TABLE OF CONTENTS Article Subject Page 1 Preamble and ...

k. Allegations of mismanagement when no form of personal relief to the employee isappropriate.l. Reduction-in-Force.m. Allegations of discrimination involving Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) matters.Section 4. Questions that cannot be resolved by the parties as to whether or not a grievance is ona matter subject to the grievance procedure or is subject to arbitration will be referred to anarbitrator as a threshold issue in the arbitration on the merits of the grievance.Section 5. A grievance may be undertaken by the Union, an employee, or a group of employees.An employee or group of employees in the bargaining units covered by this agreement, in filing agrievance under this procedure, may be represented only by the Union. In this context, theEmployer recognizes the right of the Union to designate its own representatives. An employee orgroup of employees wishing to present such a grievance without Union representation may do so;however, any adjustment of the grievance must not be inconsistent with the terms of thisagreement, and the Union shall be afforded the opportunity to be present during the grievanceproceeding. In exercising their rights to present a grievance, bargaining unit employees andUnion representatives shall be unimpeded and free from restraint, coercion, discrimination, orreprisal.Section 6. An aggrieved employee affected by a removal or reduction in grade for unacceptableperformance, or by an adverse action, may at his/her option raise the matter under a statutoryappeals procedure, or the negotiated grievance procedure, but not both. An employee shall bedeemed to have exercised his/her option under this section when the employee timely files a noticeof appeal under the appellate procedure, or files a timely grievance in writing under the negotiatedgrievance procedure.Section 7. If a bargaining unit employee resigns, transfers, or otherwise leaves the bargaining unitprior to the issuance of a final decision on his/her grievance, and no issue of compensation isinvolved, the grievance will be terminated and all parties notified in writing by the Employer.Section 8. The following steps will be used for resolving grievances under this procedure:Step 1. The grievance shall first be presented orally to the immediate supervisor by thegrievant and his/her Union representative, if the aggrieved party elects to have one. If thegrievance involves the first line supervisor, the grievant may go to the second level supervisorwith his/her Step 1 grievance. On the date the Step 1 grievance is presented, the grievant orhis/her union representative, if any, will serve written notice on the next level of supervision that aStep 1 grievance has been filed, and indicate the date of the Step 1 meeting. The Step 1 grievancemust be initiated within twenty (20) workdays of the incident that gave rise to the grievance,unless the grievant was unaware of the incident by such time. In that case, the grievance must be19