About the Union :: Filing a Grievance :: Article XII

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12.1 Advisory Nurse Committee.
There shall be a nurse advisory committee established by the Association which will meet periodically with representatives from the Hospital. This committee shall serve solely in an advisory capacity discussing grievances, Hospital policies, staffing and other matters of mutual interest.

12.2 Grievances.
The parties recognize that day-to-day problems affecting nurses shall normally be adjusted informally between a nurse and her or his immediate supervisor. Such matters shall not be deemed grievances. If any nurse should complain of the interpretation, application or enforcement by the Hospital of any provision of the Agreement which cannot be adjusted in this manner, such grievance shall be settled in the following manner:

Step l
The aggrieved nurse or nurses may present their grievance orally, through or with a representative of the Association if such nurse or nurses elect, to the Vice President for Patient Care Services in a further effort to reach informal settlement.

The grievance must be reduced to writing, signed by the aggrieved nurse or nurses and/or the authorized representative of the Association, and presented to the Vice President for Patient Care Services within thirty (30) calendar days after any aggrieved nurse or the Association knew or had reason to know of the grievance. The Vice President shall give a written answer to any such grievance within thirty (30) calendar days after it is presented.

Step 2
If a grievance is not satisfactorily resolved pursuant to Step 1, it may be presented to the Administrator of the Hospital or his designated representative, provided that it is reduced to writing, signed by the aggrieved nurse or nurses and/or the authorized representative of the Association, and presented to the Administrator within thirty (30) calendar days after the nurse’s/Association’s receipt of the Vice President for Patient Care Services’s answer to such grievance. The Administrator shall give a written answer to any such grievance within thirty (30) calendar days after it is presented to him.

Step 3
If a grievance duly presented to the Administrator under Step 2 is not satisfactorily resolved by his answer, the Association may refer such grievance to arbitration pursuant to the Voluntary Labor Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association, (or the grievance may be referred to the Labor Relations Connection in those cases in which the parties mutually agree) provided that the Association shall have duly filed a written demand for such arbitration within thirty (30) calendar days after the Association’s receipt of the Administrator’s answer to such grievance.

If the Hospital should complain of the interpretation, application or enforcement by the Association or any nurse of any provision of this Agreement which cannot be adjusted informally between a nurse and her or his supervisor, such grievance shall be settled in the following manner (omitting the equivalent of Step 1 for a nurse grievance):

Step 2
A grievance may be presented by the Administrator of the Hospital to the Association, provided that it is reduced to writing, signed by the Administration and presented to the Association within thirty (30) calendar days after the Administrator or the Hospital’s administrative officers knew or had reason to know of the grievance. The Association shall give a written answer to any such grievance within thirty (30) days after it is presented to the Association.

Step 3
If a grievance duly presented to the Association under Step 2 is not satisfactorily resolved by its answer, the Administrator may refer such grievance to arbitration pursuant to the Voluntary Labor Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association, provided that the Administrator shall have duly filed written demand for such arbitration within thirty (30) calendar days after the Administrator’s receipt of the Association’s answer to such grievance.

Any differences or disputes apart from interpretation, application or enforcement of this Agreement which cannot be resolved by the parties after a reasonable effort to do so will be submitted to arbitration pursuant to Step 3 above.

The decision of an arbitrator in any grievance duly submitted to him shall be final and binding upon the parties hereto or any aggrieved nurse or nurses, provided that no arbitrator shall have power to add to or modify this Agreement in any respect. Each party shall bear expenses incurred by it, and expenses of arbitration jointly shall be borne equally by the Hospital and the Association.