Minutes 11-10-04
MINUTES OF THE BLUE COLLAR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING SESSION
BETWEEN THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FIREMEN & OILERS AND THE CITY
OF BOYNTON BEACH, HELD ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2004 AT 10:00
A.M. IN CONFERENCE ROOM B, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA
Present
For NCF&O:
Sharon Munley, President, Local 1227
Jeff Mark, Union Steward
Don Roberts, Union Steward
Rick Smith, Union Steward
Mike Taylor, Union Steward
John Wolcott, 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 10:12 a.m. A sign in sheet was circulated
and provided to the Recording Secretary for inclusion with the minutes.
MeetinQ Process
Mr. Hawkins stated that the City would like to first discuss how the process would be
addressed and to set timeframes on the negotiations. He suggested setting the hours
and sessions that the parties would need for the negotiations. Mr. Hawkins pointed out
that it would be difficult to devote an entire day to negotiations and felt it would be best
to set specific dates for meeting on a weekly or twice-weekly basis, perhaps in two hour
sessions. If the Union wanted to meet for four hours, Mr. Hawkins suggested that this
be done on a weekly basis only.
Ms. Munley had the impression that the parties would need a lot more time to meet to
address the proposal that the City presented, and she estimated that it might take
another year to accomplish this. Mr. Hawkins stated that the parties would not be at the
table for a year and if the parties could not come to an agreement, they would be at an
impasse. Ms. Munley was not interested in setting timeframes.
Mr. Hawkins felt it would be fruitless to have negotiating sessions dealing with articles
that the parties could not agree upon. If that happened, the parties would have to agree
that they cannot agree and the City would be willing to say this. If the Union comes back
with a written counterproposal, this would help the process.
Ms. Munley pointed out that when the parties left the table in June, there was an
understanding that the parties would come back in the Fall to discuss the articles that
Meeting Minutes
NCFO/City of Boynton Beach Blue Collar Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
November 10,1004
did not work as intended. Mr. Hawkins responded that the City's proposal on the table
intended to fix some articles that were not working right. He suggested that the Union
offer their counterproposal so that the parties could negotiate.
Ms. Munley distributed a copy of her Memorandum dated November 10, 2004 with the
articles that they Union would like to discuss. Any articles not contained in this
Memorandum would remain status quo. Mr. Hawkins responded that the City was
agreeable to begin the discussions with these articles.
Ms. Munley stated that the Union did not prepare a written proposal because she
assumed that they would only be discussing the articles that did not implement as
intended when they were developed originally. She was very upset when she received
the City's proposal and pointed out the time that was spent in developing a cutting edge
labor agreement. The City's proposal, as presented, contains 28 articles out of 50 that
take things away from employees.
As a result of the City's proposal, Ms. Munley prepared a letter, a copy of which was
distributed and is on file with the minutes of the meeting, that will be sent to every Union
member if the City does not withdraw its proposal and present the Union with something
realistic. The letter will be sent to the press and the City Commission and it is their
intention to bring their attorney into the negotiations. Mr. Hawkins was not opposed to
having the attorneys involved in the negotiations.
Mr. Hawkins explained that the City feels that there is too much overtime being accrued
by some departments and this cannot continue. Therefore, the articles have been
addressed with this in mind. He also noted that because Utilities would have a new
Director coming onboard there are some major changes that need to take place in that
Department.
Mr. Hawkins acknowledged that the proposed contract would not be popular, but the
City feels that it is for the betterment of the City. Even though the City's proposal is not
what was originally intended, after scrutinizing what was occurring in some
departments, the City felt that this proposal addressed those issues. The City does
anticipate that the Union would be coming back with counterproposals to the City's
proposals.
Ms. Munley inquired why the City was eliminating the language in the Rights of
Employees' Article. She further inquired why the City would no longer be providing
copies of the Collective Bargaining Agreement so that employees would know what was
or was not in their Agreement.
With regard to Article 13, Ms. Munley pointed out that the City wanted to change the
days and work hours of employees after a person had worked overtime to avoid paying
overtime. Ms. Munley felt that this type of language was archaic. Mr. Hawkins
responded that the overtime received by an employee is based upon FSLA.
