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Minutes 08-30-05 CONTRACTURAL NEGOTIATION MEETING BETWEEN IAFF LOCAL 1891 AND THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH HELD ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2005 IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, 208 S. SEACREST BOULEVARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA AT 10:00 A.M. Present: For the City: For the Union: Bill Bingham, Fire Chief Lt. Dean Kinser, President Lt. Robert Kruse, Vice President Lt. Larry Lederhandler, Treasurer Lt. Thomas Murphy, Jr., Secretary Firefighter J.C. Julia, Business Agent Firefighter Barkley Garnsey, Information Command Coordinator Call to Order Chief Bingham called the meeting to order and a sign-in sheet was circulated. Chief Bingham ANNOUNCED that Deputy Chief Carter would not be present. Chief Bingham reported he has updated his matrix as of August 22nd and felt that most of the articles could be T A'd today. He will be presenting the contract to the City Commission at the September 20th meeting for their ratification. If it turns out the parties are not ready, this would not occur. He felt they had enough time to resolve any outstanding issues prior to that meeting. Before placing the contract on the Commission agenda for approval, Chief Bingham would have to meet in Executive Session with the Commission, which he is trying to schedule for the September 6th Commission Meeting. Chief Bingham acknowledged that the Union has to present the contract to the members. He felt if all the issues could be resolved by the end of this week, it would give the Union enough time to take care of what has to be done to get the contract ratified. Chief Bingham would be presenting the City's offer today and requested that the articles be reviewed article-by-article. Some articles have been changed since they last met and he has discussed them with the City Manager, who in turn spoke with Mayor Taylor. Lt. Kinser stated prior to the last negotiations, they would like to present some additional items for the record. Article 12: The Union is withdrawing its initial proposal for dependent insurance from the negotiation table. Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida August 30,2005 Article 30: The Union is withdrawing its proposal for longevity from the negotiation table. Lt. Kinser reported they would be bringing a counterproposal to the pay plan that the Union had originally presented. The proposal is similar to the first offer they presented with a slight increase in the yearly raises that comes to $1,700 per year added to the starting firefighter pay; $1,800 to the starting firefighter pay the second and third year. Also included with the contract is Addendum C that Lt. Kinser presented to Chief Bingham. There have been no changes to this. Article 40: The Union is proposing to renumber the Duration Article to Article 41 and to add a new Article 40 entitled "Supplemental Retirement Insurance." This sets forth the post-retiree insurance plan. Chief Bingham inquired if this was the best way to deal with it by keeping it separate from the existing group insurance article. Lt. Kinser felt that it would be best to keep the issues separate for clarification purposes. Chief Bingham inquired if there have been any changes to this Article since he was provided with it. Lt. Kinser responded there were none. There are some grammar corrections that need to be made, but there are no other changes. · Outstanding Items Letter of Understanding dealing with hours worked is still outstanding. Chief Bingham explained that it needs to be signed by the parties if the Union was in agreement with it. Career Ladder: Chief Bingham pointed out that this is still outstanding. Lt. Kinser noted the Union would be making amendments to the Career Ladder. Chief Bingham also had something he would like the Union to look at on this issue. Lt. Kinser did not feel that this should hold up the negotiation process. Mr. Garnsey asked if the City had any items that were not ready to be TA'd. Chief Bingham reported he was trying to bring Mr. Bressner up to date regarding the retirement insurance and he has not had an opportunity to meet with him. Chief Bingham said there might be other items, but he was not certain. If there were items that were not TA'd today, he anticipated they would be by the end of the week. Mr. Garnsey was not certain if the Union was prepared to TA on the Wage Article today, if some other issues were still outstanding. Chief Bingham felt the only item outstanding was the retirement insurance. He anticipated once he spoke with Mr. Bressner, he would have an answer for the Union. If Mr. Bressner was not in agreement with this Article, it would be presented to the City Commission for their decision. 