Minutes 01-28-05
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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, JANUARY 28,2005 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
Mike Osborn, Union Steward
Jeff Mark, Union Steward
Rick Smith, Union Steward
Pam Welch, Union Steward
John Pagliarulo, Union Steward
Michael Taylor, Union Steward
For the City:
Jeff Livergood, Public Works Director
John Jordan, Assistant Director of Human Resources
Michael Pawelczyk, Assistant City Attorney
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 1: 17 p.m. A sign-in sheet was circulated. Mr.
Jordan introduced Mr. Pawelczyk, Assistant City Attorney, to the attendees. Mr.
Pawelczyk commented that he had worked for the City of Boynton Beach several
years ago as in-house counsel.
Ms. Munley informed the City that the Utility Stewards would be meeting with Mr.
Bressner on Wednesday, January February 2, 2004 regarding the issues within
the Utility Department.
Union's Counteroffer
Article 53 - Duration
The Union proposed a 3-year agreement with an end date of September 30,
2007.
Article 17 - Wages
The Union distributed its counterproposal, which includes a 3% market
adjustment added to base wages and an additional 5% wage adjustment
provided the bargaining unit employee receives a passing score on their
performance appraisal. In addition, the following language was added:
Meeting Minutes
NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining
Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28, 2005
Section 17.1.3
"No employee will receive a base wage increase to a rate higher than the
maximum salary for the position."
Section 17.1.4
'Within 30 days from the date of ratification of this Agreement, the City
and the Union will form a committee and begin to meet in order to review
and redevelop the current performance appraisal instrument. The revised
instrument will list specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented and
time phased goals for each employee that are directly related to his job
function. The new instrument should have the purpose of assisting the
employee with proper information that will allow them to attain the highest
possible rating on the new merit system instrument. Should the new
instrument be ready for implementation (at the start of the grading period)
during the time of this Agreement, the instrument will be implemented on a
test basis."
Section 17.1.5
"Should the City perform a salary study during the term of this Agreement,
the City will negotiate the implementation with the Union prior to
implementation."
Section 17.1.6
"The City shall continue to make pay checks available to bargaining unit
workers before 11 :00 a.m. on each City pay day."
Sections 17.2 and 17.3 were struck from the record.
Mr. Jordan stated that he would ask the City's Finance Director to gather the
budgeted wage figures for 2005. These figures would be utilized during
remaining discussions of wages.
Ms. Munley mentioned the scheduled salary study she had noticed in the
December minutes. Mr. Jordan clarified that the study is not scheduled for
January, but that the RFP was submitted in January. The contract would not be
awarded until probably sometime in February with the study commencing in
March.
Ms. Munley stated that the language in Section 17.1.4 is very important because
the Union feels that the performance appraisal instrument the City uses currently
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Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28, 2005
does not work. It causes grief for the City's workers and does not give them the
information they need to reach the goals that Supervisor's have in their heads for
them. Until the new instrument is created, the Union does not want anyone to go
through the merit review process.
Mr. Jordan commented that he wanted to gather the information from the
Finance Director prior to discussing any items on the Union's counterproposal for
Wages.
City's Counteroffer
Article I - Preamble
The City proposed changing only the way the sections are numbered. The
numbering system that carries throughout the document reflects the Article
number first, then the section number. For example, sections within Article I
(Preamble) would now be labeled 1.1, 1.2, etc.
The Union stated they understood.
Article 2 - Recognition
No changes.
Article 3 - Rights of Employees
Ms. Munley stated that she had understood that Sections 1 and 2 were put back
into the Article because Blue and White Collar rights are handled differently and,
therefore, need to be addressed separately.
Ms. Munley further explained that Section 3 should be preserved because a
grievance is a violation of the document and the document needs to inform the
employees that they have rights. When the City doesn't apply the document
fairly, the Union needs to be able to grieve it by Article and Section numbers.
The City argued that if the City violates the agreement, then it would be a
violation of a specific section within the agreement, not within the Rights of
Employees section.
Section 5 was moved to Article 53 - Collateral Documents (formerly Section 52).
Article 4 - Management Rights
No changes were made, except for Section numbering. The Union clarified that
this section is the same for both Blue and White Collar.
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NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining
Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28,2005
Article 6. - Non-Discrimination
This article is the same for both Blue and White Collar. Section 6.2 reads:
"It is agreed that no employee shall be discriminated against, as
prescribed by State or Federal laws."
(The remainder of the original sentence would be struck from the record,
which read "...in their employment because of race, creed, color, sex, age,
national origin, marital status, physical handicap, sexual orientation or
membership or non-membership in the Union.")
The Union proposed adding the words "as amended" to the end of the proposed
language. This would allow the government to amend Title VII or any laws
pertaining to employee rights for the duration of the contract.
Article 7 - Representation of the City
No changes.
