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Minutes 04-29-05 MINUTES OF THE WHITE COLLAR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING SESSION BETWEEN THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FIREMEN & OILERS AND THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, HELD ON FRIDAY, APRIL 29,2005 AT 2:00 P.M. IN CONFERENCE ROOM B, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Present: For the City of Boynton Beach: John Jordan, Assistant Director of Human Resources Jeff Livergood, Director of Public Works Mike Pawelczyk, Assistant City Attorney Call to Order For NCF&O Sharon Munley, Trustee, Local 1227 Kathleen Phillips, Attorney, SEIU Skip Lewis, NCF&O (Code) Jim Macintyre, NCF&O (Fire) John Pagliarulo, NCF&O (Building) Pam Welsh, NCF&O (Utilities) Don Wooten NCF&O (Police) The bargaining session was called to order at 2: 12 p.m. A sign in sheet was circulated and provided to the Clerk for inclusion with the records of the meeting. Minutes Approval Not addressed The following Articles have been T A: Article 3 - Article 21- Article 22 - Article 23 - Article 24 - Article 25 - Article 26 - Article 30 - Article 33 - Article 37 - Article 39 - Article 47 - Rights of Employees Pay for Training Working in a Higher Class Sick Leave Workers Compensation Light Duty Vacation Military Leave Jury Duty Insurance Tuition Reimbursement Labor Management Meeting Minutes NCF&O White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida April 29,2005 The following Articles are Status Quo Articles: Article 1 - Article 2- Article 4 - Article 5 - Article 6 - Article 7 - Article 11 - Article 15 - Article 20 - Article 27 - Article 28 - Article 32 - Article 34 - Article 41 - Article 42 - Article 45 - Article 46 - Article 48 - Open Articles: Article 8 - Article 9 - Article 1 0 - Article 12 - Article 13 - Article 14 - Article 16 - Article 17 - Article 18 - Article 1 9 - Article 29 - Article 31 - Article 35 - Article 36 - Article 38 - Article 40 - Article 43 - Article 44 - Article 49 - Article 50 - Article 51 - Article 52- Preamble Recognition Management Rights Strikes Non-Discrimination Representation of the City of Boynton Beach Bulletin Boards Compensatory Time Certification Pay Bonus Days Holidays Unauthorized Leave Seniority, Layoff, Recall Dues Deduction Pension Longevity Bonus Increase Savings Clause Union Representation Collective Bargaining Union Time Pool Progressive Discipline Grievance Procedure Basic Work Week and Overtime Wages Promotions, Reclassifications, Transfers & Demotions Stand by and Call Back Pay Emergency Pay Funeral Leave Leave of Absence Job Posting Safety and Health Personnel Files General Provisions Substance Abuse Probationary Period Modification of Conditions Posting of Agreement Collateral Documents Duration 2 Meeting Minutes NCF&O White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida April 29, 2005 Article 43 - Substance Abuse Ms Phillips inquired why Article 43 was still open. Mr. Jordan stated the City is proposing a change to this Article. Ms. Munley pointed out that the Ordinance provides that a person could not come back to work until they are released by whoever is treating them. Once a person is released to come back to work, the City would allow them to do so. This Article will be further addressed. Discussion: Article 29 - Funeral Leave Ms. Munley pointed out that the City would be bringing some language back for this Article. The Union was requesting that the word "consecutive" be deleted in the three- day in-State leave, but agreed to leave "consecutive" in when it applied to the five-day out-of-State leave. Attorney Pawelczyk said the City would discuss this further. Article 36 - Safety and Health Mr. Jordan stated they are still waiting for signatures on the MOU. Ms. Welsh signed the document yesterday. The document still needs one more signature by a Union representative. ./ Mr. Jordan distributed the City's latest proposal dated today. Article 8. Union Representation Ms. Phillips noted that the City has agreed to four (4) stewards. Mr. Jordan pointed out in Section 8.2 the word "written" should be inserted between "prior" and "notification" in the first line. Section 8.3, the City deleted the language that reads - "Engaging in collective bargaining with the representatives of the City and for grievance investigations and consultation with management." Ms. Munley inquired why the word "paid" was stricken in the first sentence of Section 8.3. Mr. Jordan responded that this would be part of the Union time pool. This has been addressed in Section 8.4., and a new sub-paragraph 4 has been added that reads, 'When engaged in collective bargaining." 