2 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida August 30, 2005 Chief Bingham felt they should be able to T A all the other items that would impact the Wage Article that would then clear the way for the Wage Article to be TA'd. The following Articles were TA'd. · Preamble (No Article Number) - No change · Article 1 - Recognition - No change Chief Bingham cited the changes in this Article that had been previously discussed. The Recognition Article clearly states who is and is not included in the collective bargaining agreement. Section 1 reads: "The City hereby recognizes the Union as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all employees of the Fire Rescue Department except Chief of the Department, Deputy Chiefs, Battalion Chiefs*, Fire Marshal, Assistant Fire Marshal, Fire Inspectors, staff members hired under personal appointment contracts, and clerical personnel." The asterisk is addressed in Section 1A that reads: "Effective 10/01/07, rank of Battalion Chief will be recognized and covered by this collective bargaining agreement, pending unit clarification from the Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC)." Section 2 has not changed. Section 1 clarifies membership under the collective bargaining agreement. Lt. Kinser stated an issue has come up regarding Battalion Chiefs because one would be in the Union and two would not. The Career Ladder and testing needs to reflect this position. There is one vacant Battalion Chief position at this time and Lt. Kinser did not think the Union could have any language regarding the Career Ladder by October 1 st. Lt. Kinser inquired if PERC ruled the position is now in the Union, but two individuals are not in the Union, in accordance with the Union contract language, could result in some problems. Chief Bingham pointed out that the City is willing to acquiesce to the Union to include Battalion Chiefs in the collective bargaining agreement. The language in this Section permits this and provides enough time to take care of all the details. Chief Bingham recommended that anyone that is appointed a Battalion Chief be made aware that on October 1, 2007 they would become exempt employees and would receive all the rights and benefits that come with this position. Since the pay ranges are close and to avoid the complication of moving from one pay range to the other, anyone that moves into the Battalion Chief position between now and October 1, 2007 would move into the range 3 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida August 30, 2005 that has been established in the contract. Chief Bingham would adjust the City's pay policy to reflect the new range, which is the range in the contract. This means the Battalion Chiefs that are in the position, effective October 1, 2007, on that date will become part of the bargaining unit. The only potential problems that Chief Bingham envisions are the benefit differences between union employees and exempt employees. If there any adjustments that need to be made, Chief Bingham said they could be dealt with on October 1, 2007. It would be Chief Bingham's responsibility to make sure that anyone promoted to that position is made fully aware of what is happening, how it is going to work, what the benefits are, what the benefits will be, what changes will take place on October 1 s" etc. Chief Bingham wants to avoid an one saying they were not aware of anything. Chief Bingham said that after he looked at this and the way it was originally intended to be accomplished, he felt it would result in some major problems with PERC and internally, if people were in the same position, but in different classifications. He felt that it might also open the door for a challenge, which he is trying to avoid. Further, Chief Bingham reiterated this was an important issue and the Union is getting what it wanted. The City, however, needs time to deal with the issues in making the transition. He felt that having this take effect on a certain date was the way to proceed and takes anyone currently in the position out of play. Lt. Murphy asked what would happen between now and the October 1, 2007 date. Chief Bingham responded that the City pay plan has a pay range for the Battalion Chiefs position as an exempt employee. The Department has established a pay range for the Battalion Chief as a non-exempt employee and this has been put into the contract. To avoid making other changes down the line, Chief Bingham would petition the City to change the existing pay range as exempt employees to the same numbers they are proposing for the non-exempt employees. This way, there will be no change in the process. Lt. Murphy inquired how it would be addressed if someone was promoted to this position in six months and overtime issues may be involved. Lt. Murphy asked how this would be addressed during this interim period? Chief Bingham explained that if the Union agreed to the Article, the employees are coming into this