Minutes 12-03-03 MINUTES OF THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING SESSION BETWEEN
THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FIREMEN & OILERS, WHITE-COLLAR
WORKERS, AND THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, HELD ON WEDNESDAY,
DECEMBER 3, 2003 AT 9:00 A.M. IN CONFERENCE ROOM C,
WEST WING, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA
Present
For NCF&O
For the City:
Sharon Munley, President, Local 1227
Michael Ricard, Steward, Building Division
Wilfred Hawkins, Assistant City Manager
Arthur Lee, Director of Human Resources
Opening Remarks
Mr. Lee called the meeting to order at 9:25 a.m. and distributed an updated matrix.
Approval of Minutes of October 30, 2003
Mr. Lee had the following changes to the minutes:
Page 2, fifth paragraph, 5th line the word "cold" should be changed to "could."
Page 4, third full paragraph, that reads:
"The City wants the grievance procedure to be included in the
discipline procedure so that a manager or an employee reading it
would be able to see the entire procedure in one place, from start
to finish. The City would also like a separate grievance article for
non-discipline matters, even though the language might be the
same."
Mr. Lee was not certain if this was actually said. Ms. Munley recalled the discussion
that this might be confusing. Mr. Lee stated from the City's perspective, the City would
like to have the grievance procedure and the discipline procedure included in the same
section. They would be separate procedures, but would be in the same section.
Mr. Hawkins stated that the City would like to include a grievance procedure up to
arbitration within the progressive discipline article. It should be in one place because
there are grievance procedures in other places in the contract, but there was no specific
grievance procedure included with the progressive discipline. The City would like to
have progressive discipline in one place. It would still be feasible to have a grievance
procedure in other articles.
Meeting Minutes
White-Collar Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 3, 2003
Ms. Munley felt that the index to the School District contract might be what the City is
looking for. Mr. Lee requested that Ms. Munley furnish him with a copy and she will
have it faxed to him.
On page 7, fifth full paragraph, seventh line, the word "diversity" should be
changed to "diversify."
There were no other changes to the minutes.
Job Postin.q
Ms. Munley thought it might be a good idea to form a committee comprised of blue-
collar, white-collar and management representatives to determine how jobs should be
posted. She suggested that language to this effect could be placed in the contract itself
or that they could come up with a MOU to be voted upon separately. Ms. Munley noted
that the City wanted to remove this from the contract, and she did not think that the
Union would agree to that.
Mr. Hawkins noted that there are actually two processes; there is the selection process
and the posting and how someone is selected for the position. Mr. Hawkins said that
the City did not want to be bound to language in a contract involving this process, since
the process is always evolving. He did think that certain criteria should be developed
for certain positions, which could be included in the contract. He also thought that a
person must be able to demonstrate certain skills that apply to certain jobs.
Mr. Lee noted that testing and assessment are very technical and if the testing is not
done correctly, people challenge that. He also thought that many people are not adept
at this and need to be trained to do testing properly. Because of this, many
organizations have gone to behavioral interviews, which can be defended better, since
they are based upon content and what the person does on the job. Ms. Munley inquired
if there was a process to review the interview scores and Mr. Lee responded that there
was and explained the process to her.
Mr. Ricard asked if the City would agree to put some language in the contract regarding
forming a committee and what would happen after the committee comes up with a
determination. Mr. Lee said that whatever the committee comes up with, it should be
Citywide and go into the PPM. Ms. Munley pointed out that if there were any changes,
the Union would be able to impact bargain.
Mr. Hawkins recommended that the Union review what had transpired during the blue-
collar negotiations yesterday and determine if any of the language could apply to the
white-collar contract.
Ms. Munley requested to caucus at 9:55 A.M.
The Meeting reconvened at 10:45 a.m.
Meeting Minutes
White-Collar Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 3, 2003
The following Articles were TA'd by the Union and the City:
· Compensatory Time
· Management Rights
· Leave of Absence
· Seniority & Layoff & Recall
Ms. Munley stated that three Articles that were TA'd by the blue-collar could be cleaned
up and TA'd for the white-collar as follows: Union Representation, *Collective
Bargaining and *Union Time Pool.
Union Representation
Mr. Lee pointed out that there would be a different number of stewards for the white-
collar contract, and Ms. Munley stated that there would be four (4) stewards.
Mr. Hawkins inquired if the number of hours would remain the same. Mr. Lee thought
that there were fewer hours. Mr. Hawkins stated that it was 100 hours. After these
three Articles were cleaned up, the Union and the City TA'd them and furnished copies
to the Recording Secretary for inclusion in the City Clerk's records.
With regard to Work Breaks, it was decided not to include this Article in the white-collar
contract, since the white-collar employees are more flexible than the blue-collar
employees.
*Longevity Benefit, *Bonus Days, *Tuition Reimbursement and *Posting of the
Agreement Articles were also TA'd. Copies were furnished to the Recording
Secretary for inclusion in the City Clerk's records.
Ms. Munley did not find the Insurance Article in the packet and Mr. Lee stated that this
was included under General Provisions and the Insurance provision was also TA'd.
Ms. Munley inquired about the City Manager's Incentive Program, and Mr. Hawkins
stated that this was in the PPM. The City was not agreeable to changing this.
With regard to the City Manager's Incentive Program, Mr. Ricard inquired if this was
going to be funded. Mr. Hawkins explained that some departments put money into their
budget for incentives and some do not. The City Manager does not object if a
department wants to have an incentive program, but the department director has to
budget for this. Mr. Ricard said that the wording states that the City Manager would do
it. Mr. Hawkins responded that it is up to the department to do an incentive program,
not the City Manager. Mr. Ricard felt that since this was not funded that it should not be
included in the contract.