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NCFO/City of Boynton Beach Blue Collar Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
November 10, 1004
Ms. Munley recited from the City's proposal that stated: 'The City may adjust work
hours in a work week to avoid overtime payment by reducing actual hours worked to
offset the additional hours worked." Mr. Hawkins interpreted this to mean that the City
has the right to adjust schedules. Ms. Munley disagreed that the City could have this
right and Mr. Hawkins responded that the City has the right to adjust schedules to avoid
overtime. He pointed out that the City was not opposed to paying overtime, but wanted
the ability to adjust schedules to KEEP employees from working overtime.
Ms. Munley also inquired why the City deleted time records from the contract and why
the City would no longer follow the seven (7) minute rule. Mr. Hawkins stated that this
is covered in the basic workweek section of the proposal.
Ms. Munley also stated that the Union was opposed to having discipline governed by
the City's PPM and that the Union wanted to retain the article in the current agreement.
Mr. Hawkins said that the current article does not address discipline, but only arbitration
and the appeal process. Ms. Munley felt that they were entitled to the arbitration
process for a disciplinary matter and Mr. Hawkins noted that the PPM covered both
basic discipline and arbitration. He also stated that the Union had been asked several
times to review the City's PPM and Ms. Munley responded that they looked at the PPM
during negotiations for the past three contracts. She pointed out that certain items from
the PPM have been put into the contract.
Ms. Munley also noted that the names of arbitrators have been placed in the contract
and inquired how it would be handled if one of them could no longer serve. Mr. Hawkins
stated that they could choose another person or more names could be added to the list.
With regard to Article 3, Ms. Munley inquired why the rights of employees were stricken
and that the provisions of the contact were not going to be applied equally. Mr. Hawkins
responded that many of these provisions are covered by case law or state statute. Ms.
Munley stated that they could not agree with the City's proposal for this Article. Also,
she inquired why non-discrimination was eliminated in the proposal and Mr. Hawkins
stated that various laws covered this. Ms. Munley pointed out that this put a burden
upon employees to find out what these rights were. Mr. Hawkins stated that employees
are constantly informed of their rights and are stated on the employment application.
The City's proposal states that all the time for the stewards for Union business would
come from the Union time pool and that the City would no longer provide any time. Ms.
Munley inquired if she interpreted this correctly. Mr. Hawkins stated that this language
was in other Union contracts. Ms. Munley retorted that she would be removing all the
Union contracts on their website because she felt the City was using this public
information improperly.
Ms. Munley inquired why the City was deleting the entire Emergency Pay Policy when
this particular article resulted from the settlement of a grievance three years AGO. Mr.
Hawkins stated that the City is preparing an ordinance that would cover all City
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NCFO/City of Boynton Beach Blue Collar Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
November 10, 1004
employees regarding emergency pay. Ms. Munley stated that this would not apply to the
Union because they have a contract with the City.
Ms. Munley inquired why funeral leave, jury duty, and military leave were moved to the
Collateral Documents Article. Mr. Jordan stated that these provisions were governed by
law and were moved to this Article for clarity.
It was noted that the City's proposal deleted the Job Posting and Bidding Articles and
the $175 reimbursement for shoes. Mr. Hawkins responded that they want to discuss
the amount of the shoe reimbursement and are not removing it from the contract.
Ms. Munley inquired why Golf Course mechanics would no longer be reimbursed for
their tools and Mr. Hawkins stated that the Department provides the mechanics with
tools.
With regard to uniforms, Ms. Munley questioned why the City would require an
employee to see the City's doctor if that employee's doctor stated he could not wear the
uniform provided by the City due to allergies, etc. Ms. Munley did not think that this was
necessary. Mr. Taylor stated that a written statement from an employee's doctor should
be sufficient for the City and that employees should not be required to see the City's
doctor. Mr. Hawkins stated that the City wanted to obtain a second opinion in this
instance. Mr. Jordan added that if an employee cannot wear a particular uniform and it
affects his working conditions, the City should have the right to verify this. Mr. Jordan
felt that this was a protection for the employee, as well as the City. Mr. Jordan also
stated that if this ended in a dispute, then the employee would be referred to a third
doctor for an opinion. Mr. Hawkins was amenable to entertaining a counterproposal
from the Union.
Ms. Munley questioned why the Article entitled "Maintenance of Conditions" was
changed to "Modification of Conditions."
The Union requested to caucus at 10:50 a.m.
The Meeting reconvened at 11 :07 p.m.
Ms. Munley requested to discuss Article 13 - Basic Work Week and Overtime.