Article 8 - Union Representation
The City proposed the following language in Section 8.4 that reads:
"Union Stewards may be granted leave and may utilize "Union time pool"
to engage in the following representative activities."
The first sentence in the paragraph after the 3 bulleted items was struck. The
paragraph would begin with:
"Members of the bargaining unit may each donate a proportionate share of
the hours necessary to fund the Union time pooL"
Article 9 - Collective Bargaining
Section 9.2 reads:
"Stewards may participate in collective bargaining while on duty, without
loss of pay by using Union time pool hours. Stewards or bargaining unit
members may attend while off duty or when on approved paid leave."
Article 10 - Union Time Pool
The following sections were added:
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NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining
Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28, 2005
Section 10.3
"Union time pool hours shall only be used for a steward's leave from
assigned regular duties."
Section 10.4
"Union time pool hours shall be classified as paid leave from work."
Article 11 - Bulletin Boards
No changes.
Article 12 - Grievance and Arbitration Procedures
Changes in Section 12.4.1 (a) are:
. "ten (10) working days [from five (5) working days],
· an end parenthesis ")" was added to the end of the second sentence."
Section 12.4.3, 3rd paragraph reads:
"The City and the Union shall select a panel of six (6) arbitrators from the
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). The City selects
three (3) arbitrators and the Union selects three (3) arbitrators. These
arbitrators shall hear grievances on a rotating basis, beginning in
alphabetical order of the arbitrator's sir name." (The list of arbitrator
names was stricken from the record.)
The Union did not agree with the City's proposed addition to Section 12.5:
'When an arbitrator has been selected by the parties, the City shall have
ten (10) days from receipt of notice of appointment to raise arbitrability as
a defense. If arbitrability is raised by the City, the issue of arbitrability
shall be determined by the arbitrator no less than thirty (30) days prior to
the commencement of an arbitration hearing on the grievance itself. If the
City raises the question of arbitrability and loses that determination, the
City shall pay the cost of the arbitrator. If the City raises the question of
arbitrability and the arbitrator determines that the matter is not arbitrable,
the Union shall pay for the arbitrator. This provision shall not prohibit the
City from challenging the arbitrability of any grievance in an action for
declaratory relief filed in the Circuit Court of Palm Beach County, Florida.
In the event of a court action by the City, the grievance/arbitration
proceeding shall be abated until the conclusion of the court proceeding."
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NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining
Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28,2005
Article 13 - Disciplinary Appeal & Arbitration Procedure
In Section 13.3, a comma was deleted that had been improperly placed after
" f "
.. .pay 0 ... .
The Union stated that they were not comfortable with having to be suspended for
5 days in order to be eligible to enter into arbitration. They had previously offered
that the Union would agree to the employee's choice to either use the negotiated
process or the PPM. Requiring this much time allows Supervisors to unfairly
load the employee's file with documentation and asks the Union to give up the
right to have the ability to defend for them.
The Union asked for a list of infractions and what penalty they are equal to. Ms.
Munley stated that Stewards need a roadmap in order to be more effective and
know when discipline isn't being administered fairly.
Article 14 - Basic Work Week and Overtime
The last sentence in Section 14.2 reads:
"Overtime shall be offered for a specified work function on a rotating basis
based on seniority to those employees who normally perform the job
functions during their regular work hours."
Section 14.3 reads:
"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."
The Union did not approve of reducing actual hours worked to avoid overtime
payment. If an employee is called upon to work an extra shift during his/her
regularly scheduled work week (i.e., sewage cleanup) only to have his/her hours
cut later in the week so that the City can avoid paying overtime, the next time an
emergency sewage cleanup is required, employees would not be as willing to
work the extra shift.
The City argued that they required more control over reducing overtime.
Section 14.6 reads:
"For purposes of overtime computation only hours actually worked count
as hours worked.
The remaining verbiage was struck from the record.
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NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining
Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28, 2005
The Union did not agree with the rephrasing of this section. They wanted to
leave the section status quo.
The City argued for the new language, stating they would like to prevent
situations where an employee who would normally work Monday through Friday
calls in sick one of those days because they knew they would be working an
overtime shift on Saturday. The current agreement pays the Saturday shift as
overtime, no matter how many hours are worked during the regular work week.
The City requested time to caucus at 2:20 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 2:32 p.m.
The City agreed that Section 14.3 should not be stricken. The section would
read:
"Employees may all be required to work additional hours as directed
unless excused by supervision. In the event any employee is required to
work approved overtime, he/she shall not be requested to use annual
leave nor be placed in a "leave without pay" status during the same basic
work week in order to compensate or offset the additional hours worked."
The Union agreed to the change.
The City agreed to change Section 14.6 as follows:
"For purposes of overtime computation only hours actually worked and
personal leave, comp time, vacation hours, sick hours, and holiday hours
shall be counted 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."