3 Meeting Minutes NCF&O White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida April 29, 2005 Section 8.7 states, "Stewards shall maintain and provide to the City a Union Business time-out slip that shall be processed to show their accumulated hours used against the Union time pool." Article 9 - Collective Bargaining Section 9.2 now provides that "Stewards may participate in collective bargaining while on duty, without loss of pay, utilizing time pool hours. Additional bargaining unit members may attend while off duty or when on approved leave." Article 10 - Union Time Pool Language that was in Article 8 is now in Article 10. Section 10.1 provides: "Members of the bargaining unit may each donate a share of their accrued vacation and/or compensatory time bank of hours to fund the Union time pool. The employee's designated donation shall be deducted each October 1 st during the term of this agreement. The City shall match the number of hours donated by the employees on October 1st each year of this agreement." Ms. Munley inquired how many Union hours the white collar has used. Mr. Jordan responded he furnished this to Ms. Munley previously. Members did not recall being furnished with this information. Mr. Jordan noted Section 10.5 provides, "Time pool hours shall roll over from one year to the next." Union time pool hours cannot be used for grievances. Ms. Phillips stated it is typical for governmental entities to provide hours to allow employees to engage in the day-to-day activities to resolve issues that occur on the job. Mr. Livergood requested that Ms. Phillips provide him with copies of those contracts. Ms. Phillips thought that the parties should come up with language that would accomplish this; currently, this is not addressed in the contract. Mr. Jordan pointed out that the only change the City made was to add collective bargaining. Mr. Pawelczyk requested that Ms. Phillips bring some language back that the Union feels would be appropriate to address this issue. The way the contract currently reads, employees would not be paid when dealing with these issues. Ms. Munley stated these three Articles would be tied together based upon the language that the Union comes up with. Mr. Jordan proposed that the number of stewards allowed to attend the collective bargaining sessions be limited to two (2) with unlimited hours. Mr. Livergood pointed out that current language allows an unlimited number of stewards to attend a collective bargaining session if Union time pool hours are used. 4 Meeting Minutes NCF&O White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida April 29, 2005 Ms. Phillips inquired how many members comprise the bargaining unit and Mr. Jordan responded 132. Ms. Phillips suggested language to allow two (2) union stewards to participate without using union time pool and all others that participate in the negotiations would use union time pool. She felt there was a need to come up with some formal language to address stewards and employees who deal with day-to-day issues on a paid basis. Mr. Livergood felt that this would create a great deal of paperwork, to which Ms. Phillips agreed. Mr. Pawelczyk cited the language in the existing contract that reads, "Additional stewards or bargaining unit members may attend while off duty, or when on approved leave." Ms. Phillips felt that "stewards" was inappropriate and it should read "bargaining committee" comprised of persons selected by the committee. Ms. Munley pointed out that the blue collar bargaining unit is comprised of all stewards and they are all allowed to participate. Ms. Munley recommended changing "stewards" in Section 9.2 to "bargaining team members." Article 13 - Grievance Procedures Mr. Jordan stated no changes have been made to Section 13.1 and 13.2. Mr. Livergood noted that the City put back the language requested by the Union in Section 13.1 dealing with issues or disputes, which are not grievances. Section 13.3 has language reading, "All grievances shall be in writing on a form prepared by the City and the Union. All responses to a grievance must be in writing and dated by the responding party." This is the language proposed by the Union. Ms. Munley inquired about the tracking system. Mr. Jordan stated it has not been included in this draft, but will be included in the future. Ms. Munley explained that all formal grievances would be tracked through the City Clerk's Office. Section 13.4.1 has been changed to ten (10) business days. Ms. Munley referred to the language in Section 13.4.1 that states, "The grievance may be hand delivered or sent by facsimile." If the grievance is going to be handled in this fashion, it must state "where" it would go, such as the City Clerk's Office. Ms. Phillips noted the current language states "Department Director." Mr. Jordan responded that this needed to be modified. Mr. Livergood recommended that the process be developed separate from the contract. He felt that the grievance should go to the Department Director and the process would be to copy the City Clerk's Office. 