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Minutes 07-01-09 MINUTES OF CONTRACT NEGOTIATION SESSION BETWEEN IAFF LOCAL 1891 AND THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, HELD ON TUESDAY, JULY 1, 2009, AT 10:00 A.M. IN THE FIRE/POLICE TRAINING ROOM, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Present: For the City: For the Union: Bill Bingham, Fire Chief Sharyn Goebelt, Human Resources Director Dean Kinser, President Robert Kruse, Vice President Larry Lederhandler, Treasurer Thomas Murphy, Jr. Secretary Opening Bill Bingham, Boynton Beach Fire Chief, opened the session at 10:04 a.m. The purpose of the meeting was to reopen the Local 1891 City of Boynton Beach Collective Bargaining Agreement. The last agreement established reopeners for wages and insurance. Chief Bingham further clarified the purpose of the meeting was to deal with issues regarding the City's 2009/2010 budget. The City was attempting to work with the Union to make budget cuts that equated to the target number provided by the City Manager as indicated on the hand-out. Self-introductions were made. The City proposed to implement a wage freeze for the 2009/2010 budget. It included a 3% City-wide across the board pay cut. The City was also interested in discussing the removal of the longevity clause and the removal of the Christmas Eve and President's Day holidays, thereby reducing the number of City-paid holidays to nine. The Finance Department provided calculations reflecting 1 % increments of salaries for employees. The figure multiplied by three yielded $245,169, the reduction amount the City was trying to reach for the Fire Department. The floor was opened for discussion on the pay freeze and the 3% pay cut. Chief Bingham was aware of the Union's position that a buy-out was not yet a consideration and he explained the City was sharing information from the Budget Team as to what was currently on the table. Accordingly, any potential buy-out was an option yet to be offered, and those figures were being calculated. It was hoped the information would be available within the next two weeks. 1 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, FL July 1, 2009 As to the millage rate, the City Manager was attempting to ascertain the Union's position on various items so he could provide information to the City Commission for them to use in their decision-making processes. Chief Bingham recognized no one group wanted to be the only group to make concessions and it would have to be an all or nothing effort. He invited any questions the Union had and advised he would obtain the answers for them. Dean Kinser, President, Local 1891, agreed with Chief Bingham's comments regarding other unions participating in concessions and inquired if the reopener contained any options in the format of a 12-month period, a specific period of time or on a permanent basis. He clarified if discussing the 3% pay cut, that October 1, 2009 began the second year of their three-year contract. Mr. Kinser felt anything negotiated would be contingent upon a 12-month period. He did not concede to the 3% pay-cut, but expressed much discussion was needed, and questions needed to be answered. Information was still unavailable that the Union needed to consider before making any decisions. The Union acknowledged the City's economic situation and, as employees who were in the job for the long-term, they expressed they would try to help the City through it. Other factors such as if there would be a buy-out offered, what the millage rate would be and other issues needed to be considered. Chief Bingham assumed for the purposes of negotiations, that the City was looking at the elimination of longevity and the two holidays on a long-term basis - not a one-year cut. The document provided was not specific to the Fire Department; it was a City-wide document that would be divided among all the employees of the City. The City already met with the Police Union for all three groups of police personnel, and would be meeting with the White and Blue Collar Unions, since those contracts would expire September 30, 2009. Chief Bingham thought in order to grasp the big picture, all aspects of the issue needed to be discussed and to expedite the process, the Union should put questions on the table to bring to the City Manager and the Budget Team The holiday pay figure provided specific to the firefighters appeared to be low. The longevity figure was the actual figure of $117,000 for fiscal year 2009/2010, and the individuals who were eligible were listed. The City ran figures for the Police Union for fiscal years 2010/2011, which reflected $227,000; however, the figure varied each year based on who had service. Some of the agreements had five-year segments. Ms. Goebelt noted the Police asked for the figures for the following year to determine who would be impacted. Ms. Goebelt would forward the same type of information regarding the longevity provision as it pertained to the firefighters to Mr. Kinser. Mr. Kinser recanted his earlier statement and indicated they were not looking to remove benefits for the entirety of the contract: only a one-year period. He explained if the City experienced difficulty next year, they would renegotiate as the Union preferred to bargain one year at a time. 2 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, FL July 1, 2009 Chief Bingham reported as the City's fiscal situation unfolded, the Budget Team was providing due diligence to ensure there were no additional excess monies or funds that were not being used wisely as far as vehicle replacements and items of that nature. The Union also recognized sometimes there were concessions across the board, but the Union needed better documentation and more accurate numbers to gain a better understanding of the City's fiscal condition. The Union did not expect the City to provide them with a package of benefits to make concessions on, but it was