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Minutes 02-23-06 I j MINUTES OF THE BLUE COLLAR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING SESSION BETWEEN THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FIREMEN &. OILERS AND THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, HELD ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23,2006 AT 10:00 A.M., IN CONFERENCE ROOM B, CITY OF BOYNTON BEAlCH, FLORIDA Present: For the City of Boynton Beach Sharyn Goebelt, Director of Human Resources John Jordan, Assistant Director of Human Resources Bobby Jenkins, Assistant Director of Finance For NCF&.O Sharon Munley, Trustee, Local 1227 NCF&O Bob Kruper, NCF&O Michael Taylor, NCF&O Jeff Mark, NCF&O Rick Smith, NCF&O Sharyn Goebelt, Director of Human Resources, called the bargaining session to order at 10:17 a.m. Ms. Goebelt announced nothing had changed about the City's offer and distributed clean copies to all participants of the three addendums: 1) First Addendum to Collective Bargaining Agreement for the Blue Collar Wage Re-opener (Wages); 2) Second Addendum to Collective Bargaining Agreement Article 55 (Labor Management); and 3) Third Addendum to Collective Bargaining Agreement Article 20 (Standby and Callback Pay). Section 18.4 of Wages Ms. Munley did not like the language, "with no corresponding increase to individual employees." Ms. Goebelt clarified for the City the language was meant to convey not everyone would automatically get an increase of 8.47%, but the ranges were going up. There would be more potential for earnings. Ms. Munley understood, adding that not everyone would get 8.47% unless their upgrade and across the board and merit equaled 8.47%. Mr. Kruper asked if February 8, 2006 was still the date for the 4% to go into effect, and Ms. Goebelt indicated if agreement was reached on the contract at this meeting, the City would make this retroactive. Mr. Kruper asked what would happen if they did not agree today, and Ms. Goebelt responded, "It may be taken off the table." Mr. Kruper understood if a person's salary were not "maxed out," t~ey would receive the 5% upgrade. Ms. Munley disagreed, saying 18.8 said the mins and maxes~go up 8.5%, which would create the room for an individual to get the 5% upgrade adjustment. Ms. Goebelt indicated no one would be over the max, except for those who were already over t. e max. i I Meeting Minutes Blue Collar Negotiation Session Boynton Beach, Florida February 23, 2006 Mr. Kruper confirmed with Ms. Goebelt the maximum salary range for grade 12 was $21,349. Ms. Munley declared, "These guys will get their lump sum bonus if they are over the top." Ms. Goebelt agreed. Ms. Munley asked if the pension was calculated on gross salary and this was confirmed to be the case. Ms. Munley confirmed the City's intention to have a Blue and White Collar Labor Management Committee. Ms. Goebelt believed the language was the same for Labor Management in the Blue and White Collar units. Although the article did not say so, Ms. Munley assumed since it was in the Blue Collar contract the Labor Management article was directed to the Blue Collar Labor Management Committee, and Mr. Jordan agreed that was exactly what it meant. Mr. Jordan agreed the Labor Management article on the table was for the Blue Collar Bargaining Unit. Before coming to agreement, Ms. Munley wanted to have a discussion on the Standby & Callback Pay Article. Ms. Goebelt responded the City's position was outlined in the Third Addendum. Ms. Munley understood section 10.1.3 to mean that if the minutes worked added up beyond 15, the individual would become eligible for time and a half. Ms. Goebelt responded it depended on whether it was considered as time worked and how many hours the individual had worked in that pay week. Ms. Munley read from 10.1.3, "If the duration of the call is less than 15 minutes, such time shall not count toward hours worked for the FLSA purposes" and then she added, " but if it exceeds 15 minutes, it will." Ms. Goebelt agreed, saying it would then count as hours worked for FLSA purposes, but the employee still had to make the 40 hours to get time and a half. Ms. Munley indicated the Union had some issues with how the Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) vehicle tracking system for City take-home vehicles was working for them. They hoped to have Wilfred Hawkins in attendance since they felt he might possibly be more operationally astute on this point, having been at the City for a long time. A few weeks ago, people would be called on the radio by a dispatcher and sent out on a job. There is an opportunity to make a record of the call. The time the AVL actually leaves the house might be 10 or 15 minutes from the time the employee gets the call from dispatch. The call had to be taken, the information written down, and the employee had to get dressed. Mr. Smith mentioned he might have to contact FPL and other crew members before going out also, and this could take 15-20 minutes by itself. Ms. Munley continued, saying the employee responds to the call, does the work, comes back, and goes into his house to complete the paperwork. The paperwork could take 15-30 minutes to complete. By using the AVL strictly for timekeeping purposes, employees were losing time worked. The Union suggested changing the timekeeping to cover from the time of the call until the employee called in as "out of service" Ms. Munley felt this was al problem because the City was "gypping" employees out of at least a half an hour on every call.I Ms. Goebelt said this was something that would be addressed in the Labor Management Committee and if they needed to change the contract, they would do a Memo of Understanding. 