5 Meeting Minutes NCF&O White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida April 29, 2005 Ms. Munley noted that it was recommended that the City Clerk's Office would serve as the clearinghouse for grievances and would track them. Mr. Jordan stated this procedure has not been established. Mr. Pawelczyk recommended adding a subsection that would state, "Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, a copy of the grievance shall be simultaneously submitted to the City Clerk's Office, either hand delivered or faxed. " Both parties agreed that the tracking procedure should be separate. Ms. Phillips inquired how the Clerk's Office would keep track of the timeframes. Mr. Livergood stated this needs to be developed. Ms. Munley was under the impression if the Clerk's Office was charged with tracking grievances, they would notify the parties if a deadline was approaching. Mr. Jordan said he would speak with the City Clerk about this process. The grievance procedure was reviewed. Step 1 was now 10 days. Mr. Jordan noted the "employee or Union" may initiate a grievance. Ms. Munley pointed out she stated "and", not "and/or" in Section 13.4.1. Mr. Pawelczyk explained the City used "and/or" in the event the grievance involved a non-dues paying member. Mr. Pawelczyk recommended that the Union receive copies of all grievances. Ms. Munley requested that "or" be deleted. Mr. Jordan will make the appropriate corrections. With regard to Section 13.4.1.D, the City is requiring that the written grievance have the signature of at least one aggrieved employee. Ms. Munley was opposed to this because some employees may be afraid to sign a grievance. Ms. Phillips requested it be changed to "or." The City was agreeable with this change. Mr. Jordan will delete "or" in Section 13.4.2. wherever applicable. In this section, the City added, "stating the basis for the appeal. "The Union was opposed to this language. Mr. Livergood felt that this was important and pointed out that he puts time and effort to present his Department's position. Ms. Phillips felt that the issues would be best addressed when the actual meeting takes place. Mr. Jordan explained the City's intent is to make the process smoother. Ms. Munley disagreed and felt it would only make the process more difficult for the Union stewards. Ms. Phillips pointed out that a grievance procedure is supposed to be an informal process and the purpose of holding a meeting to address the grievance is to provide the parties an opportunity to exchange their positions. Mr. Livergood did not think that the grievance procedure was an informal process. Ms. Munley pointed out that Union stewards normally do not communicate in writing. Mr. Jordan noted this was not the case for white collar stewards. Ms. Phillips inquired if the City was looking to have two separate procedures--one for white collar and another for blue. Mr. Jordan explained the City is not adding anything to the process, but is 6 Meeting Minutes NCF&O White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida April 29, 2005 merely asking for a better explanation instead of being informed with a statement such as "we disagree." Mr. Pawelczyk recommended adding a sentence that states, "Nothing would preclude the parties from bringing up other things during the meeting." Mr. Pawelczyk also recommended moving on and stated the City would discuss this. The City has added "business" before 5 for receipt of the grievance in Section 13.4.1. Mr. Pawelczyk also noted there is another place in the contract that defines "day" as "work day." Section 13.4.3, dealing with arbitrators, was next discussed. Ms. Munley felt there has been a practice of setting up arbitrations and then having them cancelled because there appears a settlement will take place. However, in most instances, the case does not get settled and the parties have to start all over again. Ms. Munley presented an example of when this occurred a few months ago and questioned how the proposed language would impact those problems. Mr. Livergood felt if it had been determined to go to arbitration, the parties should proceed accordingly. Ms. Munley stated it is their position to never cancel arbitration again, which Ms. Phillips confirmed until they have a signed agreement. Mr. Pawelczyk stated if the parties determined to cancel the arbitration, the attorneys during their exchange of correspondence, would agree to a time period and would keep the same arbitrator, if the arbitration had to be rescheduled. Mr. Pawelczyk felt these issues could be worked out during the course of the arbitration proceedings. Mr. Jordan noted the City put in "within 14 days" in the last sentence of the second paragraph of this article, in place of "immediately." Mr. Pawelczyk inquired if "Either" was the correct word in the sentence that reads, "Either party shall not utilize court reporters and/or written briefs." Mr. Jordan recommended changing the sentence to read, "Neither party shall utilize court reporters and/or written briefs." Mr. Jordan asked the Union how it wanted to address the grievance tracking procedure and whether it should be part of the contract or a separate document. Ms. Phillips felt it should be treated outside the contract. Article 14 - Basic Work Week and Overtime Mr. Jordan noted the issue of including sick time in the computation of overtime is still an issue. The Union would like to include sick time, and the City wants to remove it and replace it with comp time. The current practice is to include sick time and not comp time. The City would like to exclude sick time so that employees could save their sick time as a benefit when they retire. It is also easier to track comp time since this is scheduled time, whereas sick time is not. 7 Meeting Minutes NCF&O White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida April 29, 2005 The City has made no change to Section 14.4.2. that states supervisors must provide at least two (2) hours advance notice to employees prior to the assignment of unscheduled, mandatory overtime, unless circumstances prohibit such advance notice. As requested, the "7/8 Minute Rule" of the Department of Labor has been added. Ms. Munley pointed out white collar employees do not receive much comp time. Ms. Welsh reported white collar employees do not receive comp time in the Utilities Department. Ms. Munley inquired why the City chose to eliminate "shift bidding" in Section 14.5. This language is necessary for Communications' personnel. Mr. Jordan was under the impression that this practice was not being used and Communications' personnel work out their work schedules. Ms. Munley was opposed to deleting this language until she knew what the practice was in that Department. Mr. Jordan recommended leaving the language in, as long as Departments were not forced to use it, if they were able to have a cooperative method that is working. Mr. Livergood recommended adding the word "shall" so that it would read, "employees shall be allowed to bid." Ms. Munley requested that the language remain status quo. Mr. Livergood requested the City be allowed to put some language in that would allow the City to change schedules because someone gets sick. Ms. Munley was not agreeable with this recommendation and stated that the Union would discuss this. Article 15 - Compensatory Time Section 15.3 has been changed to require that compensatory time hours would be paid after sixty (60) days have passed. The previous language was thirty (30) days. The Union will also discuss this. Article 17 - Promotions, Reclassifications, Transfers & Demotions Ms. Munley inquired if this was new language. Mr. Jordan stated it was and it is the same language that was presented in the blue-collar contract. The Union will review this Article. Article 18 - Standby and Call Back Pay The proposal has changed to provide that standby shall be assigned by the week (7 days) or by the weekend (end of work day Friday to start of workday Monday), without stacking, and compensation would be as follows: Week - $190.00 Weekend - $75.00 8 Meeting Minutes NCF&O White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida April 29, 2005 With regard to employees on standby, it states an employee "shall be allowed a take- home vehicle." Also language has been inserted, at the Union's request, that stand-by may be assigned only to an employee qualified to perform the anticipated work on a rotating basis. Mr. Pawelczyk noted the City's last proposal was $150 for the weekly pay. The call back language is what the Union requested. Ms. Munley inquired why there was a problem giving an employee one (1) hour pay at time and one-half for any day an employee is on call back, which was the previous language. The City feels it should be a flat rate for all employees regardless of how much money they make. Ms. Munley responded that the Union feels that some employees are more valuable than other employees, to which Mr. Livergood disagreed. He stated that all employees' personal lives are of equal value. Ms. Munley asked for clarification on "without stacking." Also, if an employee were on standby for seven days, they would receive $190, and if they were on weekend standby, they would receive $75. Mr. Livergood explained if an employee were on standby for the week, Monday through Sunday, they would receive $190. If an employee were on standby just for the weekend, they would receive $75. Ms. Phillips explained that a person on standby Monday through Sunday would only receive $190; they would not receive an additional $75. Ms. Munley pointed out that standby people on the weekend receive $37.50 per day; whereas, people on standby for the week only receive $27 per day. She felt that both figures should be added together to make it fair. Mr. Jordan pointed out that weekend hours encompass more hours. Mr. Macintyre explained that these figures would reduce the current white collar on-call pay, which is currently one-hour per day at time and one-half. Ms. Munley stated if the two amounts were added together, it would result in an increase so that an employee would receive $38 per day. Mr. Livergood noted if the City's proposal were applied, his employees would receive more money. Mr. Macintyre pointed out that this would also result in less money for crime scene investigators, and white collar employees receive the least call back pay of all employees in the City. Mr. Wooten explained that crime-scene investigators are on call for an entire week that begins on a Friday night through the next Friday. This meant those employees cannot go anywhere because they are on call. If his position gets reclassified, it would be taking money away from employees that work 24 hours per day, 365 days a year. Mr. Jordan stated the intent of this language was to equally compensate people. The City will revisit this. 9 Meeting Minutes NCF&O White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida April 29, 2005 Mr. Macintyre inquired if the amounts the City was proposing would go