Minutes 07-18-02 Contractual Negation Meeting between IAFF Local 1891
And the City of Boynton Beach held on Thursday, July 18, 2002
At 12:30 p.m. in Conference Room B, City Hall, Boynton Beach, Florida
Present:
For IAFF:
Mike Fitzpatrick Treasurer x6626
Barkley Garnsey Business Agent x6327
Randy Jute President x6340
Matt Keeler Secretary x6340
Dean Kinser Vice President x6340
For the City:
Carol Cheek HR Coordinator x6278
Wilfred Hawkins Assistant City Manager x6012
Mary Munro Budget Coordinator x6314
Jim Ness Deputy Fire Chief x6333
Opening and Introduction
Mr. Hawkins convened the meeting at 12:35 p.m. and requested that all persons
present state their name for the record. Barbara Madden, Recording Secretary,
recorded the meeting and took notes for the purpose of transcribing the minutes
of the meeting. A sign in sheet was circulated and is attached to the minutes.
Mr. Jute introduced Michael Gergora, President of Boca Raton Fireflghters'
Union, who was invited today to speak about their workweek hours. Mr. Gergora
was not present to negotiate, but to answer any questions. Mr. Jute requested
that Mr. Gergora be moved up on the agenda, which was agreed to.
Mr. Jute said that they wanted to discuss work hours and felt that having Mr.
Gergora present would be of assistance.
Presentation (Michael Gergora):
Mr. Gergora hoped to answer questions and provide insight on how Boca's work
shift is a benefit to both employees and the City. He has been a Union Officer for
20 years and is the 4th District Vice President for the State of Florida. He does
contract negotiations and mediations throughout the State.
He reported that Boca Raton has been on the 24/72-hour shift that equals a 42-
hour workweek, which is six hours less than Boynton Beach's workweek. This
equates to 312 hours per year. Boca Raton has been on this schedule Since
1974 and there are administrative benefits to adopt this workweek. The most
Meeting Minutes
IAFF Local 1891 Contract Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
July 18, 2002
apparent benefit is the elimination of Kelly Days. This avoids having to find
personnel for training purposes because everyone's schedule is known. It is very
difficult to administer Kelly Days with regard to keeping track of personnel.
Most of their training that is required by State law is done on Tuesday through
Friday because those are the four shifts. Monday is the makeup day. This
eliminates overtime and ensures a consistency of the programs. It also is easier
to keep track of vacation days with the elimination of Kelly Days.
This is also a great recruitment tool. There is a tremendous demand for
personnel, but Boca is more fortunate because not only does Boca offer a
competitive pay, it also has the shift, which is a benefit to the employee. The 42-
hour workweek also affords employees more recovery time, thus contributing to a
decrease in sick time. These are tangible savings to the City. Only offering
competitive wages will not separate Boynton Beach from the other fire
departments; you need to offer other types of benefits, which can be achieved by
offering the 24-hour shift.
Mr. Gergora envisions that there will be competition among municipalities and
the County for 500 to 600 jobs in the next couple of years. Mr. Gergora stated
that he lives in Boynton Beach and fully supports the new fire stations in the City,
which is needed for the volume of calls received in the City. He pointed out that
Boynton Beach is the hardest working Fire Department in the County. Boca
Raton has six stations staffed by 150 personnel, plus two part time stations for
overtime vehicles, and operates the 24/72-hour shift. Boca Raton is also
opening two stations. The County will be hiring 200 people this year and will be
opening more stations. He pointed out that in the County there are approximately
400 personnel in the DROP Plan which means it will be difficult to compete for
staff.
If you don't offer more, people will come to Boynton Beach as a training ground
and leave after a couple of years, which has happened in Lake Worth and
Riveria Beach. When this happens, it is a waste of taxpayer money. He pointed
out if the City doesn't get quality, competitive people, they won't make probation
and the City has wasted its money.
In summary, the 24/72-hour shift results in benefits administratively for
scheduling, recruitment and is a savings in taxpayer dollars.
Mr. Hawkins asked specifically what the hours were and Mr. Gergora stated that
personnel work 24 hours on and 72 hours off, which equates to a 2,184 hour
workweek (yearly) in comparison to the City's 2,496 hour workweek (yearly),
which is 312 hours (yearly), or six hours per week less than what personnel
currently work in the City.
Mr. Gergora stated even though a fourth shift would be added, it is not necessary
to add another crew of 22 people. The 24/72-hour shift creates a 7/8's factor,
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Boynton Beach, Florida
July 18, 2002
which means for every 7 firefighters that Boca uses, Boynton Beach would need
8. So by adding another shift, a 22-man crew would be divided by eight.
Mr. Jute responded that this would mean Boynton Beach would need an
additional 12 people to make up another shift since the Kelly Days would be
eliminated.
