Article A5 Grievance Procedures and Resolution
Article A5 - Grievance Procedures and Resolution
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A party exercising its rights under the provisions of the Agreement does so without prejudice to its relations with the other parties. |
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A Grievance is defined as a difference between the Guild and a Producer, or the Guild and the Association(s), arising out of, or in connection with the administration, interpretation, application, operation or alleged violation of any provision of this Agreement, or any deal memorandum or contract between a Writer, Story Editor or Story Consultant and a Producer, including a question as to whether a matter is arbitrable. All Grievances shall be resolved in accordance with the procedures set out in this Article. |
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The parties acknowledge and agree that the timely and prompt settlement of all disputes between the parties should be encouraged and that therefore any dispute may be settled at the time of its occurrence by the Guild and the authorized representative of the Producer, without recourse to the formal Grievance Procedure. |
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In recognition of the distinct nature of the writing craft, in the event that the complaint is not resolved in the manner described in Article A503 above, the grieving party may initiate a grievance within one hundred and twenty (120) days of the date on which the grieving party becomes, or ought reasonably to have become aware of the act or omission giving rise to the grievance. |
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A grievance shall be considered initiated when the grieving party (the “Grievor”) sets forth in writing (the “Grievance”) the facts giving rise to the dispute, the relevant articles of the Agreement and the individual contract, and the remedy sought and delivers the Grievance to the other party to the Grievance (the “Respondent”) and to the Association to which the Respondent belongs. In all cases concerning a Writer, Story Editor or Story Consultant, the Guild will be the Grievor or the Respondent, as the case may be. When the Producer is not a member of one of the Associations, the Grievor shall advise all of the Associations. |
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The Guild or the Association, as the case may be, shall notify forthwith the other parties to this Agreement of the Grievance and provide each party with a copy of the Grievance. A representative of the Guild, a representative of the Association, the Producer or its duly authorized representatives, and the Writer, Story Editor or Story Consultant if the Guild deems it necessary, shall meet within five (5) business days to attempt to settle the Grievance informally. The persons present at the Grievance Meeting on behalf of the parties to the Grievance shall have the authority to settle the Grievance. Any written settlement, shall be signed by the representatives of the parties to the Grievance, each of whom shall receive a copy of the terms of the settlement. A copy shall be sent to the Association. Such settlement shall be binding on all parties to the Grievance. |
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Those present at the Grievance Meeting shall adduce all relevant facts, documents and evidence available at the time of the grievance meeting in order that the parties may have the clearest understanding of the issues. At the meeting there shall be a full and frank discussion of those issues, in order to achieve a fair and workable settlement. |
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In the event that attempts to settle the matter have not resulted in a satisfactory settlement of the Grievance, the relevant Association shall notify the Guild ten (10) business days prior to a Joint Standing Committee or fifteen (15) business days prior to an Arbitration of its intention to further participate in the Grievance and Arbitration process. On providing such notice, the Association(s) shall be considered a party. The Association(s) participation shall be limited to matters of industry-wide significance and/or the interpretation of this Agreement except in circumstances where the Association(s) is the initiating party or Respondent. |
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Within twenty (20) business days of the Grievance meeting, the referring party may give written notice to the other parties attending the Grievance Meeting and to the Associations to refer the Grievance to the Joint Standing Committee, or in the discretion of the referring party, directly to Arbitration. If the referring party refers the matter to the Joint Standing Committee and the responding party wishes to have the matter referred to Arbitration (instead of the Joint Standing Committee), said party shall have the right within five (5) business days from receipt of the notice, to refer the grievance to Arbitration. |
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The Joint Standing Committee shall convene, at a time and place to be agreed by the Guild and the Association, within three (3) weeks of receipt of the notice described in Article A509, or at such time as otherwise agreed between the parties. |
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The Joint Standing Committee shall be a panel of an equal number of representatives of the Association and the Guild consisting of four (4) or six (6) representatives in total (excluding Guild’s and Association’s staff). |
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The Association’s representatives shall be directors, officers or permanent employees of Producers signatory, or APFTQ members bound to the Agreement at the time of the meeting of the Joint Standing Committee, or persons who are themselves signatory to the Agreement. No one appointed to the Joint Standing Committee shall have been involved in the Grievance prior to appointment to the Joint Standing Committee. The Association shall advise the Guild as to the number of representatives to be appointed to represent the Association. |