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Meeting Minutes
White-Collar Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 3, 2003
Mr. Hawkins also did not think that the Incentive Program should be included in the
contract since it is based upon budget availability. Mr. Lee noted that there is a
provision that provides for a $500 bonus in the "Bonus Increases" ,Article.
Military Leave Article was next TA'd.
Ms. Munley remarked about the Unauthorized Absence from Work Article and said
that there was an additional sentence that needed to be added. The sections will be
renumbered and language will be added to state, "An employee who is absent for three
days without notice will be deemed to have abandoned his job." The Article will be TA'd
at the next meeting.
Ms. Munley requested to address Job Posting and Bidding again. She felt that they
could get through Job Posting and Bidding. Recruitment and Selection might need more
discussion. Mr. Hawkins said that these topics should be discussed separately. Ms.
Munley felt that if and when there was going to be a reduction in the workforce, job
openings should not be posted to avoid having employees apply for them because
those jobs are filled by employees whose jobs were being eliminated. Mr. Hawkins
agreed with this. Ms. Munley also pointed out that the Union is supposed to be notified
whenever there is going to be a layoff.
Ms. Munley requested that there be language added to state that the process would not
be interrupted by other events, such as reduction in the workforce and layoffs. This
would allow employees an opportunity to bump if they were going to lose their jobs. Ms.
Munley asked the City if they would agree to add language to accomplish what she just
discussed. She suggested adding some language that would set out how to handle
situations "when non-bargaining unit workers are being placed in the bargaining unit."
Mr. Ricard did not think that this happened very often. Mr. Lee stated that in his 16
years of service, there have only been about five employees that were laid off. This
year department heads were asked to cut their budgets in order to get their budgets to
the level that the City Manager requested. This was done mostly through
reorganization. Mr. Lee was agreeable to adding some type of language that the City
would notify the Union in the event of a layoff before going through the process to fill a
position.
The parties TA'd Job Posting and Bidding.
It was agreed that some language would be added to the Recruitment and Selection
that would address layoffs, but that it needed to be discussed further.
Dues Deduction. Language has been added to state, "COPE deductions will be
remitted to the Union in a separate check on a quarterly basis beginning April 2004."
The Article was TA'd with the addition of this new language.
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Meeting Minutes
White-Collar Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 3, 2003
Uniforms
Ms. Munley said that the female civilian employees in the Records Section of the Police
Department are uncomfortable in their new uniforms and feel they are not safe outside
because they look like policemen. They would like to wear polo shirts and slacks. Mr.
Hawkins noted that they would be the same slacks because the same supplier that
supplies the uniforms to the Police Department furnishes them. Ms. Munley pointed out
that the employees in the Fire Department wore polo shirts.
Mr. Hawkins said that he would have to discuss this with Chief Gage. He was under the
impression that the employees wanted to wear uniforms. Mr. Hawkins also requested
that Ms. Munley speak with these employees to determine what they would like to wear
and bring it back to him.
With regard to uniforms, Ms. Munley pointed out that in the blue-collar contract,
employees receive 10 shirts and 5 pairs of pants. She would like some kind of provision
for white-collar employees as well. She was referring to Code Compliance and the
Building Inspectors. Mr. Hawkins pointed out that the Code Compliance employees
chose their outfits, which are polo shirts with kaki pants. Mr. Ricard would like it set out
in the contract how many shirts and pants they would be entitled to each year.
Mr. Hawkins said that a department should decide whether they are going to wear
uniforms and not have some employees wear uniforms and others who do not. If a
department decides to wear uniforms, then everybody should participate. He wanted to
avoid a mishmash in a department. Mr. Ricard said that he would speak to the other
building inspectors to determine what they would prefer. Mr. Ricard would like to have
jackets furnished as well. Mr. Hawkins stated that the City would be providing jackets
once the blue-collar contract is passed because that contract provides that jackets
would be provided bi-annually. Mr. Hawkins was agreeable to adding jackets to the
white-collar contract as well.
Ms. Munley asked Mr. Ricard to speak with the Code Compliance employees to
determine if they were pleased with the uniform situation.
Holidays
Ms. Munley said that the language that states an employee can take their birthday off,
but would be charged with a vacation day should be deleted. The City was not willing to
add an employee's birthday as a paid holiday. Since the City would not agree to this,
she felt that the language was no longer applicable. After discussion, it was decided to
leave the language in the Article as currently written to avoid any confusion. The
Holiday Article was TA'd.
With regard to safety shoes, Ms. Munley noted that the language in the white-collar
contract would be the same as in the blue-collar contract. A person would receive $160,
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Meeting Minutes
White-Collar Bargaining Session
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 3, 2003
$180 and $200 during the first, second and third years of the contract. If a person does
not use all the money for shoes, they could receive the money at the end of the year.
Also the City would pay for specialty shoes. This language needs to be cleaned up.
Bonus Increases Article providing that an employee would receive up to $500 for
exceptional work was TA'd.
Mr. Ricard asked about increasing the automobile allowance and stated what they
currently receive does not cover the expenses for his automobile. Currently they
receive $425 a month, and they are required to carry business insurance, which is
expensive. Mr. Hawkins requested that the Union propose a figure. Ms. Munley stated
that a figure had been proposed and was included in Article 11 of the Union's proposal.
Mr. Hawkins pointed out that managers who receive a car allowance do not receive as
much as the Union is proposing; however, Mr. Hawkins would speak to the City
Manager about this.
Next Meeting Date
The next meeting is scheduled for December 16th at 1:30 p.m. There will be no
meeting on December 18th.
Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 12:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara M. Madden
Recording Secretary
(December 10, 2003)
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