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Minutes 12-10-04 MINUTES OF THE BLUE COLLAR AND WHITE COLLAR COMBINED COLLECTIVE BARGAINING SESSION BETWEEN THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FIREMEN & OILERS AND THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH HELD ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2004 AT 11:00 A.M. IN CONFERENCE ROOM B, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Present For NCF&O: Sharon Munley, Trustee, Local 1227 Bob Kruper, Union Steward Mike Osbom, Union Steward Jeff Mark, Union Steward Don Roberts, Union Steward Rick Smith, Union Steward Pam Welch, Union Steward John Pagliarulo, Union Steward Jim MacIntyre, Union Steward For the City: Wilfred Hawkins, Assistant City Manager Jeff Livergood, Public Works Director John Jordan, Assistant Director of Human Resources I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 11:24 a.m. II. Minutes Mr. Hawkins wanted everyone to understand that the reason the minutes were not available was that the City Clerk's office was short-handed. Everyone understood. Safety Shoes The stewards related the fact that supervisors were saying that safety shoes were not in the budget and making comments like, "You don't go out in the field often enough." Mr. Hawkins stated that he would address this with the supervisors. Certification Pay John Pagliarulo stated that if an individual was a structural plan reviewer, he could also obtain certification to do electrical plan review, mechanical plan review, and plumbing plan review. However, when hired, this kind of worker was told that if they got additional certifications, they would get a minimum of 2% for that certification. Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December 10, 2004 The way it had worked out in practice was that persons hired to do structural plan review that later obtained certification for electrical plan review were not being credited with 2% for that certification. Mr. Livergood thought that the salary study scheduled for January should produce adequate job descriptions so that this type of certification could be built into the base salary and paid from the beginning. When a person is hired, the certifications that the City wants for that position should be clear from the beginning. Ms. Munley stated that a person who had been at the City for 8 years and was in the middle of that scale was not going to realize any additional money for that certificate. He would only get more room at the "top." There is no incentive to go and get that certification. For example, Mike Osbom gets 5% for a water license. No matter where a person is in the pay scale, if he goes from a B to an A, they get 5%. That is the kind of parity they wanted to see. Overtime Assignments Ms. Munley believed that what was done for the Blue Collar unit would work for the White Collar unit. Basically, what was said for the Blue was that if you were the person doing the work during the day, you would be the person to be doing it on an overtime basis. It stays within the bargaining unit. Disaster Procedure Ms. Munley stated that the A team people should be allowed to go home to secure their own homes before doing their work for the City at large. Mr. Hawkins thought that the City already allowed and encouraged this. Mr. Osbom remarked that during the first hurricane emergency this year, he was allowed to go home, but not during the second one. Luckily he was able to do his work on his own home in the dark. Overtime - White Collar Mr. Pagliarulo requested that consideration be given to making sure that workers doing inspections for clients that have paid for overtime in advance actually get that overtime pay. There are times when the City does not pay overtime, i.e. when you did not work 40 hours. Perhaps you had jury duty, for example and came back to work and did the work for the pre-paid overtime client for two hours. Ms. Munley stated that if an employee were absent for funeral leave, jury duty, annual military leave, it would not count as overtime if an employee had not worked 40 hours. Everything else such as vacation, holidays, personal leave, and sick leave count as time worked. Mr. Pagliarulo stated that it had not happened yet but might the instance where a client had paid for overtime in advance and the employee might not get it because he was out on a kind of absence that did not count towards time worked. He wanted language put in the contract "just in case." Mr. Livergood thought that if this happened and the employee was paid for straight time Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December 10, 2004 because of the exclusions regarding time worked, the client who had paid for overtime work in advance would get a refund. White Collar Participation in Bargaining Sessions Mr. MacIntyre felt that the White Collar workers had been excluded from the bargaining table. Mr. Hawkins responded that the White Collar workers had definitely not been excluded, and that he had written to Ms. Munley stating that he wanted to negotiate on different dates for each unit. Mr. Maclntyre believed that the White Collar unit would be expected to accept whatever was negotiated for the Blue Collar. Mr. Hawkins stated that this was definitely not the case. A break was called at 11.'49 a.m. The meeting resumed at 12.'03 