1. Members shall have the right to present grievances in accordance with the procedures prescribed in this Article free from interference, coercion, restraint, discrimination or reprisal. Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers of the Division shall take prompt and fair action upon grievances of members within the authority delegated by the Superintendent and according to the provisions of this Article.

2. The informal resolution of differences prior to the initiation of actions under formal grievance procedure is encouraged and desired by the State and the PBA.

For the purposes of this Agreement, grievances as defined herein shall be subject to the grievance procedure as outlined below:

1. Any disagreement submitted by a member, or the PBA on behalf of an aggrieved member over the interpretation or application of a term of this Agreement is subject to the grievance procedure outlined below and shall hereinafter be referred to as a "contract grievance." In all cases, the aggrieved member or members must be identified.

2. Any disagreement submitted by a member other than a contract grievance over conditions which are in whole or in part subject to the control of the Superintendent or for which there is currently no other review procedure provided shall be processed up to and including the Governor's Office of Employee Relations, unless specifically excluded, and shall hereinafter be referred to as a "non-contract grievance." Disagreements arising out of matters involving discipline pursuant to Rule 3 (Disciplinary Action) of the NYSP Administrative Manual, retirement, competitive promotional examinations, performance ratings, and probationary Trooper terminations shall not be considered grievances for the purpose of this Agreement.

3. A member or the PBA acting on behalf of an aggrieved member(s) may not file both a non-contract grievance and a contract grievance involving the same disagreement or dispute. However, should it be determined at Step 3 that the grievance filed as a non-contract grievance should be a contract grievance or vice versa, PBA shall have the right to request of the Superintendent or designee that the grievance category be amended to reflect the correct type of grievance. Such requests shall not be unreasonably denied.

Step 1. A member shall present the member's grievance through channels to the Zone Commander or equivalent in writing on a form provided by the State within 20 working days of the event which gave rise to the grievance or the date when the grievant should reasonably have been expected to become aware of the event which gave rise to the grievance. The Zone Commander or equivalent shall meet with the grievant within five working days from receipt of the written grievance for a review, and shall issue a written decision within five working days from the day of the meeting.

Step 2. In the event that the grievance has not been satisfactorily resolved at Step 1, then an appeal may be taken by the grievant, in writing, to the Troop or Detail Commander within 10 working days from receipt of the Step 1 decision. The Troop or Detail Commander, or designee, shall meet with the member for a review of the grievance within 10 working days from receipt of the Step 2 written appeal and shall issue a written decision within 10 working days from the day of the Step 2 meeting.

Step 3. (Contract Grievance) In the event that the grievance has not been satisfactorily resolved at Step 2, then an appeal may be taken only by the President of the PBA, or designee, in writing, to the Superintendent within 10 working days from the receipt of the Step 2 decision. Such appeal shall contain copies of the Step 2 decision and all of the material submitted at prior steps. The Superintendent, or designee, shall meet with the PBA and/or the employee within 20 working days from receipt of the appeal. The Superintendent, or designee, shall take appropriate action, including remanding the grievance to Step 2 for further consideration, and shall issue a written determination within 10 working days of the Step 3 review.

Step 3. (Non-Contract Grievance) In the event the grievance has not been resolved at Step 2, then an appeal may be taken, in writing, to the Superintendent within 10 working days after receipt of the Step 2 determination for a review of such determination. The Superintendent, or designee, shall meet with the grievant to review the member's grievance within 20 working days of the receipt of the appeal. The Superintendent, or designee, shall take appropriate action, including remanding the grievance to Step 2 for further consideration, and shall issue a written determination within 10 working days of the Step 3 review.

Step 4. (Contract Grievance) In the event that the grievance has not been satisfactorily resolved at Step 3, then the President of the PBA or designee shall have the exclusive right to refer to arbitration any unresolved contract grievance concerning the interpretation or application of any term of this Agreement by serving written notices on the Director of Employee Relations not later than 10 working days following receipt of the Step 3 determination. Such notice shall identify the provisions of the Agreement, the member or members involved, and include a copy of the grievance.

Step 4. (Non-Contract Grievance)

1. Any non-contract grievance unresolved at Step 3, to the extent that the grievance does not involve appointment, promotion or assignment of a member for a non-competitive position, may be appealed in writing on forms to be provided by the State to the Director of Employee Relations within 10 working days of receipt of the Step 3 determination.

2. The Director of Employee Relations, or designee, shall schedule a meeting to review the grievance with the grievant within 20 working days of the receipt of an appeal from Step 3 and shall issue a determination in writing within twenty working days of such meeting. Witnesses may be called at this step as either party deems necessary.

