Minutes 08-07-03 MINUTES OF THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING SESSION
BETWEEN THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FIREMEN & OILERS
WHITE COLLAR WORKERS AND THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH,
HELD ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2003 IN CONFERENCE ROOM C, WEST WING,
CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA AT 10:00 A.M.
Present
For NCF&O:
For the City:
Sharon Munley, President, Local 1227
Debbie Lytle, Chief Steward, Utilities
Michael Ricard, Steward, Building Division
Wilfred Hawkins, Assistant City Manager
Arthur Lee, Director of Human Resources
John Jordan, Assistant Director of Human Resources
Mr. Hawkins called the meeting to order at 10:11 a.m. and welcomed everyone. A sign
in sheet was circulated and everyone identified himself or herself.
Mr. Hawkins acknowledged that both parties will be bringing in experts whenever
necessary and Ms. Munley noted that this was agreed to during the blue-collar
negotiations.
Mr. Hawkins confirmed that the attorney is part of the team and whenever the attorney
is needed during the negotiations, the other party would be notified. Also, both parties
agreed that whenever it is necessary, experts would be brought to the negotiations to
address specific issues.
Ms. Lytle requested to be supplied with a list of the white-collar employees that they are
negotiating for because she is not certain who is and is not a Union member since
people get reclassified and job titles change. Mr. Hawkins agreed that this was needed
and he would like to have the same information.
Ms. Munley requested that she be furnished with a list of the new positions that are to
be included in the bargaining unit, as well as a list of positions that have been removed
from the bargaining unit.
Mr. Hawkins did not want to hold up the agreement and understood that they need to
have a clear understanding of whom they are talking about. Ms. Munley also said that
she did not want to see the agreement held up because of this. Mr. Hawkins said it was
important to know whom they were talking about.
Meeting Minutes
White Collar Collective Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, FL
August 7, 2003
Ms. Munley suggested having a session to deal with this issue alone and Mr. Hawkins
felt that they could devote a great part of one session to this. Mr. Hawkins stated that
he would furnish a list to Ms. Munley.
Mr. Hawkins requested to first set the basic ground rules. He stated that all sessions
would have a recording secretary to keep the parties on track. When the parties meet,
they would be coming to the next negotiation session prepared because they would
have the previous minutes to refer to. Also, this would avoid having to readdress items
and avoid jumping to different topics. Ms. Munley felt this was a good idea and said that
by reading the minutes sometimes the intent of what they wanted to say is not stated in
the minutes. Also, the minutes would let people know what they had said at the
meeting. Mr. Hawkins noted that people forget what they say and it is important during
negotiations to be precise as to what that person actually said.
Mr. Hawkins stated that the Clerk's Office is very good with timing and getting the
minutes out. Mr. Hawkins said that the minutes would be basically verbatim. The
Clerk's Office will distribute the minutes prior to the next meeting and needs to know to
whom to send the minutes. If any party has a specific address, they should furnish it to
the Clerk's Office.
Ms. Munley requested that her copy of the minutes be faxed to her at 366-9554.
The City team will be developing a working matrix and each issue that is discussed will
be entered on the matrix. The matrix will have columns that (1) list the issue that was
discussed, (2) contain any pertinent points brought out by either side, (3) whether the
item was agreed upon or if further discussion is needed, and (4) any pertinent points.
Also, there will be a column citing who would be responsible for follow through of a
particular task. The matrix will be a progressive summary of the issues, and will be the
City's responsibility. Mr. Hawkins will have it available at the next session.
Next addressed was setting a timeframe and Mr. Hawkins suggested that the parties
meet for two to two and one-half hours, unless there are deep issues that would require
the meeting to go on. He noted that these sessions would be taking place on the same
day for both Unions and felt that the parties needed time between meetings. It was
agreed that each white-collar session would begin at 9:30 a.m. and the blue-collar
sessions would meet at 1:00 p.m. and go to 3:00 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. The meetings are
scheduled for Thursdays and the dates for August have already been set. Mr. Hawkins
requested that this schedule be adhered to.