p.m. Combining the Blue and White Collar Articles The parties went through the White and Blue Collar agreements and decided on certain sections that were identical for both contracts. Ms. Munley suggested that the White Collar and Blue Collar units meet jointly on the articles so identified and separately on the articles that were unique to each unit. The articles that were identified as being the same were: Preamble Recognition Rights of Employees Management Rights Strikes Non-Discrimination Union Representation (w/exception of number of hours and stewards) Collective Bargaining Union Time Pool Bulletin Boards Comp Time Wages Promotion & Reclassification Standby & Callback Emergency Pay Pay for Training Working in Higher Class Sick Leave Workers Compensation Light Duty Vacation Bonus Days Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December I0, 2004 Holidays Funeral Leave Military Leave Leave of Absence Unauthorized Absence Jury Duty Seniority & Layoff Job Posting and Bidding Insurance Personnel Files Dues Deduction Pension Longevity Savings Clause Maintenance of Conditions Posting of Agreement Collateral Documents Substance Abuse (different but should be same per Mr. Hawkins) Grievance (except White Collar has a step before grievance) Bonus Increases (same but in different places in each contract) Work Breaks Different Language in White Collar and Blue Collar Contracts Basic Workweek and Overtime Task (Blue Collar only) Certification Pay Safety and Health Labor Management Tool Replacement Uniforms General Provisions Progressive Discipline (White Collar only) Time Records (Blue Collar only) It was understood by the parties that the same meant "same language," and that negotiations were still ongoing on all articles. Ms. Munley believed that the two units could meet jointly on approximately 43 of the 53 articles and separately on the rest. The City agreed to this plan. A lunch break was taken at 12:13p. m. The meeting resumed at l:49p, m. 4 Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December 10, 2004 Preamble - SQ The parties agreed to affix SQ (Status Quo) on the articles to which there were no changes. The first so marked was the Preamble. Recognition - SO Rights of Employees Section 5 of this article does not appear in the White Collar contract. The Union wanted to move it to Posting of the Agreement, Article 52, which is in both contracts. The City wanted to delete sections 2 and 3, but the Union wanted to preserve them. They determined after discussion that this article was actually different for Blue Collar and White Collar and would have to be addressed separately. Management Rights - SQ Ms. Munley noted that this article had been moved from the back of the contract to the front and this was all right with the Union as long as it was verbatim. Mr. Hawkins agreed that it was verbatim. Strikes - SQ Mr. Livcrgood asked why section 5.2 was included since State Statute did not allow strikes. Ms. Munley wanted it left in because anything could happen, even an illegal strike. Non-Discrimination - SQ According to Ms. Munley, this article was the same between Blue and White Collar, except in the White Collar it was not subject to grievance. The City proposal was to eliminate the Title VII information. Mr. Hawkins agreed to leave it in for both traits. Mr. Livergood asked why both units could not have language to the effect that, "This article is not subject to grievance or arbitration." Ms. Munley explained that the Blue Collar unit did not want this language in its contract. City Representation - SQ ] Union Representation Ms. Munlcy believed that this would require a lot of discussion due to thc City's proposal. 5 Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December 10, 2004 Bulletin Boards - SQ Grievance & Arbitration - Blue Collar; Progressive Discipline in White Collar Will require a lot of discussion. Compensatory Time The City wanted to strike any booking of time and either use or get paid for the compensatory time in the pay period following its accrual. If the comp time were not taken in this time period, the employee would be paid for it. The Union wanted to have 90 days in which to use the comp time. The City was concerned about the record keeping aspects of booking comp time. Ms. Welch explained the complicated process she had to follow about comp time when she acted as the payroll clerk. Mr. Hawkins commented that there had been a lot of disagreements over comp time. The City believed it was more efficient to pay the employees for comp time. He commented that when departments were short handed, the employees who had earned comp time did not have an opportunity to use it. Ms. Welch suggested that comp time be tracked on the paycheck stubs so each person would know exactly how much comp time they had accumulated. Mr. Hawkins will look into it with Payroll. Ms. Munley asked if anyone had asked Payroll what would make comp time more streamlined for them. Mr. Jordan stated that paying it in the next pay period was helping Payroll. Working in Higher Class Needs work. Wages Ms. Munley reiterated the Union's proposal on Wages. The committee to create a new performance measurement instrument should have equal numbers of representation from the Blue Collar, White Collar units and management. This group would analyze job descriptions and come up