position as exempt employees, as if it were not in the contract, until October 1, 2007. This is something these employees must be made aware of and they have to make a decision on whether they want to accept the position under those conditions. If an employee does not want to accept these conditions, they do not have to accept the position. Chief Bingham explained that no matter how this is addressed, there has to be a transition period. Chief Bingham said during the transition period, issues involving pay, paramedic incentive, and similar types of issues would be monitored closely. He also pointed out 4 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida August 30, 2005 there is a misconception in the Department that the existing Battalion Chiefs were promised that they would receive all the benefits of management, but also the benefits of the Union. This was never said and is not true. Lt. Kinser thought this might have come from a prior administration; before Chief Bingham came onboard. Lt. Kinser stated that the members would be fully informed of what is being offered and when the Battalion Chiefs would be back in the Union. Chief Bingham said this had been done previously. The reason the pay range now is higher than what is being proposed in the contract was due to the fact when the Battalion Chiefs came out of the bargaining unit, adjustments were made for those people who were in the position at the time. This was done to make sure they received their paramedic pay in their salaries. These same adjustments will have to be made again. Lt. Lederhandler said it had been previously pointed out that currently the Battalion Chiefs are covered by the City's PPM. Chief Bingham did not feel that job security should be an issue. Chief Bingham pointed out that on October 1, 2007, Battalion Chiefs would no longer have the privileges that come with the management package, but they would come under the collective bargaining contract. He also pointed out he would lose his ability to treat Battalion Chiefs as exempt employees and the contract would rule his decision as it is related to that position. · Article 1 - Recognition - TA'd · Article 2 - Discrimination - TA'd · Article 3 - Payroll Deduction of Dues - TA'd Chief Bingham pointed out there was a change in this Article that the Union wanted something in writing and this was the only change to this Article in Section 2. Article 4 - Union Business Chief Bingham pointed out in Section 1 the last sentence reads: "Five of the ten shift days (24 hours) may be used in 2 to 12 hour increments, provided the leave is approved by the Shift Commander." The phrase "no later than the preceding corresponding shift" was eliminated. In Section 2 (Union Time Pool), the language was run together and has now been broken up into Sections A. and B. Section A. is the previous language. The language in Section B that reads, "Approved authorized leave criteria as identified in SOG must be followed" had been deleted. In Section B in the sentence that reads, "All requests to use this time are subject to daily staffing requirements and must be approved by the Shift Commander", the language that stated "not later than the preceding corresponding shift" has been deleted. 5 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida August 30, 2005 In the next sentence in Section B, the phrase "as identified in Section 1" has been eliminated. · Article 4 - Union Business - T A'd · Article 5 - Representation of the Union - T A'd · Article 6 - Representation of the City - TA'd · Article 7 - Rules and Regulations - TA'd Article 8 - Hours of Work Chief Bingham noted in Section 2, it states, "All shift employees covered under this Agreement shall work a 48-hour workweek, Le., 24 hours on duty, 48 hours off duty with a 24-hour ("shift" was deleted) ("Kelly Day" was inserted) off duty. The term "every three weeks" in this sentence was crossed out and the new language inserted is "during the 21-day work schedule. "Therefore the sentence now reads: '"'AII shift employees covered under this Agreement shall work a 48-hour workweek, Le., 24 hours on duty, 48 hours off duty with a 24-hour 'Kelly Day' off duty during the 21-day work schedule." · Article 8 - Hours of Work - T A'd · Article 9 - Working Conditions - TA'd Letter of Understanding regarding hours worked. Lt. Kinser signed the Letter of Understanding. Chief Bingham pointed out that the City Manager would be signing on behalf of the City. Article 10 - Uniforms and Safety Equipment Chief Bingham pointed out there were some minor changes made to this Article. In the first paragraph, Section 1, sixth line, the language reading, "In the event the City changes boot shoe vendors" has been deleted. The costs have been changed from $65 to $125 in this same paragraph. In the list of uniforms, the term "jumpsuit" is being used in place of "coveralls;" two