Ms. Munley said that it might be necessary to meet all day and Mr. Hawkins agreed that
towards the end of the negotiations this might be necessary. Mr. Hawkins was
optimistic that the next session would last longer and he was flexible on this.
Mr. Hawkins said that they were taking the approach of dealing with issues first that can
be knocked out quickly. Therefore, they have brought to the meeting some items that fit
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Meeting Minutes
White Collar Collective Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, FL
August 7, 2003
into this category that the parties could agree on quickly in order to get some
momentum. He would like any discussion on compensation issues to be addressed at
the end of the negotiations and they have come up with a "group" of compensation
issues. He felt that dealing with the compensation issues could bog down the
negotiations and de-motivate the whole process. He did not mean to infer that the
compensation issues would not go smoothly, but he would like to get some momentum
going.
Ms. Lytle did not care in what order the issues were addressed. Ms Munley asked if
they were going to address the performance issue.
Mr. Hawkins felt that they should be able to establish some common ground on the
compensation issue.
Ms. Munley stated that it was not unusual for the bargaining to take this route and that
the wage issue could be addressed last.
Mr. Hawkins said that he did not want to come to a meeting with surprises. He would
have preferred to submit today's items previously, but they were just finished yesterday
as he had been out sick for a while. He would prefer not to rush into things and felt that
people needed time to think things out. He felt that the parties should give themselves
an opportunity to discuss things.
Ms. Lytle asked if this process could be completed by September 30th. Mr. Hawkins felt
this was possible, provided that there were no drastic changes that need to be dealt
with.
Ms. Munley noted that they had set a date of August 28~h to submit final proposals. She
felt that they need to re-look at this date, since they will not be meeting as often as they
had anticipated during the month of August. Mr. Hawkins felt that this date was still
possible and that a lot of fundamentals from the previous contract have been
maintained.
Mr. Hawkins summed up by stating this was basically what the City was proposing and
felt the procedure could be kept uncomplicated. Ms. Munley said that this would have to
be determined after the Union receives the City's proposals.
Mr. Hawkins said that there were a lot of things that were looked at and it has to do with
how they think the City should be managed. He pointed out that there is a new
administrative management program in the City and one of the things discussed was
the whole idea of "past practice." Mr. Hawkins felt that this was a hindrance and they
would like to develop a brand new contract.
Ms. Munley responded that there is such an animal as "past practice" and when past
practices change, they should be made aware of them.
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White Collar Collective Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, FL
August 7, 2003
Mr. Hawkins would like the negotiations to start with a clean slate. As far as the issues
of past practices, he would like to have them refined and readdressed.
Ms. Munley asked Mr. Hawkins if he had any specific issues that he was referring to
and Mr. Hawkins stated uniforms, for example. Ms. Munley acknowledged that this was
an issue that they intended to bring to the table. Mr. Hawkins would like a fresh start to
emerge from this process with new outlooks.
Ms. Munley asked if Mr. Hawkins meant to do away with past practice.
Mr. Lee responded that there are changes and some of the changes present a
difference in philosophy. Whether it was past practices or not, they would like to
address it in the contract. Mr. Lee noted that past practice could change, as well as
evolve. You cannot always assume that a past practice will not change and that is why
the parties meet to discuss these issues.
Ms. Munley agreed that if something was clearly stated in the document and it was
ratified, then that is how it should be from that day forward. It cannot be assumed what
all those past practices were. Mr. Hawkins thought that the parties knew what past
practices needed to be discussed because they have been repetitive and continue to
reoccur.
With regard to caucusing, Mr. Hawkins agreed that caucusing would be allowed and did
not think it was necessary to discuss it further. He did note that when operational and
system issues arose, it would be necessary to bring in department heads or utilize other
resources, but this could be dealt with as the issues arose. Further, Mr. Hawkins did not
want the parties to rush things, but to take time to think about a proposal before it is
agreed upon.