with quantitative measurements against them so that a person's performance could be measured against definite goals. A person could have a good idea of what they would have to do to get the best possible performance rating. A process had to be determined to talk about the proposed Pay Classification Study also. Promotions & Reclassifications The City proposed PPM language. Ms. Munley thought the language had been changed. Mr. Hawkins stated that the City had inserted PPM language in the Blue Collar contract, Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December 10, 2004 but the White Collar contract already had PPM language. Mr. Jordan stated that it was not quite verbatim. Ms. Munley stated that on the last contracts, the language was the same on this article in the Blue Collar and White Collar contracts. Mr. Hawkins felt that a close reading of the PPM would show that it captured most of what had been in the contracts. Standby & Callback The language was the same in the Blue and White Collar contracts. The City proposal changed this. The Union proposed language saying that if the beeper had to be passed around (if somebody had to go to football game), then the person receiving the beeper gets that pay, not the person handing the beeper off. This was in the Union proposal of 11-18-04. The City wanted to revert to the former practice, but the Union was very much against it. Ms. Munley stated that it had not ever been their intention to pass the beeper around in order to "work the system." Mr. Hawkins stated that there were some managerial procedural matters that he had to address in Utilities about this. Training Pay The White Collar agreed with the language in this article. Ms. Munley verified that the "incidental training" language was gone. Agreement was reached that working in a higher class begins from the moment the employer starts the higher class job. Emergency Pay Ms. Munley asked to see the Ordinance referenced in the City's proposal, "City-Wide Declaration of Local Emergency and Emergency Pay Ordinance Pending." She continued, saying that this had been the subject of a grievance settlement worked out with City Attorney Jim Cherof. Certification Pay Ms. Munley said that no pre-determined list of job-related certifications for the White Collar was completed in the previous round of negotiations. She thought this should be done this time. Sick Leave Needs work. 7 Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December 10, 2004 Vacation Needs work. Bonus Days Ms. Munley commented that the language should say a "day" rather than an 8 or 10-hour day. Mr. Hawkins said that in the 12/3 meeting it was decided to say, "according to shift hours." The day would be equal to a person's shift hours. Blue and White Collar representatives agreed on this article. Holidays The City wanted to take out the first paragraph pertaining to an employee's birthday. Both bargaining units agreed to move the paragraph to the Vacation article. Mr. Livergood asked how this affected the "without prior notice." Ms. Munley said this could come out since everyone is aware that they have to let management know if they are not coming in. The City agreed. Compassionate Leave Ms. Munley asked what had been lost. Mr. Hawkins stated that nothing was lost, and the PPM language had been inserted. The Union will have to look at this in caucus, but it seemed all right. Military Leave Page 61 of City's proposal on Military Leave was not in Ms. Munley's Blue Collar package. This was page 31 in the White Collar proposal. The Union could probably agree to it. Leave of Absence Will have to be discussed. Unauthorized Absence - SQ Seniority Ms. Munley said it seemed all right with the exception of the reference to outsourcing. She asked why it was put in there. Mr. Jordan said that the City had inserted the PPM language in this article. Ms. Munley did not have page 66 either. The Union requested removal of the word "outsourcing" from 6.3.A. Mr. Livergood wanted to check with the City Manager first. Since everyone agreed that the City had a right to do outsourcing, Mr. Hawkins agreed that this word could come out. Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December 10, 2004 Jury Duty Needs to be discussed. Job Posting/Bidding Needs work. Safety and Health Ms. Munley thought the White Collar language would probably be totally different. Recruitment and Selection Mr. Livergood inquired if the Union was o.k. with this and Ms. Munley responded that it was not and that this needed a great deal of discussion. Uniforms Ms. Munley felt that there was a lot of similarity between White and Blue on this article and an article could be created for the White Collar unit. The pieces that the White Collar was entitled to could be put into it. Insurance The Union wanted to leave the language from the last contract. Comprehensive medical included hospitalization so the City struck that word, but the Union wanted it left in, along with Vision Care. The remainder would be Status Quo. Personnel Files The City's proposal struck these words, "Prior disciplinary actions, beyond a two-year time frame, recorded on the employee personnel file that are not pertinent to the particular action being considered, shall not be referred to in any current disciplinary action. "The Union wanted this sentence put back in. General Provisions This was different for both bargaining units. Dues - SQ Tuition PPM language was inserted. Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December 10, 2004 [ Pension - SQ Mr. MacIntyre raised the issue of whether DROP employees were entitled to bonuses. Mr. Hawkins said that this was a pension issue and could not be regulated via the contract. Ms. Munley paraphrased this concept, saying that in the DROP, you were retired in terms of your pension but a DROP participant was still an employee of the City and subject to the labor agreement. The DROP participants should get their bonuses and so forth. Mr. Hawkins said the City was on its way to fixing this. Mr. Jordan said that in the DROP plan an employee was no longer entitled to bonuses or salary increases. Ms. Munley strongly disagreed, saying that the labor agreement could not be contradicted and that when a person entered the DROP program, it only affected their pension - contributions were no longer being made towards it by either party. It did not mean that they were no longer covered under the labor agreement. This was the case wherever she had DROP plans. Mr. Hawkins did not disagree with that, but did not feel it should be covered in the contract. Mr. Jordan said that the language needed to be clarified. Ms. Munley offered to come to the next Pension Board meeting. She reiterated that the Pension agreement could not circumvent the labor agreement. Mr. Hawkins said this would be the subject of an internal discussion. The City had to come to consensus on definitions. Ms. Munley asked if a statement could be placed in this article to the effect that, "Employees in the DROP plan continue to receive all benefits of the labor agreement." Mr. Hawkins stated that he would present it internally. Mr. Pagliarulo asked if a DROP employee was subject to the terms of Workers Compensation and the response was that they were subject to this. I Probationary Period - SQ Lon[evitv - SO Bonus Increases - SQ The City did not change this article. The language was the same in the White Collar agreement, but it was in a different place. 10 Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December 10, 2004 [ Labor Management - SQ - White Collar This only appears in the White Collar contract and it was Status Quo. Mr. Hawkins noted that the Blue Collar contract also addressed this, but it was pointed out that it did not have its own article. [ Savings Clause - SQ Maintenance of Conditions The City wanted to make changes to this article. The Agreement Not addressed. [ Collateral Documents - SQ For the record, Ms. Munley wanted the language to be noted, "...these documents govern us when they have been presented to us and we have agreed to them." Vacations After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that there could be 24 hours of emergency vacation. This leave did not require the supervisor's pre-approval but the supervisor must acknowledge the request prior to the start of the work shift or half-hour into the shift. The City will roll this in to 28.8. It was decided that emergency leave could be taken on an hourly basis if necessary. The Union wanted one hour for regular vacations also. The City wanted half a day for regular vacations also for things like doctor appointments. Some people would rather use vacation time for this as opposed to sick time. The City agreed with the one hour for regular vacations. In reference to cashing out vacation, the previous contract changed the amount to 90 hours. Mr. Hawkins asked if the reference was to cashing out when leaving the City or for emergencies. Mr. Jordan said it was going back to the way it was previously. Originally, a person would use vacation hours and if they did not have enough vacation hours to cover the 90 hours, they would use sick hours. But in the last contract it changed and did not say it was one and then the other it just said you could use 90 hours. Mr. Osbom said it was originally just sick time and it was one for one (one hour of sick for one time of emergency). Vacation time was added in case someone did not have enough sick time. The City's proposal states that the sick leave hours cash-in would be calculated at 50% of the employee's hourly rate. Mr. Hawkins nodded assent. ll Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December 10, 2004 Ms. Munley will suggest a fix covering the "less than three shifts/more than three shifts" and bring language to the table. Ms. Munley felt that in the City's proposal, section 28.8 was an attempt to do emergency leave and could be taken out. Mr. Jordan said it had been changed to 24 hours and it did not have to come out. Ms. Munley thought it had been said a different way. The City will look at that and tweak the language. Ms. Munley asked if the Committee referenced in the City's proposal, section 28.7.3, had always been comprised of the same people and the response was affirmative. Mr. Hawkins said that requests had very seldom been denied. The approval is progressive - it is not done with all the individuals sitting in one room. Ms. Munley thought that this article would be acceptable to both bargaining units with the suggested revisions. In regard to regular vacation, the goal of both sides was to add flexibility on both sides of the equation - for the employee to notify the supervisor