Article 30: Complaints, Grievances And Arbitrations 30.1 The parties agree that they will use their best efforts to encourage informal, amicable and prompt settlement of complaints and grievances arising from the interpretation, application, administration or alleged violation(s) of this Agreement. However, the parties recognize that one of the corner-stones of collective bargaining is a viable grievance procedure allowing for a prompt and fair hearing of matters arising from the interpretation, application, administration or alleged violation(s) of The Agreement. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, the procedures outlined below shall be the sole method for the resolution of complaints or grievances arising from the interpretation, application, administration or alleged violation(s) of this Agreement. There shall be no discrimination, harassment or coercion of any kind by either party or their agents against any person who elects to avail or not to avail him/herself of these procedures. 30.2 (a) The Association and the employer shall have the right to be present at all steps of the complaint and grievance procedure. If so requested by the grievor, the Association shall have the right to represent the grievor at all steps. Notwithstanding the preceding, however, only the Association and the employer shall have the right to proceed with grievances beyond Stage 2. The Association shall have carriage of all grievances. (b) The parties shall be bound by and shall promptly implement all decisions arrived at under the procedures described in this Article. 30.3 All communications required by this Article to be in writing shall be circulated or delivered by receipted internal mail or, when appropriate, by Canada Post Office registered mail, with acknowledgement of receipt. 30.4 Definitions (a) Grievance: A grievance is a claim by an employee or a group of employees, by the Association, or by the employer that there has been a violation, misapplication or misinterpretation of the terms of this collective agreement. (b) Employee Grievance: An employee grievance is a claim by an employee, who is solely affected, that the terms and conditions of this agreement have been violated, misapplied or misinterpreted. (c) Association Grievance: An Association grievance is one involving more than one employee or involving bargaining unit or association rights, or any dispute arising directly between the employer and the Association concerning the interpretation, application or alleged violation of the collective agreement. (d) Employer Grievance: An employer grievance is one in which the employer believes that the Association has violated, misinterpreted or improperly applied the terms and conditions of this collective agreement. 30.5 Employee Grievances (a) Stage 1 It is understood and expected that an employee will discuss with his/her dean/director/librarian any matter relating to an alleged grievance. The dean/director/librarian shall notify the Director of Human Resources and the Association of any complaint giving rise to such a discussion. This discussion is to be informal in nature and directed at improving communication and solving problems. The dean/director/ librarian shall notify the Director of Human Resources and the Association of the result of this discussion. The employee shall complete the section of the grievance form headed 'details of complaint stage'. (b) Stage 2 An employee who is not satisfied with the results of the informal discussion at Stage 1 and who believes that he/she has a grievance shall, within twenty (20) working days of the event giving rise thereto or of the date on which the employee first knew or reasonably could have known of such event if that date is later, consult the Association, and report to the dean/director/ librarian in writing (with a copy to the Association and the Director of Human Resources on the grievance form provided by the employer for that purpose. The Grievance report shall set forth, in the space provided, all of the following: (i) the nature of the grievance; (ii) the facts upon which the grievance is based; (iii) the remedy sought; (iv) the result of the informal stage; and (v) the article(s) of this agreement relied upon or claimed to have been violated, misinterpreted or improperly applied. The employee shall sign the form and, with or without an Association representative, shall ensure its transmittal to his/her dean/director/librarian. Alternatively, the employee may request an Association representative to present the signed grievance form to the dean/director/librarian on his/her behalf. The dean/director/librarian shall have ten (10) working days from the date of receipt of the grievance form in which to render a decision in writing. (c) Stage 3 If the decision at Stage 2 does not resolve the grievance, the Association may refer the matter to a Grievance Sub-Committee (as per Article 30.6) within ten (10) working days from the date of receipt of the Stage 2 decision. The appeal shall be in writing and shall include a copy of the grievance filed in Stage 2, a copy of any decision of the dean/director/librarian and a statement of the reasons for the disagreement with the decision. Within five (5) working days of the receipt of the appeal, the Grievance Sub-Committee shall call a meeting with representatives of the Association and the employer. The Association representatives shall make representations on behalf of the employee. The Grievance Sub-Committee shall assist the parties in their efforts to resolve the alleged grievance through fact-finding and negotiations. The Grievance Sub-Committee shall at the request of the parties render a written report within thirty (30) working days of its final meeting with the parties. (d) Stage 4 If the efforts of the parties at Stage 3 to resolve the grievance are unsuccessful, the Association may, within ten (10) working days of the completion of the discussions within the Grievance Sub-Committee or the receipt of its written report, submit the matter to binding arbitration. The Association shall notify the employer in writing of such action. 30.6 Grievance Sub-Committee The parties agree that they will, through the JCAA, establish, from time to time, a Grievance Sub-Committee composed of equal numbers of representatives of the employer and the Association. The terms of reference for a particular Grievance Sub-Committee shall be specified by the JCAA. Notwithstanding the preceding, the parties agree that the main functions of such sub-committees as are created from time to time are: (a) to assist the parties in resolving grievances through fact-finding; (b) to assist the parties in resolving grievances through negotiations; (c) to assist the parties in resolving grievances by rendering reports concerning the alleged grievance, when so requested. The parties may by agreement at the JCAA decline to appoint a Grievance Sub-Committee, in which event the Association shall be entitled to proceed directly to Stage 4. 