Further, Mr. Hawkins would like to sign off on an item after it has been fully discussed
and not to have to go back and revisit the item once it is settled.
Ms. Munley thought it would be rare to go back to a TA item, but she did not want to
give up their right to go there if necessary. Mr. Hawkins said he would not ask Ms.
Munley to relinquish her right to revisit an item; he was merely trying to set some
parameters for the process.
Ms. Munley pointed out that they have met with the employees and have gathered
information on issues that are important to them. Mr. Hawkins stated that he did not
want to be misunderstood, but he would like the parties to agree to speak frankly and to
make sure the parties understood what they were discussing.
Ms. Munley pointed out that they came as a team and they are representing their
membership and have to bring them what they want. Mr. Hawkins acknowledged what
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Meeting Minutes
White Collar Collective Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, FL
August 7, 2003
Ms. Munley expressed and stated that he has a high regard for people and fully
understands her position.
Mr. Hawkins reported that they went through the entire contract to come up with
something new. They want to take the incremental approach to the matters in the
contract and not provide the entire document today. What they are providing are
matters that could be generic and on which they could move forward.
Mr. Lee said that they would be presenting articles that are not monetary, such as
preamble, recognition, representation of the City, Union representation, bulletin boards,
etc.
Ms. Munley pointed out that what the City viewed as non-monetary may be a monetary
issue to the Union.
Mr. Lee recited the remainder of the articles that included compensatory time that the
City would be presenting today. It was decided that compensatory time would be
discussed when the monetary issues were discussed. Ms. Munley inquired about
management rights and Mr. Lee stated that this would be discussed last.
Mr. Hawkins asked Ms. Munley for her opinion on taking this approach. Ms. Munley
pointed out that normally they would receive the entire proposal and felt doing it this
way may require more cross referencing. However, after consideration, she felt doing it
this way could work.
Ms. Munley stated that they would be presenting a document today, but have not dealt
with the wages. She also had other issues that she would like addressed such as the
grievance procedures. Ms. Munley felt that there were items in the agreement that could
be simplified.
Mr. Lee distributed, and then the parties reviewed, the following Articles:
· Preamble and Recognition were combined into one Article and shortened.
Ms. Lytle pointed out that the list referred to as Exhibit A in "Recognition" was not
attached and Mr. Hawkins stated that this needed to be clarified and they are working
on this.
Ms. Munley inquired why there were no Article or section numbers and Mr. Hawkins
said that they did this intentionally and that they were not necessary. He noted that the
various articles would be referenced in the table of contents. Ms. Munley disagreed and
felt that they were needed because when issues came up, article and section numbers
were necessary for referencing. Mr. Hawkins responded that they tried to simplify the
contract by eliminating article and section numbers.
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Meeting Minutes
White Collar Collective Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, FL
AugustT, 2003
Mr. Hawkins suggested that possibly another word could be substituted for Article
because they would like to reorganize the flow of content by condensing.
Ms. Munley requested that the Article numbers be put back into the contract. Mr. Lee
responded that the Article numbers may not be taken out and they want to look at each
section. He noted that they were trying to avoid having the contract jump around and
would like it to flow more. Mr. Hawkins also said that they would be willing to look at this
again. Mr. Hawkins said that they were trying to group certain articles instead of having
separate articles, for example an article for uniforms and an article for shoes. These
types of articles should be together.
Mr. Ricard inquired if a general outline has been prepared and Mr. Hawkins said that it
has not, but they have an idea of how they would like it to be. He did not want to
address this during negotiations.
· Representation of the City. The last sentence was deleted. Mr. Hawkins
explained that they would be dealing more with him and Mr. Lee.
Union Representation. Ms. Munley noted that the language changes are not
highlighted by strikethroughs or underlining and it is very difficult to determine the
changes in the Article.
