ATU Local 1560 and RTA Grievance Procedures via CONTRACT

GRIEVANCES PROCEDURES FROM ATU LOCAL 1560 AND RTA CONTRACT:

ARTICLE 5 - GRIEVANCE AND GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES: a.) As used herein, a grievance is defined as any dispute arising from the interpretation or application of this Agreement or any dispute between the Company and an employee or the Union as to whether an employee has been disciplined, suspended or discharged for just cause. Questions arising as to whether or not a particular claim or grievance meets the definition of a grievance stated herein may be taken up through the grievance procedure and submitted to arbitration, if necessary, by either the Company or the Union. If and when new policies are established or old policies revised resulting in a dispute between the parties, the Union President may submit such dispute directly to the final step of the grievance procedure. b.) Grievance Procedure: A grievance as defined herein shall be considered in accordance with the following procedure. The steps in the grievance procedure which must be taken in order and within the time period set forth are as follows: Step 1: Written Grievance to Immediate Supervisor: If an employee believes he/she has been unjustly treated, the employee may present a grievance through a representative of the Union (ATU Division 1560). The grievance must be presented in writing by the Union to the Director of Transportation or Operations Specialist, as designated below, not later than five (5) working days from the date of the occurrence that gave rise to the alleged grievance:

Immediate Supervisor for Job Classification Purpose of First Step Grievance Operators Dir. Of Trans./Operations Specialist, designee Sr. Transit Tellers/Transit Tellers Dir. Of Trans./Operations Specialist, designee Transit Information Operators Dir. Of Trans./Operations Specialist, designee Operations Training Instructors Dir. Of Trans./Operations Specialist, designee Checkers Dir. Of Trans./Operations Specialist, designee Schedulers Dir. Of Trans./Operations Specialist, designee Depot Clerks Dir. Of Trans./Operations Specialist, designee Communications Dispatchers Dir. Of Trans./Operations Specialist, designee A written answer to the grievance shall be provided to the Union within five (5) working days following the date the grievance was held. Step 2: Written Appeal: If within five (5) working days, no satisfactory settlement is reached between them, then within ten (10) working days the grievance shall be submitted in writing by the Union's properly accredited committee to the COO (property level) of the Company or designee. If within five (5) working days thereafter no satisfactory settlement is reached the issue will be eligible for arbitration. If for any reason the COO is unavailable, an extension of time can be granted if agreed to by both parties. c.) Discipline of Employees: Section 1: All discipline imposed or anticipated by the Company against an employee for violations of its rules or other offenses must be conducted within ten (10) working days after any offense or alleged offense has been made known to the Company or its officials. If the discipline is not imposed within the time limits set forth herein, such allegations shall be nonbinding. Violations pertaining to the mishandling or misappropriation of fares or fare equipment; discipline imposed shall begin within five (5) working days of notification.11 Section 2: When the Company disciplines an employee and/or places an entry in the employee’s file, the employee and the Union shall be provided a copy. An employee may request a file review with written notification to Human Resources. All disciplinary actions except those involving fares or accidents will be purged after 365 days of date of entry. d.) Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, including the day after Thanksgiving, shall be excluded in the calculation of all of the time limits set forth in this Article. e.) The time limitations set forth in this Article 5 are of the essence of this Agreement. Unless agreed to by both parties, no grievance shall be accepted by the Company unless it is submitted or appealed within the time limits set forth in Article 5 of this Agreement. f.) If an employee is found not at fault on the charge or charges for which he was suspended or discharged, he will be reinstated to his former position and paid the wages he would have earned for the period from the date of suspension or discharge to the date the final decision is rendered. g.) If the grievance or claim of unjust treatment is not settled by the foregoing procedure, the aggrieved party shall notify the other in writing within the five (5) days following the next monthly Union membership meeting which is held after receipt of the other party’s final answer if it desires to take the grievance to arbitration. Selection of arbitrators and the arbitration procedure shall be in accordance with ARTICLE 6. Discharges shall be subject to arbitration. h.) The arbitration process shall proceed as expeditiously as possible from the date of notice that arbitration is desired. i.) Grievances that the Company may have against the Union shall be handled in the following manner:12 lst Step: The Company will discuss the grievance with the Union President at a mutually convenient time within seven (7) working days after knowledge of occurrence of the event complained of in order to try to reach a satisfactory settlement. 2nd Step: If the Company grievance is not settled in the 1st Step, it may be submitted to arbitration in accordance with the provisions of ARTICLE 6. Section 3: Grievances that the Company may have against the Union shall be handled in the following manner: 1 st Step: The Company will discuss the grievance with the Union President at a mutually convenient time within seven (7) working days after knowledge of occurrence of the event complained of in order to try to reach a satisfactory settlement. 2 nd Step: If the Company grievance is not settled in the 1st Step, it may be submitted to arbitration in accordance with the provisions of ARTICLE 6. ARTICLE 6 - ARBITRATION AND ARBITRATION PROCEDURES: Section 1. In the event either the Company or the Union shall have demanded that a grievance be submitted to arbitration, as hereinabove provided, the following procedure shall be observed: First: Within five (5) days after one party shall have duly served a written demand for arbitration upon the other party, each party shall: a.) Appoint one (1) person to serve as its member of the board of arbitration; and13 b.) Notify the other party in writing of the name of its arbitrator so appointed. Second: The two (2) arbitrators so appointed by the Company and the Union shall meet within ten (10) days and endeavor to settle and determine the dispute created by the grievance or grievances in question. If they fail to settle and determine the dispute within ten (10) days after their first meeting, the parties shall forthwith proceed to select a third (3rd) and impartial arbitrator. In the event the two (2) arbitrators shall fail for a period of five (5) days to agree on a third (3rd) and impartial arbitrator then the parties shall forthwith jointly apply to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and request submission of seven (7) disinterested persons who are members of the National Academy of Arbitrators, qualified and willing to act as the impartial arbitrator. Between the two parties only one list of