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

ARTICLE 12ARBITRATIONSection 1. If the Employer and the Union fail to settle any grievance within the scope of thenegotiated grievance procedure described in Article 11 of this agreement, the grievance shall besubmitted to arbitration upon written request of the party desiring arbitration. Such writtenrequest must be received by the other party within twenty (20) working days after issuance of thefinal decision on the grievance. However, only the Union or the Employer may invokearbitration.Section 2. Within five (5) working days from the date of receipt of an arbitration request, theparties shall meet in an attempt to select an arbitrator. If agreement cannot be reached, the partiesshall request the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to submit a list of seven (7)impartial persons qualified to act as arbitrators. A brief statement of the issues in dispute willaccompany the request to enable the FMCS to submit the names of arbitrators qualified for theissues involved. The request also shall include a copy of this arbitration Article. Either party mayrequest a second list of arbitrators if dissatisfied with the original list of arbitrators. The partiesshall meet within five (5) working days after the receipt of such list to select an arbitrator. If theparties cannot agree upon one (1) of the listed arbitrators, the Employer and the Union will eachalternately strike one (1) arbitrator's name from the list and shall repeat this procedure until thereis one (1) name remaining. The remaining name on the list shall be the duly selected arbitrator. Aflip of a coin shall determine which party strikes the first name. The party requesting arbitrationmay withdraw the request at any time prior to the actual convening of a hearing or submission ofthe case to the arbitrator. However, once a definite hearing date has been established with anarbitrator, it is agreed that the party requesting such a withdrawal will make every reasonableeffort to notify the other party and the arbitrator of its desire as far in advance of the scheduledhearing date as possible. Any costs assessed by an arbitrator because of the cancellation orpostponement of a previously scheduled hearing shall be borne by the party which requested suchcancellation or postponement. Should the Employer be unable to assure the availability ofwitnesses as stated in Section 5 of this Article, the Employer will request cancellation orpostponement. If cancellation or postponement was necessitated by an act of God, the cost of thecancellation or postponement shall be borne equally by the parties.Section 3. Following selection of the arbitrator and indication of his/her availability, the partieswill attempt to prepare a joint letter submitting the issue or issues to be decided by the arbitrator.Such letter shall present the matter upon which arbitration is sought and shall include theagreement provisions governing the arbitration. If the parties fail to agree on a joint submissionof the issue or issues for arbitration, each party will submit in writing a statement of what theybelieve to be the issue(s) to the other party and to the arbitrator. The arbitrator then shalldetermine the issue or issues to be decided, to include any questions of arbitrability.22