Mr. Hawkins pointed out that there were a lot of changes to this Article and they could
be determined by comparing page 8 and 9 of the current Agreement to the new
language. Ms. Munley said that this would be time consuming because two people
would have to sit down in order to compare the change in the language.
With regard to the new language, Ms. Munley stated that forty (40) hours was not
enough time for collective bargaining for the Union stewards. Mr. Lee stated that the
language for the Union time pool has been moved to another article.
Mr. Hawkins reiterated that he did not expect the parties to look at everything presented
today and that the parties would need time to review the new language.
· Collective Barqainin.(i The language dealing with Collective Bargaining can be
currently found on page 9, section 6 of the current agreement.
Ms. Munley pointed out that all this language is new. Mr. Hawkins said that even
though the language is new, it has not changed drastically.
· Union Time Pool. Mr. Munley did not think that "voluntarily" contribute was
appropriate and usually they would require a mandatory one hour per year.
Mr. Hawkins said that they are not trying to dictate this and when the City worked with
the firefighters, they came up with a voluntary time pool that worked for them.
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White Collar Collective Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, FL
August7,2003
· Union Bulletin Board. No changes.
· Work Breaks. Employees will be allowed two fifteen (15) minute breaks a day.
Ms. Munley questioned the wording regarding employees who work in the field
having ten minutes prior to lunch break to return to the work area for clean up.
This ten-minute travel time covered travel time to and from the job site. It also
stated that this 10 minute period would not be counted as part of the lunch period
and that an employee is prohibited from stopping for personal business. She
questioned why an employee would not be allowed to stop for a sandwich before
he comes back to the work area. Mr. Hawkins stated that this needs to be
addressed further. It is not the City's intent to be that restrictive, they are merely
trying to set some parameters.
It was decided not to distribute the Article dealing with Compensatory Time and that this
would be addressed with wages.
· Transfers. Mr. Hawkins stated that they brought this to the table for clarification.
Ms. Lytle suggested that this be included under job posting or bidding. Mr. Hawkins
stated that this is another area that the City would like to address. Further, Ms. Lytle
questioned why the City's hiring practices were included in the Union Contract and Mr.
Hawkins agreed with this.
Ms. Munley thought that the language was verbatim to the blue-collar language. Mr.
Lee stated that the language is different from the blue-collar agreement. In the blue-
collar agreement there is language that if an employee transfers to a lower position they
would not retain the same salary.
Sick Leave Donations. Mr. Lee stated that this language is currently in Article
13, Section 6 A. and Ms. Munley said that this language should also be included
with leaves. Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Lee agreed with this.
· Jury Duty. No change in the language.
· Maintenance of Conditions. Mr. Hawkins felt that this could be a legal issue.
Ms. Munley said that this is a valuable Article. Ms. Lytle did not want it left out.
· Seniority & Layoff & Recall. Mr. Lee pointed out that there are some typos in
this Article and the lettering has been stricken through, which is also incorrect. In
all other respects, the language is the same.
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Meeting Minutes
White Collar Collective Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, FL
August 7, 2003
Ms. Munley pointed out that it is difficult to discern the changes in the Articles without
strikethroughs of the previous language. Mr. Lee will provide strikethroughs of the
Articles at the next meeting.
· Holidays. No comments.
· Posting of Agreement. Ms. Munley questioned why the City wanted to include
this in the Agreement, since the Agreement is already posted on the web.
· Insurance. There are no changes to this Article, and there will be no increase in
the premiums this year.
Personnel Files. Ms. Munley felt that this article should be included as part of
another article and Ms. Lytle suggested placing it under "Discipline." Mr. Lee
suggested that "General Provisions" would be more suitable.
· Savinas Clause. No change; no comments.
Dues Deduction. Mr. Lee pointed out that the first paragraph in Section 1 has
been eliminated. There were no other changes to this Article. Mr. Lee also
distributed the Authorization of Dues Form, which was on a separate page.
· Pension. No changes.