Mr. Hawkins noted that tangible savings would be (1) possible less sick time that
would equate to less overtime and (2) easier to schedule training.
Mr. Garnsey pointed out that if someone misses training because they are out on
Kelly Day, they get paid to come back in to be trained.
Mr. Gergora said that if someone was needed for overtime there are only two
extra shifts to choose from. If you had three shifts to pool from, it would be easier
to locate people to come in.
Chief Ness asked why Boca Raton changed to this type of workweek. Mr.
Gergora stated there were a number of factors, one of which was a great deal of
sick time usage and the turnover was high. Mr. Gergora also pointed out that
there are outstanding court cases involving EMS workers working over a 40-hour
workweek and being paid overtime for any time worked over 40 hours. If the
case prevails, Boca's exposure would only be two hours, but Boynton Beach's
would be eight hours.
Mr. Gergora concluded his presentation.
Mr. Hawkins asked why the union was considering this change.
Mr. Jute responded that the call load volume versus manpower has gotten to be
overwhelming. Further they feel that the City has been tardy in getting the
assessment, building more stations and hiring more manpower that has created
this problem.
Mr. Garnsey calculated some statistics from other municipalities and compared
population, number of personnel and how many calls they run per year. Mr.
Garnsey ranked the communities by population divided by the number of
firefighters and how many calls each firefighter made. Boynton Beach came out
on top. Mr. Garnsey presented the chart to Mr. Hawkins for his review. Boynton
Beach has one firefighter for every 710 people. The next municipality has one
firefighter for every 575 people. Boynton Beach runs 122 calls per person.
Mr. Jute stated that the work does not stop, especially during season it is non-
stop. They are extremely understaffed, but work efficiently for the cost. Over the
past ten years the calls have doubled, but personnel has increased little.
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Boynton Beach, Florida
July 18, 2002
Mr. Jute pointed out that the City now has contracts with the Village of Golf,
Hypoluxo and Ocean Ridge for medical coverage without adding any personnel.
Mr. Jute pointed out that fire personnel is at Ocean Ridge a great deal of the time
and the City is losing money on this contract. He noted that the money collected
from these contracts goes to the City.
Mr. Hawkins inquired if they switched to the proposed work schedule would new
personnel be required?
Mr. Jute stated it would require 12 new people.
Mr. Fitzpatrick pointed out that 22 personnel would be needed on shift, but only
12 to 13 new personnel would be necessary. The remaining personnel would
come from current personnel since there would no longer be Kelly Days.
Mr. Jute pointed out that it is difficult to get people to work overtime the next day
after working a 24-hour shift.
Mr. Hawkins stated that they would have to do calculations to determine the
overtime savings. Also, the cost of adding 13 new people must be looked at, as
well as the cost savings without having Kelly Days and overtime being reduced.
Chief Ness stated that they calculated for the budget 12 employees for the new
station at a cost of approximately $600,000.
Mr. Jute said that even if the City went to the 42-hour work week, the City would
still be getting the best deal for its money per call load, per person.
For comparison purposes, Mr. Hawkins felt that Deerfield Beach and Delray
Beach could be used. Mr. Hawkins would like to see some projected cost
savings on the administrative side as far as training and more specifically the
overtime savings.
Chief Ness inquired if any Cities have changed to this work schedule and Mr.
Jute said there were none locally. There were other cities in Florida on a 42-hour
workweek, but he wasn't sure who they were. Mr. Keeler stated that the only
other States employing this method are Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and
Canada.
Mr. Hawkins inquired if most of the call volume was related to medical and Mr.
Garnsey stated it was around 60%.
Also, Mr. Jute pointed out with all the new apartments going up in the City there
has been a tremendous increase in false alarms.
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Boynton Beach, Florida
July 18, 2002
Mr. Hawkins inquired if there would be enough room for the new personnel. Mr.
Fitzpatrick responded that the only thing that they would need is another set of
lockers for Station #2.
Chief Ness thought there might be a problem finding the right people.
Mr. Jute stated that South Florida has always paid more than the remainder of
the State. However, with the growth taking place in Orange County, they now
pay more than South Florida and are attracting more candidates.
Mr. Hawkins said that he understood what was presented and that it would be
necessary to get feedback from Fire Administration. It would also be necessary
to find the cost benefits to justify the change. He pointed out that the General
Fund is still contributing to the fire budget, because they are not getting enough
money from the fire assessment. Mr. Hawkins asked if they figured out how to
transition this change incrementally?
