Minutes 12-07-04
MINUTES OF THE BLUE COLLAR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING SESSION
BETWEEN THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FIREMEN & OILERS AND THE
CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, HELD ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7,2004 AT 1:00
P.M. IN CONFERENCE ROOM B, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA
Present
For NCF&O:
Sharon Munley, Trustee, Local 1227
Bob Kruper, Union Steward
Jeff Mark, Union Steward
Mike Osborn, Union Steward
Don Roberts, Union Steward
Rick Smith, Union Steward
For the City:
Wilfred Hawkins, Assistant City Manager
Jeff Livergood, Public Works Director
John Jordan, Assistant Director of Human Resources
Call to Order
Mr. Hawkins called the meeting to order at 1 :19 p.m. A sign-in sheet was circulated.
Union's Counteroffer
Article 13 - Basic Work Week and Overtime
The Union proposed adding the following sentence to Section 7:
"Likewise, if they worked 23 minutes, they would be paid at 30
minutes overtime or if they worked 22 minutes they would be
paid at 15 minutes at time and a half."
Mr. Hawkins questioned why the verbiage was added to the section and Ms. Munley
stated that she had picked up the language for this sentence from Article 16, Time
Records that was previously removed because it was redundant. If the City agreed to
add this sentence, then the Union would agree to remove Article 16, Time Records.
The City recommended the following phrasing:
"The 7/8 rule applies in quarter hour increments, on the quarter hour."
Mr. Wilfred clarified that the City did not have a problem with the Union's
recommendation but would work on the phrasing.
The Union recommended the following language for Section 9:
Meeting Minutes
NCFO/City of Boynton Beach Blue Collar Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 7, 2004
"Employees shall receive payment for payroll errors within 48 hours of
bringing the information to the attention of the supervisor.
The City stated that the phrasing of Section 9, Payroll Errors, was unclear. Mr.
Hawkins clarified that it was determined that the problems with payroll processing are
occurring only within the Utilities Department and were being addressed with the
department's management as well as the persons responsible for the errors. He
stated that he has already addressed this issue with his Staff but requires additional
time to ensure proper procedures are being followed. Mr. Jordan suggested that a
procedural change should not be part of the contract. Mr. Hawkins asked to address
this Section at a later date, via an addendum to the contract, once the City has had
time to address the human error issue.
The current payroll procedures require that each employee and the employee's
supervisor are required to sign off on the number of hours worked prior to those hours
being given to the department's designated payroll processor. He will make sure that
the Utilities Department has one employee designated to process payroll and another
employee, preferably a supervisor, designated as that person's backup.
The auditors have severely cautioned the City to minimize manual payroll checks.
Therefore, the Finance Department does not cut manual payroll checks. There is an
automated system that tracks the payment of payroll and is used during an audit.
The City will obtain more information from Finance regarding their payroll procedures
and auditing parameters would then draft verbiage to present for the Union's review
and approval. Mr. Hawkins asked the Union to consider a practical approach to the
process of correcting errors.
The Union proposed the following language for Section 2:
"All authorized and approved work performed in excess of forty (40) hours
in anyone work week shall be considered as overtime and shall be paid
at the overtime rate of one and one-half times the employee's straight
time rate. Overtime shall be offered on a rotating basis based on
seniority to those employees who normally perform the job functions
during their regular work hours."
Ms. Munley clarified that the language in Section 2 accommodates Task employees.
Task employees do not want the City to put other qualified people in the function to
perform overtime. They feel they are the ones responsible for performing the work
during the day and are the ones who should share in the overtime wealth, not with
every person qualified to perform the job function.
Mr. Livergood stated that he discussed this issue with his Supervisors to see what was
best to implement and found it their unanimous opinion that the City should be treating
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NCFO/City of Boynton Beach Blue Collar Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 7, 2004
Task employees the same as all other employees with regard to overtime. Therefore,
all overtime assignments in Solid Waste should be assigned to those employees
qualified to perform the job functions during regular work hours on a rotating basis
based on seniority.
Mr. Kruper asked what the purpose was of bettering yourself by learning how to do all
the jobs if, when another job comes up, you are not allowed to perform it if overtime is
involved.
Mr. Livergood clarified that a well-rounded group of employees is desired because the
City can better serve the public. He felt that there are so many distinct functions
performed within Task that the City should be assigning overtime based upon whom is
most qualified.
The Union proposed administering overtime on a rotation basis that would first list the
rolloff employees by seniority, then the remainder of the employees who are qualified
to perform the function by seniority. The list would rotate through each employee's
name, beginning with the next name on the list, each time overtime is required.
Mr. Osborn pointed out that the Utilities Department assigns overtime, if it is a
continuation of the regular daily job, to the person doing that function that day. If the
overtime is scheduled, then a rotation list is utilized of qualified employees based on
seniority.
The City requested time to caucus at 1 :53 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 2:07 p.m.
The City proposed using two separate lists: one for rolloff drivers by seniority
and the other for those people who are qualified to do the work. Incidental
overtime during the week would be offered to the rolloff drivers. Scheduled
overtime would first be offered to the rolloff drivers and then go through a
sequential list of everybody who is qualified to do the work. Rolloff drivers would
always be allowed 1 st opportunity to work overtime.
The Union argued this approach stating that the people who are lower on the list would
seldom, if ever, be offered overtime.
Ms. Munley asked for a list of the names of the rolloff drivers and was provided with a
handwritten list.