Substance Abuse. Ms. Munley requested that she be furnished with a copy of
the Ordinance dealing with this Article. Mr. Hawkins pointed out that the City
follows federal guidelines. Ms. Munley would like to see the testing guidelines
included in the contract and felt that the members needed to know what these
were. Mr. Hawkins said that he would furnish this.
· Probationary Period. No change; no comments.
· Duration. Mr. Lee pointed out that the City would like to have the contract run for
three years instead of two. Ms. Munley felt that this needed further discussion.
Mr. Hawkins pointed out that the City has already entered into three-year contracts with
other Unions. He felt that this worked better and pointed out that the City is now doing
five-year budgeting. Ms. Munley explained that the contract is usually based on a wage
package and it is difficult to determine what the economy would be in three years. Mr.
Hawkins said that doing projections might be beneficial.
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Meeting Minutes
White Collar Collective Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, FL
August 7, 2003
Ms. Munley distributed copies of the Union Proposal and the following comments
ensued:
The date has been changed to August 7, 2003.
· Preamble. No change.
· Recognition. Sections 2 and 3 have been deleted.
· Tv~es of Disciplinary Action. Language has been added in the second
paragraph requiring that the employee will be required to sign the form "within 24
hours(s) of receipt."
Grievance Procedures. Ms. Munley said that this needs more work. Section 4,
Paragraph A, has been deleted and Paragraph B, dealing with appeals, has been
changed.
Ms. Munley would like the arbitrators selected from the Federal Mediation and
Consultation Service. Also, they would like to have a set number of Arbitrators.
On Page 22, the Union will have the right to institute a "Class Action Grievance", when
the grievance affects more than one employee.
Mr. Hawkins questioned this and inquired how a class action would be determined and
who would be included.
Ms. Munley stated that if the issue were a wage issue, it would include all employees.
She also pointed out that language has been added on where to file a grievance.
Basic Work Week and Overtime. Language has been added to Section 4 that
states an employee that is absent, but on paid leave status, will have all hours in
paid status count towards overtime. However, employees on an unpaid status
will not be considered for overtime.
Also the language "for twenty (20) continuous work days" has been eliminated so that
employees who work in a higher classification shall receive a 5% increase without a set
time period.
In dealing with overtime, the seniority requirement has been deleted and employees will
be offered overtime on a rotating basis. Mr. Hawkins questioned if employees would
buy into this.
In Section 10, the Standby Language has been revised.
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Meeting Minutes
White Collar Collective Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, FL
August 7, 2003
· Compensatory Time. Compensatory time will be accrued and "paid" at time
and one-half.
Sick Leave. Ms. Munley stated that there needs to be an order of command
when reporting sick leave. The two-tier system for receiving cash for sick pay
should be eliminated as indicated in Section F. of Article 13.
· Li_~ht Duty. Ms. Munley would like to have the definition of light duty broadened.
Funeral Leave. The category "domestic partner" has been added as part of the
employee's immediate family. Mr. Hawkins stated that the addition of "domestic
partner" would have to go to the City Manager for review.
· Military Leave. Ms. Munley noted that a section has been added to Article 15
that states the City would compensate employees the difference in their military
pay, if called back to duty, and their regular pay. Mr. Hawkins responded that the
City already has this policy.
Ms. Munley inquired if the City continued to pay the City's portion of the employee's
pension while on military leave. She would like this to be a provision of the contract. Mr.
Hawkins was not certain if this was being done and would have to check on this. If this
is not being done, he explained that the Employee Pension Board would have to
approve this provision.
· Layoff and Recall. Section 2.c. has been changed so that layoff would be
made in reverse order of seniority within each classification, as opposed to
"within the department."
The language in Section 2.d has been changed to provide a severance package
of six (6) month's wages if an employee chooses to accept a lay-off.
· Holidays. They are requesting that an employee's birthday become a holiday
and that it not be charged as a vacation day to the employee. Mr. Hawkins noted
that the City Commission approves holidays and this would have to also be
approved by the Commission.