Mr. Keeler said that the only way this could be done would be to start another
shift and not hire the full amount and pay overtime to cover the other slots. He
pointed out that every fourth day there will need to be 22 people coming from
somewhere.
Chief Ness asked about wages since personnel would be working six hours per
week less.
Mr. Jute said that they are open to discuss anything, but he feels that this is
something well earned and they are not looking at it as a reduction in pay.
Ms. Cheek inquired if the 12 additional personnel would include lieutenants,
captains and battalion chiefs?
Mr. Fitzpatrick responded that it did, but a new renk structure would have to be
established. It wouldn't be necessary to hire more officere.
Mr. Hawkins said he was not opposed to this, but pointed out that there might be
a financial impact and was not certain it could be done this year. He felt that this
might be something that could be put into effect next year.
Mr. Fitzpatrick thought that when the fourth station was up and running would be
the best time to make this change.
Mr. Hawkins said that this might be a hard sell to the general public.
Mr. Jute pointed out that there are more people and more buildings, which equals
more firefighters and more police and that they earn extra money for the City by
providing all these extra transports.
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IAFF Local 1891 Contract Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
July 18, 2002
Mr. Hawkins was not certain that the funds that Mr. Jute referred to could be
taken from its current use and applied elsewhere. Mr. Jute acknowledged that all
those funds go into the General Fund. Mr. Garnsey pointed out that only 18% of
the budget goes to the Fire Department.
Mr. Hawkins said that he would speak to Chief Bingham about this. Mr. Jute said
that he would bring back more information as well.
Mr. Fitzpatrick inquired when the Tradewinds debt would be paid. Ms. Munro
responded in 2010.
Mr. Kinser reported that they pay outside agencies to provide training and had to
cancel a training yesterday because the four units paid to be trained had to be
pulled out and they had to call Delray Beach and the County for mutual aid. The
City paid an agency for training yesterday and no training took place. Mr. Kinser
pointed out that today people could pick and choose where they want to work
and this would be a good incentive to get new people in the City.
Mr. Fitzpatrick stated that if there were transition costs, the City could count on
the Union for assistance.
Mr. Jute added that this would be a good recruitment tool.
Mr. Hawkins pointed out that the Fire Department has a good reputation. He
received a call from someone in Metro-Dade who was considering a change and
heard about Boynton Beach. Mr. Jute agreed with this statement.
Continuance of Contract Negotiation-~
Article 4 - Union Business
Mr. Hawkins requested to begin with this Article. He noted that when they last
met they agreed to the change in the language and that someone would make
the revision.
Mr. Keeler noted that the change Mr. Hawkins referred to was changing the
words "enough vacation" to "available vacation" that appears in the last sentence
of Section 2. He said that the change had been made and furnished a copy of
the Article to Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Jute signed off on this Article,
which is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
Article 2 - Discrimination
The new Article 2 was furnished to Mr. Hawkins for his review. Mr. Hawkins
stated he had no problem with the wording and requested that Ms. Cheek
forward the new Article to Legal for their review.
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IAFF Local 1891 Contract Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
July 18, 2002
Article 18- Compassionate Leave
The parties agreed to the changes as previously discussed and signed off on the
Article that is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
Article 22 - Court Time
Mr. Jute requested to review the revised Article, after which he agreed to the
changes. The parties signed off on the Article that is attached to the minutes of
this meeting.
Article 23 - Working out of Classification
Mr. Keeler furnished a copy to Mr. Hawkins to review. After Mr. Hawkins
reviewed the Article, he requested that Chief Ness look it over. Chief Ness
questioned the wording in Section 4 that stated "any current lieutenant or captain
upon signing this contract shall receive a increase in pay rate of 5% of base pay."
He did not recall this being discussed previously.
Mr. Jute stated that this wording should be under "wages".
Mr. Keeler made the necessary change to Article 23.
Chief Ness inquired why the step up was 10% for lieutenants and 5% for
captains? Chief Ness requested that this Article be deferred until he speaks with
Chief Bingham, to which Mr. Jute agreed.
Article 19 - Vacation
Mr. Garnsey noted that last time when the article was discussed, it was proposed
to eliminate Plan B. A new copy of the Article, with the changes, was furnished
to Mr. Hawkins, which he reviewed.
Section 2 on Page 5 states that the time for choosing vacation will change from a
calendar year to a fiscal year. However, on a one time only basis, vacation
choices will be made between January 1, 2003 through September 30, 2003.
This is a transition period only, after which all vacation time will be selected on a
fiscal year basis.
