contractart15

ARTICLE 15 - GRIEVANCE AND ARBITRATION PROCEDURE

Section 1. A grievance shall be limited and only defined as a dispute regarding the interpretation and/or application of the provisions of this Agreement arising during the term of this Agreement filed by the Union signatory to this Agreement or by an employee covered by this Agreement alleging a violation of terms and provisions of this Agreement. However, disputes specifically excluded in other Articles of this Agreement from the Grievance and Arbitration procedure shall not be construed as within the definition set forth above and shall not be handled in accordance with this procedure. It is agreed that such excluded disputes are not grievable or arbitrable under the terms of this Article or under this contract.

Section 2. Procedure. All grievances covered by this Article shall be handled exclusively in the following manner:

(a) A grievance must be reduced to writing, citing the specific Article and Section of this Agreement alleged to have been violated. A grievance which does not meet these requirements shall be null and void, and will not be processed in accordance with this procedure.

STEP ONE. All grievances involving a discharge to be valid shall be filed with the designated representative of the Employer in writing within seven (7) calendar days of the date of the discharge. All grievances involving other matters to be valid shall be filed with the designated representative of the Employer in writing within ten (10) calendar days after the first occurrence of the event giving rise to the grievance, or within ten (10) calendar days of the time the employee or the Union reasonably could have acquired knowledge of the event.

STEP TWO. The Employer representative(s) and the Union representative(s) will meet and discuss the grievance. More than one (1) meeting may be requested and held. The Employer agrees to recognize steward(s) designated by the Union, subject to the limitations set forth in this Agreement. If the representative of the Employer and the employee and/or the representative of the Union are unable to resolve the grievance within thirty (30) calendar days after the Employer receives the written grievance, as provided in Step One, the grievance may only be submitted to arbitration by the Union giving the Employer written notice of its intent to do so within an additional fifteen (15) calendar days. If the grievance is resolved at this step, such resolution will be reduced to writing within said thirty (30) days. Such written resolution or the notice of intent to arbitrate from the Union shall be hand delivered and receipt given or mailed with a return receipt required.

Section 3. Arbitration The Employer and Union representatives shall meet within fifteen (15) calendar days of the receipt of the notice to arbitrate for the purpose of selecting from the following three (3) member panel a person to act as the sole and impartial arbitrator.

Howard Block

C. Chester Brisco

Joseph F. Gentile

Selection of the impartial arbitrator shall be made by the Employer and the Union representatives each alternately striking one (1) name from the three (3) member panel. The person whose name remains will be requested to serve as the impartial arbitrator.

By mutual agreement, the parties may waive the use of the three (3) member panel named above and refer the matter in dispute to an arbitrator selected from any other source.

Section 4. The arbitrator’s decision shall be submitted in writing and shall be final and binding on all parties to this Agreement, including the Union, the Employer, and the aggrieved employee(s).

Section 5. The arbitrator shall not have the authority to modify amend, alter, add to or subtract from any provision of this Agreement. The Union shall have the right to grieve and the arbitrator shall have the right to rule on any grievance within the scope of Section 1 as long as the grievance is filed and processed within the time limits of this Article, even if the grievance is filed after the termination date of this Agreement. However, the Union shall not have the authority to grieve and the arbitrator shall not have the authority to rule on any matter, whether or not it meets the definition of a grievance under Section 1, which arises after the termination date of this Agreement, or which is not filed or processed within the time limits specified in this Article. Any issue of procedural arbitrability will be decided by the same arbitrator selected to handle the case. Any issue of substantive arbitrability shall be initially decided by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Section 6. In any arbitration hearing concerning the discipline and/or discharge of an employee for any infraction agreed by the parties to be just cause for discharge in Section 1 (a) of Article 20, the arbitrator’s sole authority shall be to determine if the employee committed the act or infraction alleged by the Employer. The arbitrator shall have no authority to modify the disciplinary penalty imposed by the Employer in such cases if the arbitrator finds the employee did commit the act or infraction alleged by the Employer.

Section 7. The arbitrator shall base his ruling on a preponderance of the evidence. The arbitrator shall have no authority to modify the standard of proof required to anything other than a preponderance of the evidence.

Section 8. The expenses of arbitration, including the arbitrator’s fee and expenses, the cost of the court reporter transcript, and the cost, if any, of the facilities in which the hearing is held, shall be borne equally by the Employer and the Union. All expenses incurred by either party in the preparation or presentation of its case are to be borne solely by the party incurring such expense.

Section 9. Time Limits the time limits contained in this Article are to be strictly enforced. Any grievance shall be considered null and void if not filed and/or processed by the Union or the aggrieved employee in strict accordance with the time limitations set forth in this Article unless these time limitations have been expressly extended or waived in writing by the Employer and the Union. There shall be no recognition by the arbitrator of a continuing grievance so as to frustrate the intent of strict adherence to the time limitations set forth in this Article. As used in this Article, calendar days shall not include Saturdays, Sundays or eight (8) national holidays.

Section 10.

(a) The Union, in partial consideration for the Grievance and Arbitration Article in this Agreement, on behalf of employees covered by this Agreement, hereby expressly waives, to the maximum extent permitted by law, any and all right to any and all state law wrongful discharge causes of action against the Employer, including, but not limited to: public policy discharge, retaliatory discharge, or discharge in breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, which may or may not be otherwise pre empted by virtue of the provisions of this collective bargaining agreement.

(b) In addition to and separate from the above waiver, the Union, in consideration for the Grievance and Arbitration Article in this Agreement, on behalf of employees covered by this Agreement, hereby expressly waives, to the maximum extent permitted by law, any and all rights to any state law remedy that may be available based on any act of the Employer which is arguably a violation of this Agreement.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 10 (a) and (b) above, nothing herein shall preclude the Union or an employee covered by this Agreement from exercising the statutory rights of the employee to process an alleged case(s) of illegal discrimination with any regulatory authority having jurisdiction over such cases or in court, or from exercising the right to process a case(s) before the Taxicab Authority of the State of Nevada or before any successor agency.