long- sleeve tee shirts, one job shirt and "wide brimmed hat" have been included. These are the only changes to this Article. · Article 10 - Uniforms and Safety Equipment _ T A'd Article 11 - Physical Exams & Immunizations A new Section B. has been added that Chief Bingham recited. This Article also has a new Section 3.C (Hepatitis - Type A). This is being offered to members of specialized teams involved with a high-risk exposure as defined in N.F.P.A. 1582. If a member refuses to be immunized for Hepatitis Type A and later contracts the disease, it shall 6 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida August 30, 2005 not be presumed that the member contracted the disease while on duty. These are the only changes to this Article. · Article 11 - Physical Exams & Immunizations - TA'd · Article 12 - Group Insurance - TA'd · Article 13 - Operator's Insurance - TA'd Article 14 - Wages Chief Bingham requested that this Article be addressed after all the other Articles are addressed. The Union agreed to this. · Article 15 - Overtime and Call Back - TA'd Article 16 - Exchange Time Chief Bingham pointed out there was a minor change in Section 1.A. Shift Officer" has been changed to "Shift Commander." Section B is new. Chief Bingham read the new Section B into the record. · Article 16 - Exchange Time - TA'd Article 17 - Sick Leave Chief Bingham pointed out there was one change to this Article. The last two sentences in Section 9 have been changed to read as follows: "For the purpose of this Section, a doctor's letter must be submitted and the 'immediate family' shall consist of the employee's Spouse, parents, children, or any family member residing with the employee for which the employee is the primary care giver. Employees requesting this family sick provision for other than the immediate family shall provide Administration with verifiable proof of primary care giver status prior to the use of this provision. The italicized words are new language to this Section. · Article 17 - Sick Leave - T A'd Article 18 - Compassionate Leave There have been some changes to Section 1. "Family member" is defined as the employee's Spouse, mother, father, stepfather, stepmother, foster parents, foster child, stepchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, grandparents, spouse's grandparents, grandchildren, brother, sister, son or daughter. 7 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida August 30, 2005 The italicized words are new language to this Section. Section 2 is new. Chief Bingham cited the new section. · Article 18 - Compassionate Leave - T A'd Article 19 - Vacation Leave Lt. Kinser pointed out there was language they were going to review dealing with the "one time" circumstance. Lt. Kinser noted that selecting vacation time was changed from calendar year to fiscal year. Section 3 needed to be removed and then the remainder of the sections would have to be renumbered accordingly. Chief Bingham agreed that an adjustment would have to be made to this Article and he would take care of it. · Article 20 - Personal Time - T A'd · Article 21 - Holidays - TA'd · Article 22 - Court Time - TA'd · Article 23 - Working out of Classification - TA'd · Article 24 - Education - T A'd Article 25 - Educational Incentive Chief Bingham pointed out there is a new Section 2 and 3 being offered by the City. The language states in Section 2 that effective October 1, 200, the City would match the incentive payment as currently provided in Section 1 of this Article. The current incentive payment is $50 per month for an acceptable associates degree and $110 per month for an acceptable bachelor's degree. If the incentive payment in Section 1 is discontinued or adjusted for any reason, the City's contribution would not change and would remain consistent. The Union felt the language needed clarification. Lt. Kruse felt the way the language was written, the City was locking itself into those amounts. Chief Bingham responded that besides the $50 and $110, the amounts the City would match would be whatever was in effect on October 1, 2007 in accordance with Florida Statute. Lt. Kruse did not think the language effectively stated this. The Union did not think it was necessary to state the amount the City would pay since State Statute governed it. Chief Bingham will delete the last portion of Section 2 to clarify the language. The parties accepted this Article. Article 26 - Medical Certification Chief Bingham pointed out the one change in this Article. Section 1.8. now reads, "Effective October 1, 2007, the amount noted above ($7,488.00) will increase to $8,112.00 or $3.25 per hour, under the same conditions as noted in Section 1." · Article 26 - Medical Certification - TA'd 8 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida August 30, 2005 · Article 27 - Licenses & Registration Fees - TA'd · Article 28 - Seniority List - TA'd · Article 29 - Vacancies and Promotions - TA'd · Article 30 - Longevity - TA'd It was noted that the Union's proposal for Article 30 was pulled by the Union and the current contract language was TA'd. · Article 31 - Bulletin Board - T A'd · Article 32 - Notification and Distribution - T A'd · Article 33 - Grievance Procedure - T A'd · Article 34 - Prevailing Rights - TA'd · Article 35 - Savings Clause - TA'd · Article 36 - Appendices, Amendments and Additions - TA'd · Article 37 - Successors - TA'd Article 38 - Compensatory Time Chief Bingham pointed out there is a change in the last sentence of Section 1 that states compensatory time would be earned at the rate of time and one-half with a cap of ninety-six (96) hours. Section 2 has new language that says when an employee reaches 72 hours in his/her account the following will occur: "From the date of the event or project that caused the employee to reach their maximum hours, said employee must schedule and take a compensatory time leave day. In the event the employee fails to schedule and take a 24 hour comp time leave day during that 90 day period, the first available date after the ninety days will be assigned by fire administration as a mandatory 24 hour comp time leave day. During this referenced 90-day period of time, the employee will be allowed to continue accruing comp time. Should the employee accrue an additional 24 hours or more during this 90 day period, that employee will begin a new 90 day cycle that will require the use another of 24 hour shift leave day. This process will continue as long as that employee maintains 72 hours or more in the comp time account after taking their mandatory comp time leave day." Chief Bingham noted there had been previous discussions that resulted in the cited language. · Article 38 - Compensatory Time - TA'd · Article 39 - Management Rights - TA'd 9 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida August 30, 2005 Chief Bingham noted the new Article 40 (Retirement Insurance) would be discussed later in the negotiation session. Article 41 (Previously Article 40) - Duration Chief Bingham noted the only changes in this Article is that "2002" became "2005" and "2005" was changed to "2008." · Article 41 - Duration - TA'd Lt. Kinser noted Addendum B would be pulled from the contract. Chief Bingham inquired if new information would be provided and Lt. Kinser responded that new information has already been provided. Addendum C would become Addendum B. Tuition Refund Program would become Addendum C with no changes. Addendum E (Career Ladder) would become Addendum D. The Addendums were signed off at this time and Chief Bingham reported they would be signed when the Contract was presented to the City Commission at the meeting on September 20th. The Union requested to recess at 11 :08 a.m. The meeting resumed at 11:15 a.m. Article 14 - Wages Chief Bingham announced he was still in the process of putting the new numbers into the contract. He has the new numbers and they are acceptable at this time. The numbers in the contract today are the old figures. He requested they address the ancillary issues associated with the Wage Article. The paramedic raise that would take effect on October 1, 2007 has been reflected. All references to "Deputy Fire Marshal" have been deleted. Section 2.A. states, "Effective October 1, 2005, October 1, 2006 and October 1, 2007 each member of the bargaining unit shall receive a wage adjustment consistent with the increase in pay ranges identified in Section 1(A, B, and C)." This is clean-up language. Section 8. states, "Effective April 1, 2006, April 1, 2007 and April 1, 2008, a wage adjustment of up to 5% will be provided based on performance appraisal, unless the employee has reached their maximum salary cap, as noted in Section 1. Employees who reach and exceed the maximum salary cap shall receive no base-wage 10 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida August 30, 2005 adjustment, but will receive a lump sum payment equal to the amount they would receive based on the criteria included herein." Chief Bingham pointed out the remainder of the language is the same and Section 6 will be deleted. Sections 2 through 5 identify how the pay raises and the merit increases will be addressed. The transition language in Section 6 will be eliminated because it is no longer necessary. The following Articles require clarification: Article 19 (Vacation) Article 25 (Educational Incentive) Article 14 (Wages) Discussion took place about the Career Ladder and Chief Bingham distributed proposed language for this purpose. Lt. Kinser read the language applicable to attaining the rank of Battalion Chief. Chief Bingham requested the Union bring this language back and show it to the Captains for their input. Chief Bingham pointed out that he has added to education one noteworthy incident command course and one noteworthy human resource course. Lt. Kinser reported that Battalion Chief testing would take place every odd year and a test is scheduled for October 1, 2007. Chief Bingham pointed out three tests are required. Adjournment There being no further business, the negotiation session properly adjourned at 11 :40 a.m. Respectfully submitted, ,-Jia<--t~i-(...