Mr. Hawkins did not see a problem with this change. Mr. Hawkins pointed out
that when the City changed to its current vacation plan (Plan B in the IAFF
contract), it was done citywide. Mr. Hawkins felt if the vacation time for the
firefighters was enhanced, it would have to be done citywide. He was not sure
that the City wanted to do this at this time. Mr. Hawkins noted that all employees
hired after October 1, 1993 receive only 6 vacation days the first year and 12 the
second year. He requested that he have an opportunity to speak to the City
Manager regarding proposed Article 19.
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Boynton Beach, Florida
July 18, 2002
Mr. Kinser said that Boynton Beach's Fire Department is the only one in the State
that has a two-tier vacation plan. Mr. Hawkins was not ruling this out, but did
request an opportunity to speak with Mr. Bressner.
Mr. Jute was of the opinion that this Article has been prepared to their liking and
requested that Mr. Hawkins come back to the next meeting with an opinion. He
did not realize that the City had a two-tier vacation plan.
Ms. Cheek pointed out that at the last session, days were added to Plan B and
Plan A was left alone.
Mr. Jute agreed to table Article 19.
Mr. Kinser inquired if the City ever did any cost savings analysis when it adopted
Plan B. Mr. Hawkins responded that when this was implemented it was
determined that there would be a savings to the City.
Article 29 - Vacancies and Promotions
Mr. Hawkins furnished a copy of revised Article 29 to Chief Ness to review since
this was the first time that he has seen the revised Article.
It was pointed out that Section 6, regarding the one-fourth of one point for each
full year of uninterrupted service, was the only new item in this Article. The
wording was taken directly from the Civil Service language. Ms. Cheek said she
needed to check on this. She thought when Civil Service was disbanded, this
was not done any more.
Chief Ness requested more time to review these changes.
Mr. Hawkins asked what the intent of the Article was.
Mr. Kinser responded that the revised Article is much clearer than previously
written. The purpose of the Article was to update it since Civil Service is no
longer in existence and many of the Fire Department's promotions were based
upon the old Civil Service regulations.
Mr. Hawkins inquired if the base salary increases in Section 3 were considered a
salary issue.
Mr. Kinser thought that it has been previously discussed that this promotional
range would be an increase. The implementation of this still needs to be
discussed.
Chief Ness inquired if a new lieutenant comes onboard would his salary be
higher than an incumbent lieutenant? Mr. Fitzpatrick responded that this would
not happen since there is a provision for adjustment for lieutenants and captains.
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Boynton Beach, Florida
July 18, 2002
Mr. Kinser pointed out that when a person was promoted, the new rate was
actually more than 5%, which was no longer in existence after 1994. The
purpose of this article is to make up for this disparity.
Mr. Hawkins noted that with regard to Article 29 there are still several issues that
need to be dealt with.
Article 14 - Wages
Mr. Hawkins noted that there is a need for an adjustment in the lieutenants'
salary. Mr. Hawkins would also like an agreement on what cities would be used
for comparison. He agreed that Deerfield Beach and Delray Beach would be
good comparables population wise and for manpower allocation, keeping in mind
that Boynton Beach does have a higher call volume. These two cities have
similar geographics and demographics with Boynton Beach.
Mr. Garnsey felt that there were other cities in the area that could also be used
for comparison. There are other Fire Departments that are taking employees
away including the County. Mr. Jute said that the County will be hiring over 200
personnel over the next couple of years.
Mr. Hawkins did not wish to include Boca Raton and felt that this would not be a
good comparison demographically or as to tax-base wise, or level-of-service
wise. Mr. Hawkins stated that Boynton Beach could not meet the salaries that
Boca Raton pays because the revenue is not there.
Mr. Jute suggested including West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County, which
Mr. Hawkins agreed to. Chief Ness felt, even though they were larger than
Boynton Beach, they were still very similar.
Mr. Garnsey would like Boca Raton left in for comparison along with Deerfield
Beach, Delray Beach, West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County. Mr. Hawkins
noted that the City doesn't even use Boca Raton for comparison for general
revenue purposes. Mr. Garnsey would like Boynton Beach to aspire to some of
the levels of service that Boca Raton offers.
Mr. Hawkins felt if Boynton Beach raised its salary level to that of Boca Raton
that Boca Raton would only raise their salary levels.
Mr. Kinser said that what he earns now after 10 years of service would be a
starting salary in Boca Raton. Further, he could take his vesting, leave the City
and go to work as a paramedic in Boca with almost the same pay, with less work
hours. Mr. Kinser said that Boynton Beach must stay competitive.
Mr. Hawkins inquired if there were other cities in other counties that could be
used for comparisons. Mr. Jute suggested Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, and
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IAFF Local 1891 Contract Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
July 18, 2002
Pompano. Mr. Hawkins agreed that these cities would be good for comparison.
