Minutes 12-16-03 MINUTES OF THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING SESSION BETWEEN
THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FIREMEN & OILERS~ WHITE COLLAR
WORKERS~ AND THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH~ HELD ON TUESDAY~
DECEMBER 16~ 2003 AT 1:30 P.M. IN THE POLICE & FIRE CONFERENCE
ROOM, CITY HALL~ BOYNTON BEACH~ FLORIDA
Present
For NCF&O
Sharon Munley, President, Local 1227
Debbie Lytle, Chief Steward, Utilities
Michael Ricard, Steward, Building Division
For the City:
Wilfred Hawkins, Assistant City Manager
Arthur Lee, Director of Human Resources
Mr. Hawkins opened the meeting at 1:52 P.M. and a sign-up sheet was circulated. Mr.
Lee distributed the updated matrix.
Approval of Minutes of October 30, 2003 Meeting
There were no changes to the minutes.
Unauthorized Absence from Work
The City considered the Union's counter-proposal on this article and in discussion,
language was mutually agreed to about the actual period of time under which the terms
of Section 2 would apply. The City felt it was important not to leave this time period
open-ended.
Both parties gave T.A. to this article,
Safety & Health
Ms. Munley asked the City whether they would be amenable to giving the White Collar
bargaining unit members the same proposal as the Blue Collar, with the exception of
sunglasses for the lifeguards. Mr. Hawkins' initial response was, "no problem," but he
was not sure that the amount should be the same.
:It became clear that a list was needed of the job descriptions in the White Collar unit
that would call for safety shoes. :It was thought that such job descriptions might include
Code Enforcement, Licensing, Building :Inspectors, and Fire :Inspectors. Ms. Munley
thought that an allowance of $160 per year, and the language about specialty shoes
and medical necessity from the Blue Collar language, would be appropriate for the
White Collar unit.
Meeting Minutes
White Collar Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 16, 2003
Uniforms
The White Collar bargaining unit needs to do a poll about the uniform needs for each
group that is required to wear them.
The current contract calls for two polo shirts a year and Mr. Ricard said this was not
sufficient, and asked that the City consider providing five polo shirts per year. Mr.
Hawkins was not necessarily adverse to this, but wanted assurance that if more shirts
were provided, they would actually be worn. Also, Mr. Hawkins did not feel that it was
necessary to provide uniform pants in the White Collar unit. He stated that the
dispatchers in Communications were instructed to choose blue or tan polo shirts.
Ms. Munley said that after doing some research on the subject, the Union would make a
proposal that was consistent with the needs of the employees.
Standby and Callback
Ms. Munley stated that this varied from department to department in the White Collar
unit and that it needed to be standardized. Mr. Hawkins inquired about the personnel
who would be affected by this, and the Union response was: Fire Inspectors, Crime
Scene investigators, and the Laboratory technicians in the Utilities Department.
Wages
Mr. Hawkins declared that he would be presenting the White and Blue Collar wage
proposals to the City Commission after their regular meeting today. He further
explained that he would try to send the proposal to IVls. Munley with a cover letter. He
wanted to discuss it with Ms. Munley before dissemination to the stewards, but did not
think that there would be time this week since vacations were starting on both sides.
After the holiday and before the next meeting, he will speak with Ms. IVlunley and she
will distribute the information at that time.
Duration
Ms. Lytal stated that the duration would depend on the wage proposal. Mr. Ricard felt
that there should be a six months' separation between contracts, and that doing them
both at the same time was detrimental. There was some feeling that having an expired
contract and a new Commission was also detrimental to the success of the negotiations.
The City agreed that negotiations had gotten off to a slow start, partly due to some
detailed work that had to be done.
Meeting Minutes
White Collar Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 16, 2003
Next Meeting
There will be a White Collar negotiation session on .lanuary 8, 2004 at 1:30 p.m. at a
place to be determined.
Adjournment
The meeting duly adjourned at 2:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Collins
Recording Secretary
(121703)
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