Portland Fire Fighters' Ass'n, Local 43 v. City of Portland

The collective bargaining agreement unambiguously provides for arbitration of employee grievances only. It spells out a four-step grievance process. Arbitration is the fourth step, but it is expressly contingent on the completion of the other three steps, each of which is limited to employee grievances. Thus, arbitration is not generally available to resolve any dispute arising under the agreement. It is applicable *97only to employee grievances that cannot be resolved by completion of the first three steps of the dispute resolution process that the contract details. The majority ignores the…