ARTICLE 15 Grievance Procedure

Question 1

START
Only matters involving the interpretation,
application, or alleged violation of a specific provision of ____________
shall be subject to this grievance procedure.

Answer 1

this Collective Bargaining Agreement

Question 2

The parties shall adhere to the time limits as set forth in the procedure. In the event the officer or
Association fails to meet the time limits at any step of the procedure, the grievance shall be
____________.

Answer 2

considered satisfied and no further action shall be taken

Question 3

Failure by the City to meet the time
limits at any step shall be considered _______________. Such time limits may be waived, however, by mutual consent of the parties in writing.

Answer 3

an unsatisfactory response and shall automatically allow the grievance to proceed to the next step

Question 4

Step 1. Any Officer having a matter which is felt to be a grievance, first must within________ days of the actual or constructive knowledge of the occurrence or the event causing the problem submit such grievance in writing to _________with a copy to _______. Said determination of whether a grievance exists shall be made by _________.

Answer 4

twenty-one (21) calendar days

the Association

his immediate supervisor

an Association Grievance Committee

Question 5

Step 1. The Chief may appoint ______ non-voting member(s) of the Committee (Association Grievance Committee). The Committee may exclude the Chief’s appointed member from deliberations. If the Association exercises this right, the Chief of Police shall be entitled to exclude Association representatives from any ______,_______, or _______, where their presence or
participation has been allowed, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 8.

Answer 5

one (1)

administrative meeting, procedure, or process

Question 6

Step 1. The Association
Grievance Committee shall meet and render its decision in writing within ________
days of the receipt of the written grievance by the officer.
In the event that the Grievance Committee decides that a grievance exists, the Association,
representing the aggrieved officer, shall prepare a ___________on behalf of the aggrieved Officer and proceed to ______. Nothing herein prohibits the City from challenging whether a grievance is timely.

Answer 6

thirty (30) calendar days

formal written grievance

Step 2

Question 7

Step 1. It is the intent of the parties to attempt to resolve disputes and grievances over the application,
interpretation and enforcement of the Agreement at ________. Nothing herein shall prevent
the Association from meeting and conferring with the City, Chief or their designees in an attempt
to resolve the alleged grievance before the time limits in Step 1 expire.

Answer 7

the lowest level

Question 8

Step 2. If a grievance is believed to exist, it shall be presented in writing to the______. The ______
shall have _________days to act on the grievance and render a decision in writing.

Answer 8

Chief

Chief

fourteen (14) calendar

Question 9

Step 3. If the grievance is not resolved at Step 2, the matter shall be submitted in writing to
the __________within ________days from the decision at Step 2. The __________shall within ________days submit the matter to the ________who shall review the matter and shall render a decision in writing within ________ days. The ____________shall obtain the response from the _________or his representative and notify the President of the Association of the response and results
within __________days.

Answer 9

Human Resources Director

seven (7) calendar

Human Resources Director

five (5) calendar

City Manager

fourteen (14) calendar

Human Resources Director

City Manager

five (5) calendar

Question 10

Step 4. If the grievance has not been settled at Step 3, the parties shall have ________
days from the date the Human Resources Director notified the President of the Association, in
which to appeal the grievance to ______ for adjustment. An appeal from the Association shall
be submitted in writing to the __________. Since the City may also grieve against the Association, any grievance by the City against the Association will be filed directly with the
_____________; and, if not settled within _______ days, may be submitted to _______for adjustment.

Answer 10

seven (7) calendar

arbitration

Human Resources Director

President of the Association

seven (7) calendar

arbitration

Question 11

Section 4. Arbitration.
If a grievance is submitted to arbitration, within _________ days, the City and the Association shall agree upon an arbitrator.

Answer 11

fourteen (14) calendar

Question 12

Section 4. Arbitration.
The parties may mutually agree to elect to use a ______ or _________pursuant to the provisions in Article 28 (Disciplinary Actions).
For this purpose, the parties may agree in writing to utilize one or more arbitrators for a specified
period of time, provided that either party may request selection on any specific matter as follows:
If the parties fail to agree upon an arbitrator, a list of _______ qualified neutrals shall be
requested from the _________. Within _______ days
from receipt of the list, the Association and the City shall alternately strike names on the list and
the remaining name shall be the arbitrator.

Answer 12

panel arbitrator

expedited process

seven (7)

American Arbitration Association (AAA)

fourteen (14) calendar

Question 13

Section 4. Arbitration.
The conduct of the hearing shall be governed by the standard rules of the __________. The parties, by mutual agreement, may request that the hearing be held in accordance with the __________which are found as Attachment 1 to this Agreement and are incorporated herein by reference.

Answer 13

American Arbitration Association

Expedited Labor Arbitration Rules

Question 14

Section 4. Arbitration.
Upon written request delivered at least _________ days prior to the date of the hearing, a party to the proceeding shall provide to the opposing party the ___________ expected to be called at the hearing.

Answer 14

seven (7) calendar

names and addresses of witnesses

Question 15

Section 4. Arbitration.
In the absence of good or excusable cause, the arbitrator may exclude the testimony of a witness upon the failure of a party to ________. The parties, in writing, may request ________ from each other concerning the
grievance. Should the opposing party not agree to provide the requested information within
________days of the request; the request shall be deemed denied.

Answer 15

disclose such a witness

discovery

seven (7) calendar

Question 16

Section 4. Arbitration.
The requesting party (who has requested discovery) may then apply to the Arbitrator, who shall order such discovery as is appropriate to the nature of the case, consistent with, but not bound by, the rules of discovery in __________. In considering the application, the Arbitrator shall consider the ______and _______of producing the information, the need of the requesting party, the amount of time available prior to the
hearing, and such other matters as he may deem material. In no event shall discovery be
requested within ________days prior to the hearing.

Answer 16

Texas civil cases

burden and expense

seven (7) calendar

Question 17

The arbitrator shall not have the power to add to, amend, modify, or subtract from the provisions
of this Agreement in arriving at his decision on the issue or issues presented and shall confine his
decision to ____________.

Answer 17

the interpretation of this Agreement

Question 18

The arbitrator shall confine himself to the
__________ submitted for arbitration and shall have no authority to determine any other issues
not so submitted to him. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding upon the City
and the Association.

Answer 18

precise issue

Question 19

Section 5. Miscellaneous Provisions.

A grievance contesting action by the City Council or City Manager shall be filed at _____ instead of ______.

Answer 19

Step 3

Step 2

Question 20

The President of the Association may file a class action grievance on behalf of bargaining unit
members similarly situated at \_\_\_\_\_\_ within \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ days of the officer or officers’ actual or constructive knowledge of the occurrence or event causing the problem.

Answer 20

Step 1

twenty-one (21) calendar

Question 21

The __________________ may submit for the
Committee’s consideration any evidence that the grievance has been addressed or resolved in a
previous grievance or an arbitrator’s award. If the current grievance, or an issue of the current
grievance, is determined by the Grievance Committee to have been previously resolved, the
current grievance, or the issue of the current grievance, will be deemed as denied by the
Grievance Committee and the grievant will be ________.

Answer 21

Chief’s representative to the Association Grievance Committee

bound by the previous resolution

Question 22

With the exception of all grievances filed prior to the date of execution of this Agreement, if a
grievance has not been finally resolved within _____________ days from the date of appeal to arbitration, and no mutually agreed time extensions exist or are requested by either party to the grievance, the grievance will be deemed to have expired.
Grievance extensions will not be unreasonably denied under this paragraph.

Answer 22

three hundred and sixty five (365) calendar