In Section 5 the provision giving the City Manager authority to reschedule
holidays has been deleted.
Vacation. The two-tier vacation system has been eliminated. Ms. Munley read
into the record the new language that would allow employees to bank vacation
leave. Further, employees could be paid their banked leave at their regular
straight time rate of pay.
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Meeting Minutes
White Collar Collective Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, FL
August 7, 2003
The language that employees may cash in up to 80 hours of vacation time for
emergencies has been deleted. Instead, employees would be allowed to cash in
up to 80 hours of accrued vacation time without a hardship requirement.
Wages, Section 3, Certification or License Pay. Ms. Munley explained that
many positions require certain types of certifications and licenses and that
employees should be compensated for this. Language dealing with certifications
is contained in Section 3 and would include, but not be limited to, Code
Enforcement Officers, Fire Inspector Examiners, Plan Examiners, and Crime
Scene Investigators. The new language provides that they would receive a 5%
stipend.
Mr. Hawkins responded that this would be something that they would have to look into
and that this could require a lengthy discussion, plus the necessity of changing the job
descriptions. Mr. Lee acknowledged that the City needs to look at its career
development programs.
· Safety and Health. Since many employees require various types of shoes, the
language in Section 2 has been changed to indicate that the City will reimburse
employees 100% for the cost of their shoes instead of the $75.00.
Mr. Hawkins stated that the City would look at this request.
Ms. Munley was not certain if this language actually belonged in the white-collar
contract since most employees for whom the City reimburses for their shoes are in the
blue-collar Union. Ms. Munley will determine if this paragraph is applicable to any
white-collar employees.
· General Provisions. The amount of tuition reimbursement has been increased
from $750 to $1,000 per fiscal year per employee.
Dues Deduction. The new Contract provides that any authorized COPE
deductions may now be done through payroll deductions in addition to union
dues. COPE deductions will be remitted to the Union by separate check.
Mr. Hawkins inquired what COPE deductions were and Ms. Munley explained that these
were voluntary Union employee contributions to political action committees. Mr.
Hawkins noted that this could account for additional administrative costs and Ms.
Munley said that they would be willing to pay a small fee for this. Mr. Hawkins will
discuss this with the Finance Department.
· Longevity Benefits. Bonuses have been added for employees with 25 and 30
years.
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Meeting Minutes
White Collar Collective Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, FL
August 7, 2003
City Manaqer Incentive Proqram. The first sentence dealing with incentives
being approved by the team's supervisor has been deleted.
Bonus Days. Provision has been added under "Accrual" that bonus days will be
added to the vacation "bank" leave.
Duration. Ms. Munley felt that this needed further clarification and was not
certain if a three-year contract would be appropriate, as she had concerns
regarding how wages would be dealt with.
Ms. Munley concluded the Union's presentation of their contract.
Ms. Munley asked if the City would be willing to do interest based bargaining between
the blue and white collar bargaining units and Mr. Hawkins was amenable to this idea.
Ms. Munley said that she would speak with both parties regarding interest based
bargaining. The only concern Mr. Hawkins had was that the parties have not had any
training in this type of bargaining, but he was optimistic that they could work at team
building and trust.
Mr. Hawkins said that everything is open to discussion, that it takes time to get
everything done, and the parties have to agree to put time into the negotiations.
Summary
Mr. Hawkins noted that the following items needed to be addressed: reimbursement for
education; preparation of an outline on how the contract would be organized; a matrix
would be brought to the next meeting; and the minutes will be distributed in advance of
the next meeting. Also, clarification is needed regarding shoes for white-collar
employees and the "domestic partner" issue.
Next Meetinq
The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 21st at 9:30 a.m. Ms. Lytle
expressed the importance of scheduling more meetings. Mr. Hawkins will check his
schedule to determine if an additional meeting day could be arranged for August.
The meeting properly adjourned at 12:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara M. Madden
Recording Secretary
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