The first change to the Article states "Overtime shall be offered to employees qualified
to perform the overtime work on a rotating basis based on seniority." Ms. Munley
inquired if there have been occasions where employees were given overtime to perform
a job that they were not qualified to do.
Mr. Livergood responded that it is important that a person doing the overtime work be
qualified to do so. He felt that if this language were not included in the contract, the
overtime would be done on a rotating basis based upon seniority. He stressed that it
was important that employees know how overtime is assigned.
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NCFO/City of Boynton Beach Blue Collar Negotiations
Boynton Beach, Florida
November 10, 1004
Ms. Munley inquired why an employee would not be qualified for overtime if they have
been performing the same job all day. Mr. Livergood stated that this was the intent of
the language in the proposal. Ms. Munley recommended language that would read,
"employees are assigned overtime on a rotating basis, based upon seniority in each
classification. "
Mr. Livergood thought that the City's language was comparable. Ms. Munley stated that
the City's language would allow the City to say a person was not qualified to do the job,
even though he performed the job all day. Mr. Livergood stated the intent of the
language was to make sure that an employee was qualified and capable to perform the
work and overtime should not be offered based upon seniority on a rotating basis. Ms.
Munley inquired if there were ever employees assigned to overtime work that was not in
their classification and Mr. Livergood stated that this has happened. Ms. Munley
recommended adding language that would include "in each classification." Mr.
Livergood thought that this might be doable.
Mr. Smith pointed out that employees in other departments have been working overtime
on a voluntary basis. There have been employees who have been asked to work
overtime and have performed work that was not in their job classification. Mr. Livergood
stated that the new language would eliminate volunteering for overtime.
Ms. Munley thought that they could add language that would state that overtime would
be offered by job function and this could be added to the Task Article since these are
the only employees that would be affected by this language. Mr. Jordan also
recommended that there could be language added that when overtime is offered it
would be ''top down" and when it is assigned, it would be "bottom up."
Ms. Munley requested that Mr. Hawkins address the overtime problem in the Utilities
Department. Mr. Hawkins responded that the overtime in that Department is costing the
City too much money, excluding the hurricanes. Staff is currently working on ways to
come up with parameters on curtailing overtime as evidenced in some of the language
in the City's proposal. He further stated that employees have taken advantage of the
current language in the contract.
Ms. Munley made a public information request to be furnished with the costs for
overtime in the Utilities Department. Mr. Hawkins informed her to complete the request
and turn it in to the City. She was of the opinion that the overtime costs have not been
any higher this year than in previous years.
Ms. Munley stated that the Union was opposed to losing any of the benefits that they
have gained, which is evidenced in Article 13.6. Mr. Hawkins did not feel that any
benefits would be lost. She further felt it was the City's responsibility to control their own
workers and the Union should not be held accountable.
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Boynton Beach, Florida
November 10, 1004
Next MeetinQ Dates
Mr. Jordan stated that this initial meeting was to set the parameters for the negotiations
and the meeting dates and times. He requested that the meeting now address these
issues. He pointed out that there are many articles that have no changes and the
parties need to identify the articles that need to be negotiated.
The following meeting dates and times were established:
· Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 11 :00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
· Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
· Wednesday, December 1, 2004 - 1 :00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
· Friday, December 3, 2004 - 1 :00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
· Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - 1 :00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
· Friday, December 10, 2004 - 11 :00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Ms. Munley inquired when the white-collar bargaining unit would be meeting. Mr.
Hawkins did not think that this unit would need as much time as the blue collar. He
suggested that one of the blue-collar meetings could include white collar as well.
Mr. Mark requested that the City notify his supervisor of the meeting dates so that he
could attend the meetings. Mr. Hawkins recommended that Mr. Mark bring a copy of the
minutes to Mr. Majors and if Mr. Majors had any questions, he should speak with Mr.
Hawkins.
./ For the next meeting Ms. Munley will bring the Articles that they would like to
have changed.
./ Mr. Jordan recommended that they TA the articles they agree upon.
./ Ms. Munley was opposed to having to T A any article that had no change from the
old contract.
./ There will be no matrix tracking the articles.
Ms. Munley requested a disk of the existing contract. Mr. Jordan will provide this. Mr.
Hawkins also recommended that Ms. Munley be furnished with a disk of the City's
proposal, which Mr. Jordan will also provide.
Adiournment
There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 11 :45 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
~ fI. fI~
Barbara M. Madden
Recording Secretary
(November 15, 2004)
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