The Union agreed to the change.
Article 15 - Task Assignment - Solid Waste
In Section 15.1.3, the City proposed striking the last sentence in paragraph two,
which reads "Task hours shall be counted in the computation of overtime."
The Union did not agree and asked for the verbiage to be retained.
The City proposed the following:
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Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28,2005
Section 15.1 .6
"Task workers will be paid overtime for all hours actually worked over forty
hours in a seven day work cycle."
The Union asked to strike this verbiage.
Section 15.2.3 - the City proposed to strike this section arguing that a Task
employee would be paid for a set number of hours as determined by the Task
schedule (i.e. 4 ten hour days, totaling 40 hours in the regularly scheduled work
week). In this case, if the employee completes the task in less than the 10 hours
per shift, the employee would still be paid for the 40-hour week. The employee
would be paid overtime for any hours worked in excess of the 40-hour work
week.
The Union asked for this section to be retained, citing that it is likely that the task
day would increase to something more than a 10-hour day because the City is
growing in size. Task employees have always been paid overtime for any hours
worked over their scheduled task day, in addition to extra shifts that may be
worked beyond the regular task work week.
The Union requested time to caucus at 2:59 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 3:10 p.m.
The City agreed to rework the verbiage to hours actually worked over the Task
scheduled shift.
Article 16 - Work Breaks
The City proposed to change the verbiage in this section, which reads:
16.1
"All bargaining unit workers shall take either a one-half hour or a full hour
unpaid lunch period each day based on a majority vote of the employee
group."
16.2
"Employees shall take two; fifteen (15) minute paid breaks each day. One
break approximately midway through the first half of the work shift and the
other break approximately midway through the second half of the work
shift.
"In addition, employees shall be in a pay status, each day, as follows:
- Ten (10) minutes clean-up time prior to the lunch period."
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NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining
Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28,2005
"Travel time to and from lunch not to exceed twenty (20) minutes
each day" has been stricken.
The Union requested time to caucus at 3:15 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 3:22 p.m.
The Union stated they originally thought they would be OK with the above
language but they are not. The folks that get a one-half hour lunch have always
been allowed to put the 2 fifteen minute breaks together and take an hour lunch.
They would have to take one-half hour at lunch and then the breaks as directed.
If the employee chose to take an hour lunch, they would have to stay one-half
hour later in the day to make up for it.
The Union also stated that the travel time to and from lunch is so people can get
to their vehicles and then go to lunch. The City originally proposed removing it
because those employees who have company vehicles could use them to pick
up lunch close to where there are working. As long as they didn't use the
company vehicles to go across town to do so, this item could be removed.
The Union argued that they wanted to leave it in.
The City agreed to rework the verbiage.
Previous Article 16 - Time Records
Stricken because pieces have been moved to other sections.
Article 17 - Compensatory Time
Section 17.2 - the City proposed to change "60 days" to "30 days". The Union
argued to keep it "60 days".
Section 17.3 - the City proposed to strike this section. The Union agreed citing it
was already mentioned in Section 17.2.
Article 18 - Wages
Both sides agreed to skip this section.
Article 19 - Promotion, Reclassifications, Transfers & Demotions
The City struck this section's verbiage and proposed the following:
Section 19.1 - PROMOTION
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NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining
Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28, 2005
"19.1.1 - Employees interested in applying for a promotional opportunity
must have been in their current position for a minimum of six months and
have at least a meets standards performance level. Each promoted
employee must successfully complete a six-month probationary period in
the new position.
Employees are eligible for the following increases in pay upon
promotion:
Promotion from non-exempt position to exempt position:
+ 10% of mid-point of new grade or to minimum of new grade
whichever is higher
Promotion of one qrade (exempt to exempt or non-exempt to
non-exempt):
+5% of mid-point of new grade or to minimum of new grade,
which is higher
Promotion of two Qrades (exempt to exempt or non-exempt
to non-exempt):
+7.5% of mid-point of new grade or to minimum of new
grade, whichever is higher
Promotion of three or more Qrades (exempt to exempt or
non-exempt to non-exempt):
+ 10% of mid-point of new grade or to a minimum of new
grade, which is higher
19.1.2 - In no event will the employee's base rate of pay exceed the
maximum for the position to which the promotion is made.
19.1.3 - Each promoted employee must successfully complete a
probationary period of six months from the date of promotion. Note:
Applicants for promotion must have been in their current position for a
minimum of six months and have a Meets Standards or higher
performance rating.
Section 19.2 - DEMOTION
19.2.1 - Upon demotion, an employee's rate of pay will be adjusted
as follows:
Decrease of one Qrade:
-5% of mid-point of current grade (position leaving)
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NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining
Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28, 2005
Decrease of two qrades:
-7.5% of mid-point of current grade (position leaving)
Decrease of three or more qrades:
-10% of mid-point of current grade (position leaving)
19.2.2 - In no event will the employee's base rate of pay exceed
the maximum for the position to which the demotion is made.