1. Within a reasonable time after the effective date of this Agreement the Director of Employee Relations and the President of the PBA, or their designees, shall meet to agree upon a permanent panel of 10 arbitrators selected from lists submitted by the parties. Arbitrators for each individual arbitration will be assigned from this panel on a rotating basis. Initial assignments shall be determined by lot.

2. At least 10 working days prior to the arbitration hearing the State and the PBA shall meet to frame the issues to be submitted to the arbitrator and to stipulate the facts of the matter in an effort to expedite the hearing.

3. The arbitrator shall not have the power to add to, subtract from or modify the provisions of this Agreement and shall confine the decision solely to the interpretation and application of this Agreement. The arbitrator shall be confined to the precise issue submitted for arbitration and shall have no authority to determine any other issues not so submitted to the arbitrator nor shall the arbitrator submit observations or declarations of opinion which are not essential in reaching the determination.

4. The decision or award of the arbitrator shall be final and binding upon the State, the PBA and the grievant or grievants to the extent permitted by and in accordance with applicable law and this Agreement.

5. All fees and expenses of the arbitrator shall be divided equally between the parties. Each party shall bear the costs of preparing and presenting its own case.

6. The arbitrator shall hold a hearing at a time and place convenient to the parties as expeditiously as possible after the arbitrator's selection and shall issue a decision as soon as possible after the close of the hearing. The arbitrator shall be bound by the then effective rules of the American Arbitration Association which are applicable to a labor arbitration, except where they conflict with a specific provision of this Agreement.

7. The parties agree that the interpretation and application of a term of this agreement by an arbitrator shall be the manner in which that term is interpreted or applied for the duration of this agreement.

1. A member is entitled to PBA representation at grievance and arbitration meetings. The PBA shall have the exclusive right to represent members in any grievance; provided, however, that any member or group of members shall have the right to present the member's or members own grievance at Steps 1 through 3 of the non-contract procedure without representation of any kind; provided further that no resolution of a grievance shall be inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement. The PBA shall receive copies of written determinations at all steps and shall have the right to be present at any grievance step meeting involving a contract grievance.

2. The PBA shall furnish the State with names and work locations of all Trooper Board of Directors members and shall notify the State of any changes in such list. The State shall grant employee organization leave, as required, to such PBA representatives to represent a grievant in grievance and arbitration matters.

3. Recognizing that all evidence should be introduced at the Step 2 meeting, a grievant or the PBA may request and be allowed to have a reasonable number of witnesses present at the meeting, to give pertinent testimony supporting the grievance. The grievant(s) and any necessary witness(es) shall be granted employee organization leave as required for such appearances.

1. All time limits contained in this Article may be extended by mutual agreement, except that extending the time for filing a grievance shall require the agreement of the President of the PBA or designee and the Director of Employee Relations or designee.

2. The parties may mutually agree when circumstances warrant to bypass steps of the grievance procedure.

3. The failure by the State to meet a deadline specified herein shall permit advancing the matter to the next step. The failure of the grievant or the PBA to file an appeal within the time limit specified shall be deemed to be a settlement of the grievance.

4. The New York State Police is a semi-military organization and it is the duty of every member to obey every lawful command or order issued orally or in writing and failure to do so may result in a breakdown in discipline and serious consequences. Orders must be obeyed and grievance procedures invoked later. Any member of the New York State Police who fails to carry out orders or comply with rules, regulations or instructions is subject to disciplinary action.

5. Determinations at Step 1 and subsequent steps, shall be in writing and shall contain a review of the contentions, evidence presented and the reasons for the determination.

6. The settlement or an award upon a grievance may or may not be retroactive as the equities of each case demand, but in no event shall such resolution be retroactive to a date earlier than 20 working days prior to the date the grievance was first presented or the date the grievance occurred, whichever is the later date.

7. Grievance resolutions or decisions at Steps 1, 2 and 3 shall not constitute a precedent in any arbitration or other proceeding.

8. The PBA and the State may agree to the initiation of grievances involving members in more than one troop or class grievances directly at Step 3.

9. The PBA may initiate non-contract grievances concerning alleged safety or health hazards, unsatisfactory physical facilities, materials or equipment at the appropriate step of this grievance procedure.

10. If grievances are initiated at Step 3, necessary witnesses and evidence shall be presented and considered at Step 3.

11. The term "day" as used in the grievance procedure means a working day. For this purpose a working day is defined as Monday through Friday, regardless of the actual schedule of the grievant, excluding holidays recognized by the State as an employer.