arbitrator shall interpret and apply these rules insofar as they relate to the Arbitrator's powers and duties.
The decision rendered by the Arbitrator shall not be precedent setting, but will be final and binding on the specific issue involved.
In the event that the City fails to answer a grievance within the time required at any step of the grievance procedure, or if the Association fails to appeal the answer given to the next step of the grievance procedure within the time allowed, then the grievance will be considered settled against the side which has defaulted. However, any of the time limits in the grievance procedure may be extended by mutual agreement. Grievances settled by default cannot be the basis of establishing precedent for the settlement of any other grievances.
Loading...