19.2.3 - The pay of a promoted employee who is demoted prior to
completion of a probationary period will be reduced by the same
amount as the promotional increase.
19.2.4 - Exceptions to this policy may occur if there is a department
restructuring that results in an involuntary demotion for one or more
employees. The City Manager must approve any restructuring and
resulting demotions.
Section 19.3 - LATERAL TRANSFER
19.3.1 - Employees transferring from one position to another in the
same pay grade, whether in the same or in a different department,
will maintain the same pay rate.
19.3.2 - Each transferred employee, whether in the same or a
lower grade, must successfully complete a probationary period of
six months from the date of transfer. Probationary employees,
whether in their first year as an employee or in their six-month
promotional probationary period have no property entitlement to
their position.
Section 19.4 - RECLASSIFICATION
19.4.1 - Positions may be considered for reclassification only upon
written request of the Department Head, including detailed
justification. If the reclassification is for a change to an existing
position classification (e.g. Grade 13. to Grade 14), the incumbent
must complete a position questionnaire, which will then be
evaluated by the Human Resources Department. If the request is
to change from one current position classification to another (e.g.
Office Assistant to Office Assistant, Sr.), that justification must be
included in the Department Head's request.
19.4.3 - Implementation of any reclassification, whenever approved
will not become effective until the necessary funds are available in
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Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28, 2005
the department budget. Any salary change required by a
reclassification will become effective as of the date the
reclassification is approved.
Section 19.5 - PROMOTION FROM PART-TIME TO FULL-TIME
19.5.1 - Each promoted employee must successfully complete a
probationary period of twelve months from the date of promotion.
19.5.2 - Upon successful completion of the probationary period, the
probationary employee will be considered a regular employee."
The City proposed this language because the results of any pay study performed
might change job categories for a variety of reasons.
The Union argued that the existing verbiage was also the result of arbitration and
would like it to remain status quo. The existing language is effective for
promotion, reclassifications, demotions, outside of an external study, which
would be negotiated by the Union.
The City will rework the section to include a note that reads, "Transition into a
new pay plan would be subject to negotiation."
Article 20 - Standby & Call Back Pay
The City made no changes to this section other than removing a comma.
The Union proposed language at the December 10 meeting stating "..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."
The Union stated that the take-home vehicle verbiage is also an issue. Requiring
employees to live within the City boundaries, or within the utility service area, in
order to be issued a take-home vehicle is not a fair requirement. In accordance
with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), an employee is "on the clock" from the
moment he/she is called into work. If the employee has to use their personal
vehicle to respond, because they live outside the City boundary or utility service
area, the employee is required to have auto insurance that covers the vehicle for
work purposes. This cost has been researched to be anywhere from $1,600 to
$2,400 per year.
The City stated they would research the FLSA requirement.
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NCF&O Blue and White Collar Bargaining
Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28,2005
The Union said the language in this section was as a result of the FLSA
requirement.
Article 21 - Working in a Higher Class
Previously T A'd.
Article 22 - Employees assigned to Training Duties
Previously TA'd.
Article 23 - Emergency Pay Policy
The Union stated that the language in the current contract is from the settlement
of a grievance.
The City reminded the Union that a City-wide declaration of local emergency and
emergency pay ordinance is pending. Once it is received, the City will present to
the Union for their approval.
Article 24 - Certification Pay
The City proposed adding language that reads:
"Employees who currently have or who earn EMT certificates shall receive
a one-time 5% wage increase upon initially earning the certificate."
The Union agreed with the change.
Article 25 - Sick Leave
The City proposed adding language that reads:
Section 25.1
"... one-half (1/2) hour before or after his/her ..."
Mr. Pawelczyk recommended changing this to read"... up to one-half (1/2) hour
after his/her..."
"If an employee fails to call in within the specified time, the employee shall
be in an unpaid status from the beginning of the work shift until the time
that the notice of absence is provided to the Supervisor."
The Union did not agree with this language because there are valid reasons
someone is unable to call in sick and the employee should not be punished by
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Boynton Beach, Florida
January 28, 2005
being put into an unpaid status if the employee can prove there was valid reason
for not being able to call. It was suggested that this language become part of the
disciplinary procedures section and should include a list of infractions and what
penalty they are equal to.
The City put back Section 25.6, which referred to Family Medical Leave Act.
The Union will proof this section in order to discuss it at the next meeting.
Adjournment
The negotiation session ended at 4:43 p.m.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be on Thursday, January February 3 at 1 :00 p.m. at the
Emergency Operations Center of the Utilities Department.
Respectfully submitted,
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