and for the supervisor to approve it. Ms. Mtmley would look at the language on this but she felt that "the little piece was asking for the vacation by the end of the day and the bigger piece was that the employee had to ask the supervisor 48 hours in advance of taking it." Forty-eight hours was four days to Ms. Munley on each side request and approval. She would look at the language further. Ms. Munley asked the stewards if they agreed to the language on Emergency Vacation and Sick Leave. The response was not conclusive. Work Breaks Ms. Munley inquired whether this was a problem in the White Collar unit. Mr. Maclntyre responded that there were a lot of different classifications and it was hard to capture them all. People in Communications had a pretty liberal policy, for example and that had to go on as usual. The City did not think that this was a problem on the White Collar side. The stewards agreed that it was not a problem in the White Collar unit. Mr. Hawkins noted that it seemed that it was time for the City to produce some revised language. He was having difficulty following the track of the conversations without having the minutes. He felt that several articles could be T.A.'d after a little language clean-up. Sick Leave Mr. Livergood said this had been changed to one half hour notification to supervisor instead of one hour before. The current contract caused problems with the one-hour role. An appropriate amount of time had to be agreed to. Ms. Munley did not have the old 12 Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December 10, 2004 contract in front of her but it used to say "before or after start of shift." It is supposed to be after start of the shift and somehow, in the White Collar it said, "...one hour after start of shift.." and the Blue Collar said "...one hour before..". The Union wanted it to be after, not before. Mr. Hawkins thought that the parties had agreed to do 30 minutes before the start of shift or up to 30 minutes after the start of the shift. Ms. Munley suggested language stating, "If an employee fails to call in within the 30 minutes before or 30 minutes after the start of his or her shift, he or she would be docked for the time that elapsed outside this timeframe before he or she calls in." A person not calling in during this timeframe would be in an unpaid status for the amount of time outside these parameters. Mr. Livergood stated that "If an employee does not call in during the specified timeframe, the employee shall be in an unpaid status from the beginning of the work shift until the time notice of absence is provided to supervisor." If they are gone for the entire day, they will be docked for the entire day. If they call in any time before that shift is over, they are only docked for the time that passed from the specified timeframe. Ms. Munley suggested language saying, "An employee shall notify his immediate supervisor or designee in a manner provided by management of his or her illness no less than one half hour before or no later than one half hour after his normal work day begins." Both parties liked this language. Ms. Munley asked why the City had stricken "Weekend requests shall be covered by the provisions of the Family Medical Leave Act." Mr. Jordan said it was law. Ms. Munley understood that but said that not everyone out in the workforce understood it. The City had no problem with putting it back in. Regarding sharing of sick leave, Mr. Livergood confirmed that the City had taken out the requirement that the employee had to confirm the number of hours available with the Finance Department. The employees should be able to ascertain this information from their paycheck stubs. Ms. Munley felt if the suggested re-writes were done, this article could probably be T.A.'d. Workers Compensation Ms. Munley asked about why the City struck the part about extending the salary supplement for three months. Mr. Hawkins said that the City had struck the extension because FMLA would kick in. Ms. Munley stated FMLA was unpaid. Mr. Hawkins said that the City did not have to do any kind of supplementation and most cities did not. Ms. Munley asked if people went beyond the three-month period and Mr. Jordan responded, 13 Meeting Minutes NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining Boynton Beach, Florida December 10, 2004 "almost all of them." Supplementing for three months is still over and above what most cities pay. I Compassionate Leave - T.A. The article was reviewed. The Union wished to add to the last sentence of the City's language that "The City Manager may grant additional paid leave under this section when he/she deems it appropriate. Both bargaining units agreed to the City's proposal with this last addition by the Union. It was also agreed that it would be three consecutive days for a local funeral and five days for an out-of-state funeral and that the out-of-state days could be broken up if necessary. The parties reached T.A. on this article with the above change. Payroll Recording of Hours A long discussion ensued on this topic between Mr. Hawkins and Ms. Welch. Adjournment The negotiation session ended at 3:45 p.m. Next Meeting The next meeting will be on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 1:00 p.m. in Conference Room B. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (121504) 14