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At least three (3) business days prior to the Joint Standing Committee hearing, or in the case of a grievance referred directly to Arbitration, fifteen (15) business days prior to the first scheduled day of the hearing, the parties to the Grievance shall inform the Guild and the Association of their representatives, and any witnesses they intend to call, and provide a copy of all documents, including all correspondence, to which they intend to refer during the course of the meeting, as well as a summary:
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Joint Standing Committee, Arbitrator or Board of Arbitration may accept any documents or evidence that it considers necessary to reach a fair conclusion. |
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The Joint Standing Committee members shall appoint a chair-person from among themselves. The Joint Standing Committee may establish its own procedures and guidelines for the hearing, including the recording of minutes or notes. The Joint Standing Committee shall be governed by the following principles:
the Joint Standing Committee may recognize common industry practice where reasonable to do so under the circumstances. |
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The hearing portion of the Joint Standing Committee meeting shall be scheduled for no more than a total of four hours, and will proceed as follows:
Any time limitations prescribed herein may be extended by the Joint Standing Committee. |
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When the Joint Standing Committee is satisfied that it has heard fully from the parties to the Grievance, the Joint Standing Committee shall dismiss the parties in order to consider and render its decision. |
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The Joint Standing Committee shall not have the authority to amend or modify, add to or delete any provision of this Agreement. |
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All decisions of the Joint Standing Committee shall be in writing and shall be signed by all members of the Joint Standing Committee before being issued. When a decision has been reached, it shall be issued in writing before the Joint Standing Committee meeting has concluded, and copied forthwith to the parties to the Grievance and to the Associations. If the members of the Committee have not yet concluded their deliberations, they may reconvene and issue a decision in writing to all parties named above no later than three (3) business days after the Joint Standing Committee meeting has concluded. |
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A majority decision of the Joint Standing Committee shall be final and binding on all parties to the Grievance. If the Joint Standing Committee fails to reach a majority decision, either party to the Grievance may, within two (2) weeks of the date of the hearing, refer the matter to arbitration by giving notice to the other party to the Grievance, and to the Associations. |
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Arbitration. Within two (2) weeks of the notice of the intent to refer described in Article A509 or A519, a time and place for arbitration shall be agreed, taking into account the availability of the Arbitrator. |
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The parties to the Agreement agree that, except in exceptional cases agreed by the Guild and the Associations, all arbitrable matters shall be heard by a single arbitrator. The selection of the single arbitrator shall be the subject of mutual agreement of the parties. In the case of the CMPA, reference shall first be made to the list of arbitrators set out in section 9.1 of the Negotiation Protocol (Appendix A). In the event of a failure to agree upon a single arbitrator, the Minister of Labour of the appropriate province or territory, or in Quebec, the Minister of Culture, Communications and the Status of Women will be asked to appoint an arbitrator. In exceptional cases, subject to agreement of the Guild and the Associations, an arbitrable matter may be heard by a Board of Arbitration. The Board of Arbitration will be composed of one person, appointed by the Guild; and one person appointed by the Associations; and a third person to act as chair chosen by the other two members of the Board. Each party will notify the other in writing of the name of its appointee within five (5) business days of the request by either party for a Board. Should the person chosen by the Guild and the person chosen by the Associations fail to agree on a third person within ten (10) days of the notification mentioned above, the Minister of Labour of the appropriate province or territory, or in Quebec, the Minister of Culture, will be asked to appoint a person to act as chair. Nothing herein shall prevent the parties to the grievance from mutually agreeing upon the appointment of an individual who is not listed in Appendix A to act as the Arbitrator. |
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The Arbitrator or Board of Arbitration shall have all remedial powers vested in arbitrators under the labour relations legislation in the applicable province or territory. The Arbitrator has no jurisdiction to award punitive damages. |
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The Arbitrator or Board of Arbitration shall not have the power or authority to set aside, amend, modify, delete or add to any provision of this Agreement. |
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The costs and expenses of the Arbitrator or Board of Arbitration shall be shared equally by the Guild, the Producer and/or the Association(s), when participating. |
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The costs and expenses of the Arbitrator or Board of Arbitration shall be shared equally by the Guild, the Producer and/or the Association(s), when participating. |
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Any time limitations prescribed herein may be extended by mutual agreement of the parties to the Grievance, the Guild and the Association(s). |
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Notices required to be given or sent pursuant to this Agreement shall be mailed, postage pre-paid, delivered personally or by courier, or sent by telefax, or other means of near instantaneous communication (excluding electronic mail) addressed as follows: To the Guild:
Writers Guild of Canada To the Associations:
Canadian Media Production Association
Association des Producteurs de Films et Télévision du Québec |