30.7 Association Grievance Association Grievances shall normally follow the procedures outlined under Article 30.5. However, where a dispute arises directly between the employer and the Association concerning the interpretation, application or alleged violation of the collective agreement, the Association may elect to bring an Association grievance directly before a Grievance Sub-Committee and, in such an event, shall normally do so within 45 working days of the event giving rise thereto or of the date on which the Association first knew or reasonably could have known of such event if that date is later. 30.8 Employer Grievance In a dispute arising directly between the employer and the Association concerning the interpretation, application or alleged violation of the collective agreement in which the employer is the grievor, the employer may elect to bring an employer grievance directly before a Grievance Sub-Committee and, in such an event, shall do so on or before the last day as provided for under the provisions of Article 30.5. 30.9 Exclusions from the Grievance Procedure (a) Recognizing that certain review procedures involving complex forms of academic peer judgement have evolved out of continuous practical experience, the parties agree that the grievance procedures under this Article shall not be available for resolution of disputes, exclusively concerned with employment equity appointments (Article 9.3), faculty promotions (Article 10.1 - 10.4), renewal of preliminary faculty appointments (Article 6.2(a)), tenure (Article 6.2(a)), lay-offs (Article 17.4, 17.5, 17.6, 17.10, 17.12 and the Document on the Release of Teaching Staff in Times of Financial Stringency, Appendix D to the Collective Agreement), and dismissal for cause of faculty employees (Article 6.2(a)), professional librarian employees (Article 11.4), Instructor employees (Article 12.5), except where the employee or the Association alleges violation of Academic Freedom under Article 4, or discrimination under Article 5 of this Collective Agreement, or except where the employee or the Association alleges that a violation of the procedures established in Article 10 or under the Senate/Board document entitled Procedures Concerning Tenure, Dismissal and Related Matters, as approved by the Board of Governors on the 27th June, 1972 and as amended by the Board of Governors on the 4th October, 1972, and as modified by this Collective Agreement has occurred. (b) For the purposes of this Article "procedure" shall mean the fact or manner of proceeding or going on and shall not mean the manner of interpreting guidelines or criteria. 30.10 Failure to Respond (a) In the event that the employer fails to reply to a complaint or grievance within the prescribed time limits in this Article the Association or the grieving party may submit the complaint or grievance to the next step. (b) In the event that the Association or the grieving party fails to submit the complaint or grievance to the next step in the grievance procedure within the time limits expressed in this Article, the employer shall notify the Association and the grieving party of the expiration of the time limit. The Association or the grieving party shall then have an additional five (5) working days from the receipt of such notice to request an extension of the time limit. In the absence of a response to such a written expiration notice the complaint or grievance shall be considered settled without setting a precedent. (c) Abandonment A grievor may, by written notice to the appropriate dean/director/librarian, abandon a grievance at any time during the grievance process. If the grievance has been presented with the support of the Association, the employer shall notify the Association that the employee has abandoned the grievance. The abandonment of a grievance shall not prejudice the position of the Association in dealing with grievances of a similar nature. 30.11 Arbitration (a) In the event that the decision of the Grievance Sub-Committee does not resolve the grievance, the Association may serve notice within ten (10) working days of receipt of the Committee's decision that it intends to proceed to arbitration. The Association shall have the right to carry Association grievances as described in Article 30.7 to arbitration. (b) Notwithstanding the preceding, the parties agree that, in any case involving academic freedom, a decision of the Association not to pursue the matter to arbitration shall not prevent the individual grievor from seeking the advice of CAUT, and, on the positive recommendation of CAUT, in which case a further period of ten (10) working days shall be provided beyond the provisions of Article 30.11(a) for such consultation to take place, proceeding to arbitration under this Collective Agreement. 30.12 Appointment of Arbitrator The parties hereby authorize and appoint the persons listed at the end of this Article to serve as a panel of arbitrators on a rotating basis for the duration of this Collective Agreement. The arbitrators shall be requested to serve singly according to the order in which they are listed. If an arbitrator is not available within a reasonable period of time, but in any case not to exceed three (3) months, the next arbitrator in order shall be selected and so on until one of the arbitrators is available. For the next arbitration thereafter, the arbitrator who was listed after the arbitrator last selected shall be next in line. By mutual consent, however, any listed arbitrator may be selected out of turn. If in the event that none of the arbitrators is available within a reasonable time, but in any case not to exceed three (3) months, an arbitrator outside the panel shall be selected by mutual consent. If such agreement cannot be reached within twenty-two (22) working days the parties agree to request the Ministry of Labour for authority to appoint an arbitrator in accordance with the provisions of Section 44(4) of the Ontario Labour Relations Act. It is agreed, however, that any of the names may be stricken from the list during periods when no arbitrations are pending by either party on one (1) month's written notice, provided that the parties agree to replace those names stricken from the list within one (1) month following such notice. No person may be appointed as an arbitrator who has been involved in an attempt to negotiate or settle the grievance in process. Panel of Arbitrators: Owen B. Shime D.M. Beattie D.A. Soberman M. Teplitsky Arthur M. Kruger D. Kates 30.13 Limits on Arbitration The arbitrator shall not have jurisdiction to amend or add to any of the provisions of this Collective Agreement nor substitute any new provisions in lieu thereof, nor to give any decision inconsistent with the terms of this Collective Agreement, provided, however, that the arbitrator will not be barred on the basis of a minor technical irregularity from hearing a grievance and rendering an award. 30.14 Expenses The parties will jointly share the fee and expenses of the arbitrator. 30.15 Time Limits The time limits fixed in both the grievance and arbitration procedures may be extended by the consent in writing of both parties, such consent to be signed by the Contract Administrator on behalf of the employer and by the President of the Association on behalf of the Association.