The City requested additional feedback from the rest of the drivers as to how the
rotation would work. The City would like to provide the 4 or 5 rolloff drivers the first
opportunity to work overtime before offering it to other qualified employees.
The City offered the following language for Section 3:
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NCFO/City of Boynton Beach Blue Collar Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 7, 2004
"Employees may all be required to work additional hours as directed
unless excused by supervision. The City may adjust work hours in a work
week to avoid overtime payment by reducing actual hours worked."
Ms. Munley questioned why the City would like to change the phrasing to "may be
required" instead of "shall be required". The reasons provided were that "may"
denotes that sometimes employees are asked and sometimes they are not. The City
felt that "shall" was too strong a word.
The Union stated that the sentence requires a strong word. The practice has been to
offer overtime on a seniority basis and assign it on a reverse seniority basis. The
Union does not believe the process is broken and, therefore, should not be fixed.
The Union requested that the following be stricken:
"The City may adjust work hours in a work week to avoid overtime
payment by reducing actual hours worked. In the event any employee is
required to work approved overtime, he/she may be requested to use
annual leave or be placed in a 'leave without pay' status during the same
basic workweek in order to compensate or to offset the additional hours
worked."
Mr. Hawkins stated that the City requires the ability to reduce expenditures by limiting
the amount of overtime.
The Union argued that the number of workweek hours must be bargained for and be a
part of the contract. The proposed language goes against the Managements' Rights
clause within the contract that states management must post the schedule for the
week and not alter it once it is posted. Management can determine what the start and
finish times are, but reducing the amount of hours an employee would work is not
acceptable.
Mr. Hawkins clarified he understood the Managements' Rights clause but still
requested the flexibility to determine if and when a particular position works better as
a position requiring lesser hours without having to bargain for it.
Ms. Munley said the Union would consider keeping the word "may" instead of "shall" if
the City agrees to strike the remainder of the paragraph. She also requested to add
the following sentence:
'When overtime is mandatory, it shall be assigned on a rotating basis in
reverse order of seniority."
Mr. Hawkins stated the City would modify Section 3 to clarify the intent.
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NCFO/City of Boynton Beach Blue Collar Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 7, 2004
The City proposed for the following language for Section 6:
For purposes of overtime computation, only hours actually worked count
as hours worked."
The Union accepted the above language and to add:
"Holidays, personal leave days, vacations, and the employee's use of sick
leave shall be considered as time worked. Funeral leave, jury duty,
annual military leave, and other absences from duty on active pay status
shall not be considered as time worked for purposes of overtime
computation."
Article 15 - Work Breaks
In Section 1, the union proposed the following language.
"Employees shall receive either a one-half hour or a full hour unpaid lunch
period each day based on a majority vote of the employee group.
Employees who work through their lunch period shall be paid at time and
one-half for the lunch period time worked each day or be allowed to leave
early during the week one and one-half times the actual time worked
through the lunch period(s) regardless of the number of hours actually
worked in the week."
The Union said that the City may either choose to pay the employee for the hour at
time and one-half or send the employee home an hour and one-half early.
Mr. Livergood stated this is not possible because an employee cannot earn comp time
and claim that comp time during the same week. Ms. Munley said lunch period
payment is not comp time - comp time is something that is earned after working 40
hours. The departments have been calling it comp time which is what is causing the
problem.
Mr. Hawkins said he felt that this is a procedure issue and the City is concerned that
the employee will "double dip" the system by still being paid the time and one-half and
going home early.
The City proposed changing the 2nd sentence to read, "Employees who are required to
work through their lunch period..."
The Union proposed the following language in Section 2:
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NCFO/City of Boynton Beach Blue Collar Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 7,2004
"Employees shall also receive two fifteen (15) minute paid breaks each
day. Any employee group that would like to forego their fifteen (15)
minute breaks and add them to their lunch period may do so on a majority
vote of the employee group.
In addition, employees shall be in a pay status, each day, as follows:
- Travel time to and from lunch not to exceed twenty (20) minutes each
day.
Ten (10) minutes clean-up time prior to the lunch period.
Fifteen (15) minutes clean-up time prior to the end of the employees
shift."
Mr. Hawkins said that City vehicles were provided in exchange for the 20 minutes
travel time to and from lunch each day for those employees who work in the field. The
City proposed keeping the 20 minutes but adding it to the end of the day.
(Mr. Osborn left the meeting at 3:07 p.m.)
The City feels that the 15-minute clean-up time at the end of the work shift was not
necessary because it is used to wrap up the business at the end of the day. The
Union suggested changing the term "clean-up" to "wrap-up" in order to clarify that this
time is not for employees to physically clean themselves up.
The City will revise the verbiage to clarify their points of concern.
The City requested time to caucus at 3:15 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 3:36 p.m.
Grievance Process (Form)
Mr. Livergood presented a grievance form for the Union to review. The Union did not
agree with the majority of the form citing it asks for more information than an employee
is ever instructed by the Union to provide. The Union agreed that the City should be
provided with a general idea of the grievance but the remainder of the information is
gained from grievance meetings. Mr. Livergood said it would help him prepare for the
meetings if he had more information before entering into a grievance meeting. Ms.
Munley said that a brief statement explaining the reasons for the grievance should be
sufficient.
The Union provided their recommended changes in writing on the form provided to
them and returned it to Mr. Livergood. Mr. Livergood will review the City's
recommendations.
Adjournment
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Meeting Minutes
NCFO/City of Boynton Beach Blue Collar Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
December 7,2004
There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 3:44 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Deanna Ewing
Recording Secretary
(December 14, 2004)
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