up each year as employees' pay increases. Ms. Munley stated that this would be revisited as necessary. Mr. Livergood pointed out that it was not the City's intent for people to lose money and there are many employees that would gain money. Ms. Munley proposed that the standby pay be $225 and members of the bargaining unit were amenable to this. Standby pay would be $30 per day, Monday through Friday, and on Saturday and Sunday, it would be $37.50. As an alternative, employees could receive $32.14 per day. The City will review this. (Mr. MacIntyre left the meeting at 3:52 p.m.) (Mr. Wooten left the meeting at 3:54 p.m.) Article 29 - Compassionate Leave Ms. Munley noted the language "three consecutive work days for anyone death" is still in the proposal. The Union had requested that "consecutive" be deleted. Ms. Munley felt employees needed flexibility. They were not opposed to having the five days for out-of- State funerals being consecutive. Mr. Livergood recommended leaving the language as presented. He pointed out that the City Manager has always been compassionate when employees needed extra time and there have never been any problems. Ms. Phillips inquired why the City was opposed to deleting "consecutive" for the three days, and Mr. Jordan stated they were proposing this to make it consistent with other contracts. Ms. Munley said that the Union would discuss this. Article 31 - Leave of Absence Mr. Jordan pointed out that this is new language. The old language provided one year and it has been changed to six months. Ms. Munley inquired how many employees were on leave of absence without pay and was informed there were none. Mr. Jordan explained that this language makes it consistent with the language in Compassionate Leave. Ms. Phillips inquired if the City would agree to add additional language that it would be subject to additional leave. Ms. Munley asked previously to have language that the City Manager could grant an additional six months at his discretion. Mr. Livergood pointed out that FMLA only provides 12 weeks and the City is allowing 26 weeks. After discussion, the following language was added to Article 31, as Section 31.3 as follows: "The City Manager, at his/her discretion, may approve up to an additional six (6) months of Leave of Absence without pay." 10 Meeting Minutes NCF&O White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida April 29, 2005 Both parties TA'd this Article. Article 35 - Recruitment and Selection The Union requested an opportunity to review this further. They would like the Human Resource Department to have more of a role during the process. Ms. Munley noted that there have been problems in the past during the recruitment and promotion process. It appeared to Ms. Munley that the department was in charge of everything. Mr. Jordan disputed this comment. The Union would like to have a Union representative on the interview committee. Mr. Jordan responded that there have been members of the union sitting on interview panels, but not necessarily stewards. Ms. Munley stated she would like to have stewards sit on the panel so she could be informed of what took place during the interview. Article 38 - Personnel Files The language reading, "The employee shall be allowed to place written responses in their personnel file and/or department work file when those responses relate to material placed into the personnel file which has been prepared by the supervisors (Le., reprimands, written comments)" has been deleted since it appears in the Disciplinary Article. Similar language is contained in Articles 12.5.1, 12.5.2 and 12.3.0. The parties TA'd Article 38. Article 36 - Safety and Health Ms. Munley noted the language in this Article is covered under the MOU. She inquired if uniforms have also been addressed in this Article and was informed uniforms were not included. Mr. Pawelczyk recommended discussing uniforms on Monday. Mr. Jordan responded the City would bring back some language on Monday. It was pointed out in Section 36.4 that "The City shall make available immunization shots for tetanus, hepatitis, and diphtheria for all members of the bargaining unit as requested on a voluntary basis." Mr. Livergood noted in Section 36.3 it states, "Employees who fail to wear proper shoes/boots to work are subject to disciplinary action." It does not state "safety shoes." Section 36.3 was changed to read, "Employees who fail to wear safety equipment, when required, are subject to disciplinary action." The parties TA'd Article 36. 11 Meeting Minutes NCF&O White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida April 29, 2005 In General Provisions, Mr. Livergood would like to add additional language in Section 40.7 that in lieu of providing the monthly car allowance of $525, the City could choose to provide those employees with a City-owned vehicle to be used during work hours. Ms. Munley said they would discuss this on Monday. Adjournment The next meeting will be held on Monday, May 2, 2005 at 3:00 p.m. There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 4:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~J,..k~ Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (May 3, 2005) 12