Mr. Garnsey requested to add Pembroke Pines as well.
Mr. Hawkins agreed to use Boca Raton when comparing benefits and incentives,
but not salaries.
Mr. Hawkins inquired if any figures have been looked at for lieutenants and Ms.
Cheek responded that this has not been done yet.
Mr. Garnsey said that they haven't run any numbers either.
Mr. Kinser said that the 21 current officers would receive a 5% increase that
would give them a 10% promotional step. Any future promotions to lieutenant
would be 10%. This was dealt with in Article 29 (Promotions). The Captain's
salary would remain 5% higher than a Lieutenant.
Mr. Hawkins inquired if they wished to discuss longevity. Mr. Jute said that they
did have some issues regarding longevity, but if the City was not prepared to
discuss it, they could wait.
Mr. Hawkins inquired where longevity would be addressed in the contract. Mr.
Fitzpatrick thought it should be dealt with in Article 14 (Wages).
Ms. Cheek noted that longevity is a benefit under the PPM and is not considered
compensation
Mr. Jute said that they are reviewing longevity benefits of other departments and
they are putting some drafts together for the City's review. Longevity will be
included in the contract as a new Article.
Article 26 - Medical Certification
A copy of revised Article was furnished to Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Fitzpatrick said that Section 3 needed to be revised except for the first
sentence. Mr. Jute said that this language would be remaining in the contract.
Mr. Hawkins asked for clarification of the maximum paramedic pay. The contract
stated $8,486, but Mr. Jute pointed out that the maximum paramedic pay is
currently $7,488.
Mr. Fitzpatrick stated that some paramedics are receiving more money because
this is based on 15% of their annual wage. It was determined that it would be
best to go to a base rate and not use a pementage. Mr. Fitzpatrick noted that
paramedics at the high end would remain where they are. All new paramedics
would increase from $7,488 to $8,486. The $8,486 equates to an houdy rate of
$3.40 per hour over and above the base rate of pay.
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IAFF Local 1891 Contract Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
July 18, 2002
Mr. Hawkins reminded Mr. Jute that Chief Bingham had requested that all old
language be eliminated in the new contract, which is the reason only the first
sentence of Section 3 was to remain. Mr. Jute will look into this further.
Next Meeting
After checking calendars, it was determined that the next meeting would not be
scheduled until sometime after August 22nd. Mr. Keeler will e-mail Ms. Weise
with available meeting dates. Ms. Munro noted that she would be on vacation
the last two weeks of August. Mr. Hawkins requested that Steve Davis, Assistant
Finance Director attend the meeting.
Summary
2.
3.
4.
Some numbers will be run on the lieutenant's pay plan.
The comparable cities have been agreed upon.
Article 26 needs to be redefined.
Chief Ness will speak with Chief Bingham regarding the 42-hour
workweek.
Copies of all the articles discussed will be distributed with the
minutes.
Health Insurance
Mr. Jute asked for an update on the health insurance.
Mr. Hawkins reported that they are still looking at the numbers, but the City is not
in good shape as far as health insurance.
Mr. Jute inquired if there was a figure for the increase.
Ms. Cheek stated this would depend upon the pooling. Mr. Hawkins responded
that the percentage is higher than anticipated, but they have to determine how
much the City can put in without affecting individual contributions.
Ms. Cheek explained that the City was subsidizing some of the dependent
groups this year because when the City changed from three plans to two plans,
they wanted to make sure that no one would have to pay more if the City had
stayed with three plans. The City would like to increase all the dependent groups
by the same percentage and doing this could cause some problems.
Mr. Fitzpatrick inquired about the percentage of employees in the HMO
compared to the PPO. Ms. Cheek reported that approximately 60% of
employees are on the HMO. However, the Fire Department has two-thirds in the
PPO and only one-third in the HMO.
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IAFF Local 1891 Contract Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
July 18, 2002
Ms. Cheek stated the City is not looking to split the rates this year so that
members of the PPO would not have to pay more because the plan is more
expensive and the experience is well used.
Adjournment
The meeting properly adjourned at 3:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara M. Madden
Recording Secretary
(three tapes)
Attachments:
Sign in sheet
A~icle 4
A~icle 18
A~icle 19
A~icle 22
A~icle 26
A~icle 29
Original to:
Copies w/:
Attachments:
Wilfred Hawkins with original attachments
Mike Fitzpatrick
Barkley Garnsey
Randy Jute
Matt Keeler
Dean Kinser
Carol Cheek
Mary Munro
Jim Ness
(July 19, 2002)
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