2 I I Meeting Minutes Blue Collar Negotiation Session Boynton Beach, Florida February 23, 2006 Ms. Munley asked to reschedule the meeting until Mr. Hawkins was present. When the Union agreed to having the A VL's, this method of operation was not what they agreed to have. In discussion it was agreed the AVL language had come about in a MOU after the original contract negotiations, but Ms. Munley believed when ratified, that MOU became part of the contract. Mr. Taylor recalled during the MOU discussions, the Union agreed they would still have the start time counted from when the dispatcher called the employee. He thought the AVL was supposed to document the trucks actually went out on a call, since some people were taking their own personal vehicles to calls, at times. Ms. Goebelt understood completely the Union's feeling of not being adequately compensated for the total amount of time involved in callout situations. Ms. Munley suggested new language for section 20.1.2, last sentence, to say: "For payroll purposes, the starting time of the employee responding to emergencies will be the time when the employee receives the call and the end time will be when the employee calls in "out of service. " Ms. Goebelt clarified the Union proposed language to the effect the time worked would begin when the employee received the call, and this would be recorded by the operator making the call. She asked when the Union proposed it would end. Ms. Munley indicated the time worked would end when the employee finished the call and called in "out of service" and not when their vehicle stopped. Ms. Goebelt understood. Ms. Munley brought up a safety and liability issue pertaining to callouts. When a person was called out and worked all night, for example, they might have to take a day of vacation in order to get any sleep, since their normal shift might start immediately after the callout work finished. The Union wanted to exempt this kind of situation from the loss of overtime scenario. Even though they would not have 40 hours in order to get time and a half, it was out of their control because they had to sleep sometime. They might have been called out two or three nights in a row. Ms. Munley suggested having 20.2.4 say, "Employees who are called out shall not lose their overtime when they are required, for safety reasons, to take approved sick or vacation." Ms. Munley understood there needed to be some control. Ms. Goebelt did not know how this would be monitored and administered. She thought Ms. Munley's language was too broad and had to be narrowed down. Mr. Taylor said if a water treatment plant operator had to work almost 24 hours and was scheduled to come in, he might have to give the regular time to someone else and take a day of vacation in order to get some sleep. This would cause him to lose overtime when he might have put in two or three days of straight work for the City. Ms. Goebelt understood. Ms. Munley wanted to exempt the water plant people, lift station peOlle, and so forth - anyone on emergency call out - from the 40-hour rule that cost them thhalf-time payment. Mr. Jenkins clarified if an employee got stuck at a console because somebody called in sick, and had to work two shifts in a row, he had worked 20 hours straight. If e went home and had to 3 i I Meeting Minutes Blue Collar Negotiation Session Boynton Beach, Florida February 23, 2006 be back at the plant in two or three hours and had not had sleep for 20 hours, he would have to take a vacation day or sick day to get some sleep, and he would lose the half time. Ms. Goebelt thought the Union had agreed to leave the language as it was at present and cover this issue in the Labor Management Committee. Ms. Munley said they had not agreed. Ms. Munley felt in situations where there was liability, two things could happen - someone would get hurt or nobody would want to be on call. Ms. Goebelt a$ked how liability would be determined on a call. Would this apply to everyone on call, she said? Ms. Munley said it would apply to people called out on emergencies. Ms. Goebelt said she wells hearing all callouts were emergencies and so all on call personnel would be eligible to have their time counted as time worked and get the time and a half if they had to take a vacation or Sick day to recuperate. Ms. Munley said it was something for the mutual benefit of the Union and the City. Mr. Taylor said it was not worth it to work a lot of extra hours for straight time. Mr. Kruper noted the shop maintenance personnel were no longer working on Saturdays. Since Task hours had been taken out of the overtime scenario, there were times when a person might not work 40 hours because he had to rush to get his truck in to the shop before the end of the day, thereby losing any opportunities for overtime if he got called ou~ for example. Mr. Taylor noted there were situations where the City services could "fall apart" if they were not out there taking care of things. The compensation for the worker was time and a half. The compensation for the City was having individuals willing to be on call. The parties caucused at 10:41 a.m. and reconvened at 10:57 a.m. Ms. Goebelt declared the City's offer was firm and was outlined in the addendums distributed at the table at the start of the meeting today. She suggested the Union take it to the membership for ratification. The Union would have until Tuesday, February 28 to ratify the contract. If the contract was not ratified, they would be at impasse. Ms. Munley wondered if Ms. Goebelt realized the Union would file charges with FLSA because the City