__ /1...-(. It( ce.~Ld:.-u,-- Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (September 16, 2005) 11 CONTRACTUAL NEGOTIATION MEETING BETWEEN IAFF LOCAL 1891 AND THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH HELD ON FRIDAY, JULY 8,2005 IN THE FIRE/POLICE TRAINING ROOM, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA AT 2:00 P.M. Present: For the City: For the Union: Bill Bingham, Fire Chief Ray Carter, Deputy Chief of Operations John Jordan, Assistant Director of Human Resources Lt. Dean Kinser, President Lt. Robert Kruse, Vice President Lt. Larry Lederhandler, Treasurer Lt. Thomas Murphy, Jr., Secreta ry Firefighter J.e. Julia, Business Agent Call to Order A sign-in sheet was distributed. Chief Bingham called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. Update on Results of Executive Session with the City Commission Regarding the IAFF Contract Chief Bingham related that the presentation was late and there was not enough time for a thorough discussion. He explained to the City Commission and City Manager that he did not have the authority or the comfort level to offer a counterproposal for any of the presented articles. The matrix presented identified all forty articles with 34 marked as tentatively agreed upon although not formalized. He proceeded to give the status of the six pending issues going into the Executive Session. Recognition The Commission agreed to having the battalion chiefs return to the collective bargaining unit. Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida July 8, 2005 Chief Bingham asked Assistant Chief Carter to get in touch with PERC to find out what procedures had to be followed in order to make this happen. It would be a matter of answering questions consistent with tests they use for whether a particular position is exempt or non-exempt. He did not expect problems with this. Group Insurance The Commission did not approve this item. This was a hot issue in this and other cities and the rates were constantly going up. Mr. Jordan commented that it was a matter of balance also. The City wanted to be fairly consistent with what they were doing in order to keep covering employees at 100% as opposed to rolling off the dependent coverage. Wage Article There was no problem with the Wage article as it stands. Chief Bingham explained to the Commission that the Wage article had to be considered in concert with other articles that had a bearing on wages also. The list of comparable wages in other cities was presented and the Commission seemed to believe the proposed wages were in line with the comparables. Educational Incentive This was the issue of matching the State money for the pay, and the Commission did not approve this article. Medical Certification Proposal The Union's proposal and the City's counterproposal were put on the table. The counterproposal is the one that does raise the Paramedic incentive by 25 cents an hour in the third year of the contract, which takes it up to $8,100 as opposed to $7,488. The Commission agreed to the City's counterproposal. Longevity The Commission did not approve this article. Outstanding Issues A letter of understanding in regard to Kelly Days was outstanding, and the City Commission did not have a problem with it. 2 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, Florida July 8, 2005 The Commission said no to the proposed VEBA article. This sums up the discussion about contract negotiations. Attorney Cherof brought up the 2% COLA, although Chief Bingham made a point that this was separate and distinct from contract negotiations. The Commission has some problems with the COLA. Some disappointment was expressed about the results of the negotiations from the Executive Session. The Union believed it needed to regroup, look at its Position, and see whether it was feasible to come back to the table on some of the issues. The fact that the Union's economic package was inclusive of all six of the articles was reinforced. Chief Bingham stated the Commission was aware of that. For the record, these six articles were being withdrawn from the table. Lt. Kinser formally listed each of the six articles considered at the Executive Session and reported on by Chief Bingham at this meeting and stated that they were being withdrawn from the table. Next Meeting The next meeting will be set for two weeks from this meeting or later. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 2:21 p.m. Respectfully submitted, &~~; Susan Collins Recording Secretary (071205) 3