seven may be rejected. From such list the party requesting such arbitration shall strike one name and thereafter the parties shall alternately strike names until one (1) name remains on the list. The person whose name remains on the list shall become and remain the chairman of the board of arbitration as so constituted. Section 2. If one of the arbitrators named by the parties hereto dies, resigns, or for any valid reason is unable to act, the party appointing him shall name his successor within five (5) days after such death, resignation, or withdrawal. If, under such circumstances, it shall become necessary to appoint a successor for the third and impartial arbitrator, such successor shall be selected in the same manner as the original third (3rd) and impartial arbitrator was selected within ninety (90) days after such death, resignation, or withdrawal. Any such successor of the third (3rd) and impartial arbitrator shall act with the same power and authority as the one originally appointed or selected. Section 3. The board of arbitrators shall meet, organize and conduct all of its proceedings in the City of New Orleans, Louisiana at such times as may be mutually agreed upon between the parties, and shall thereafter continue to meet on every day that it is practical for them to meet, until all evidence and arguments have been received and heard. The board of arbitrators shall establish its own rules of procedure, not inconsistent with the terms of this Agreement.14 Section 4. The decision of the majority of the board of arbitrators shall become final and binding on the parties of this Agreement when delivered to them in writing. Any minority member of the board of arbitrators shall have the right to indicate his dissent to all or any part of any decision that may be handed down by the board. Section 5. The parties hereto shall each pay the fees and expenses of the arbitrator of its own selection. The fees and expenses of the third (3rd) and impartial arbitrator incidental to the arbitration shall be borne equally by the parties. Such expenses shall include any cost for recording of proceedings made by either party, should the other party, its arbitrator, or the impartial arbitrator request a copy of such recordings. Section 6. In the event of the failure of either party to act within the time limits provided within this Article, or as may be extended by agreement between the parties, the party so failing to do so shall forfeit its case. Section 7. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays shall be excluded in the calculation of the time limits provided in this Article. Such time limits shall be extended by agreement between the parties. Section 8. The jurisdiction and authority of the arbitrators shall be confined exclusively to the interpretation and/or application of the express provision(s) of this Agreement at issue between the Union and the Company. The arbitrators shall have no authority to add to, detract from, alter, amend, or modify any provision of this Agreement; to impose on either party a limitation or obligation not explicitly provided for in this Agreement, or to establish or alter any wage rate or wage structure that has been agreed to by the parties. Nothing herein shall be construed as obligating either party to termination of this Agreement or any extension thereof, or to arbitrate the terms of any contract or agreement to be entered on the termination of this Agreement or any extension thereof. The arbitrators shall be limited to specific claims arising out of the interpretation of the express provisions of the Agreement and past practices not inconsistent with this Agreement.15 If through operation of the grievance or arbitration procedures, an employee who was dismissed is reinstated, he shall be made whole from the date of dismissal to the date of reinstatement, less any resulting disciplinary suspension time, by being compensated with back pay for the hours the employee would have been regularly scheduled to work during that period, less any and all interim earnings received by the grievant, any unemployment compensation, any pay for any training programs, any sums the grievant could have earned by the exercise of reasonable diligence, and/or any other like sums received (or that could have been received from any source whatsoever by the grievant during the back pay period). All settlements and arbitration awards shall be drafted separately and paid within ten (10) days. Section 9. Any grievance concerning disciplinary matters in which the Company proposes to offer or introduce as evidence the testimony or affidavits of spotters or checkers shall be subject to the conditions set forth below: 1.) Written Evidence: a.) Any affidavits and any forms or notes prepared by checkers/spotters for the purpose of preserving observations shall be produced or made available for copying to the designated Union representative(s) at the first step of the grievance procedure, provided that any information tending to identify the checker/spotter may be deleted prior to production. b.) No evidence given or offered by checkers/spotters shall include subjective opinions, unless the checkers/spotters are identified and subjected to direct confrontation and cross-examination at the first step of the grievance procedure, and only in accordance with the ordinary rules of evidence.16 2.) Checkers/spotters shall be examined at arbitration hearings under these conditions: a.) The Neutral Arbitrator shall be escorted by a management representative to a location remote from the hearing room and known only by management for the purpose of directly confronting the checker/spotter. b.) The Neutral Arbitrator may examine the checker/spotter privately in the presence of a public stenographer selected and paid by but not a regular employee of the Company. c.) Examination and cross-examination shall be permitted the parties through telephonic transmission of questions to the remote location; the response of the checker/spotter shall be given while the telephonic transmission to the hearing room is suspended; the responses of the checker/spotter shall be recorded and restated in full by the stenographer through telephonic transmission to the hearing room provided that the Neutral Arbitrator shall direct the stenographer to delete from the restatement of checker/spotter responses any testimony which would tend to identify the checker/spotter. d.) Either party may obtain at its cost a copy of the stenographic transcription of all testimony given by the checker/spotter including testimony given in camera pursuant to any private examination, provided the Neutral Arbitrator shall direct the 17 stenographer to delete from the stenographic record any testimony by the checker/spotter which would tend to identify the checker/spotter. e.) At some point prior to the close of the hearing, the Neutral Arbitrator shall report to the parties in open hearing his observations concerning the demeanor or other significant behavior of the testifying checker/spotter, provided that such report shall be stated in such a fashion as to preclude identification of the testifying checker/spotter. f.) No evidence given or offered by checkers/spotters at the hearing concerning any particular instance of an alleged violation of Company rules, regulations or policies shall be considered by the Neutral Arbitrator unless the particular instance of an alleged violation has been revealed to the Union's designated representative during the grievance procedure.