was "gypping" employees out of half an hour of wages every day. That would be a FLSA charge with the government. She asked if Ms. Goebelt understood what Ms. Munley was trying to avoid. Ms. Goebelt declared she was telling Ms. Munley what the City's offer was and it was firm. The parties could reach Tentative Agreement on it today. Ms. Munley declared a caucus at 10:58 a.m. The parties reconvened the meeting at 11:13 a.m. Ms. Munley stated the Union would agree to the contract, "......even though they (the City) had really horrible tactics." Ms. Munley signed each contract addendum. Mr. Taylor asked what would be done about getting the Labor i ~anagement Committee underway. Ms. Goebelt wanted to conclude the contract discussion fiJst, saying there was only one Commission meeting in March on the 21st. Ms. Munley respondedl i~ would take about 8-10 I ! 4 I I Meeting Minutes Blue Collar Negotiation Session Boynton Beach, Florida February 23, 2006 days to seek ratification from the membership. Ms. Goebelt indicated she needed the ratification a week before the 21st in order to have it by the pre-agenda meeting of the City Commission. Ms. Munley mentioned an individual in the Parks Department who was topped out and would not be getting any increase. The individual was quite upset. Ms. Goeb~lt indicated the individual would still get a lump sum, and Ms. Munley did not think that would satisfy the individual. Labor Management Committee Mr. Taylor felt this should get started before October, and it should have been done already from October of 2004. Ms. Goebelt understood. Ms. Goebelt tried to set a date for the first Blue Collar Labor Management Committee. She needed a list of Union representatives from Ms. Munley. Ms. Munley suggested Jeff Marks as one representative, and he accepted. Jeff Marks needed to be on the Committee because he had a good performance appraisal system. Ms. Goebelt also had to get approval from the City Manager for management representation on the Committee. The week of March 13 was targeted for the first White Collar Labor Management Committee meeting and the week of March 20 for the Blue Collar Committee meeting. Mr. Jenkins indicated the next payroll following the City Commission meeting on March 21 was April 7. However, the April 7 check was targeted for the merit incr~ases. The next payroll would be April 21 and that was the earliest they could have the new $alary adjustments. Ms. Goebelt believed the increases had to be put in before the merit increa$es. Mr. Jenkins believed the two payroll actions could be exchanged, starting with the salary adjustments in the April 7 check and the merit increases on April 21. The City caucused at 11:21 a.m. and the parties reconvened at 11:23 a.m. Mr. Jenkins discussed it with his staff and the April 7 and April 21 dates were tentatively set as discussed. He would do all he could to get them in on those dates or before. Ms. Goebelt believed it might be possible to get this done sooner, and she would contact Ms. Munley when the dates were definite. Ms. Munley confirmed with Ms. Goebelt that the City would call her to confirm the dates for the two Labor Management Committee meetings. Ms. Goebelt confirmed Ms. Munley would send Ms. Goebelt a list of Union representatives for the Blue Collar Commlittee. The White Collar Committee was already in place. Mr. Jordan will coordinate the White Collar Labor Management Committee with Ms. Pam Welsh. If Ms. Welsh was unable to attend a meeting, Ms. Munley offered to sit in her place. The City and the Union agreed the Labor Management Committee meeti~gs were a priority. I Ms. Munley believed it was necessary to have an operationally astut~ representative on the management side for the Blue Collar Committee, possibly someone Iik~ Kofi Boateng, Utilities 5 I I Meeting Minutes Blue Collar Negotiation Session Boynton Beach, Florida February 23, 2006 Director. The management representative should be completely aware of the operational procedures in the areas at issue. A discussion ensued about whether the printout detailing the individual salary adjustments for each individual in the Blue Collar unit should be shared. Ms. Munley's! intent on asking for this was to give it to the stewards and have them disseminate the I information among the membership. Mr. Mark mentioned controversy took place when one enhployee became aware of another's salary. Ms. Goebelt expressed willingness to display the information in Human Resources and answer any questions the employees might have. If an employee felt his or her salary was unfairly lower than a co-worker's, they could access the other employee's personnel file in Human Resources. There were many reasons for differences j!n salaries, including one individual getting better performance evaluations, for example. Ms. Goebelt explained the City had sent letters to the White Collar unit the day after the City Commission approved the contract, detailing what the City Comntli$sion had approved and whether their position had been upgraded or not. Ms. Munley nee~ed a letter for the Blue Collar members before the Union ratification vote. She wanted the vdters to understand what they were voting on. She did not believe the employees would be able to translate the information in the Contract addendums adequately. Ms. Munley did. not feel she could send individual letters to each member of the Blue Collar membership detailing how they would be affected by the salary adjustments. This would be discussed later. The meeting was duly adjourned at 11:30 a.m. Respectfully submitted, ~ /~- <- /L? ~vL {-o{;.t::'< YL . r Susan Collins Recording Secretary (022306) 6