Mr. Kinser's experience that giving up raises or not taking raises and accepting freezes compounds over the years. The Union agreed to work out what needed to be worked out, but there needed to be parameters before any serious concessions were made. The Union requested: ./ Knowing the duration of the discussions; ./ More accurate numbers regarding the specific impact it would have on the firefighters; and ./ The same information provided to the police regarding the impact of longevity on their employees, but specific to the firefighters; The Union was not concerned about this year or the year after as they would prefer to address the issues as they arose; however, they acknowledged the City had a significant deficit they needed to address this year. They were also cognizant other factors needed to play out, such as the effect of a buy-out or other items that may change the figures. Chief Bingham assumed the data provided to the Union was accurate with the exception of the holiday data, and it was believed the individual putting the information together did not understand the contractual definition of how holidays worked for firefighters. The number reflected for the holidays - City-wide was $95000. The impact for firefighters alone regarding holiday pay was over $90,000. Chief Bingham would meet with Finance to ensure they understood the contractual provisions of how holiday pay was paid to firefighters. He anticipated the impact City-wide regarding holiday pay would double. Mr. Kinser inquired in relation to that figure, if it reflected the amount the City wanted to save. Chief Bingham explained it was, but assumed it was not the bottom line figure, and it would be changed and reflected accurately. Chief Bingham explained the City, at the end of the process would determine whether there was surplus money or a deficit. If so, the surplus would be added in. The real issue was if the City was looking to eliminate two holidays, then they would eliminate two holidays across the board. 3 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, FL July 1, 2009 Information regarding the various millage rates was provided. If the millage rate remained the same, 19 jobs would be eliminated; however, only one job cut would occur with the middle millage rate model provided, and there were no employee cuts at the roll-back rate. It was the City's position at the moment that a full roll-back rate would be difficult to achieve. The City Manager was looking at the middle model, which still required reduced expenditures. All the Unions would need to make a decision on what they could reasonably do and what their main objective was. Another option was not to bargain and let the contract run and accept layoffs. Chief Bingham expressed the City was genuinely interested in not losing personnel, but in order to do that, there would have to be concessions. The Union inquired whether they were allowed to take monies or reduce expenditures from other areas of their budget to meet the number the City Manager indicated their budget needed to be reduced to and what impact it would have. More specifically, the inquiry was if the plan of action was to have all departments take a 3% pay reduction, or whether departments could further attempt to reduce expenditures so as not to impact that department's employees' pay. Chief Bingham responded that was the type of issue he would bring to the Budget Team. Mr. Kinser reiterated there may be other options available. Chief Bingham indicated he did not think their operations department could sustain layoffs in order to provide service to the community. He noted the Fire Department deferred six positions over the last two years. This year was the first year they added six new firefighters to the budget since Fire Station #5 was completed. The Fire Department was one of the few the only department~ not under a hiring freeze. He clarified firefighters who retired were replaced; however, that has not occurred in atAeF all departments. Discussion returned to the issue of taking a pay cut. The City was still awaiting details regarding revenue sources from the State and County. Other types of tax revenue information was still pending. Chief Bingham reiterated the City had to brace for further cuts and acknowledged many circumstances could change between now and September. The City Commission still had to set the millage, and once set, the preliminary millage could be lowered but not increased. The City would need to make a decision quickly. Budget meetings were already set for this month. By the end of the month, they would know what the millage would be. The City Manager was only trying to provide sufficient information to the elected officials, and receive direction from them so he could provide a commensurate estimate on where the millage needed to be in order for the City to continue to operate. There had not been much discussion about the budget for 2010/2011 and 2011/2012; rather, they were trying to work through the current budget. It was noted the budget for 2010/2011 was anticipated to be worse. Chief Bingham would obtain the Budget Team's thoughts on the term limits for longevity. He presumed the holidays were intended to be eliminated permanently but 4 Meeting Minutes IAFF Negotiations Boynton Beach, FL July 1, 2009 would confirm that with the Budget Team as well. The figures provided for the holidays would be recalculated and accurately reflected. He would also provide information on what the target number represented, if it had to be from a 3% cut or if each department could reduce expenditures in other areas commensurate with the target number identified. After discussion it appeared the Union preferred, preliminarily at this point in time, and for the purposes of discussion, to defer the six additional firefighters. There was no further discussion between the parties. There was agreement both parties were aware of what was on the table and Chief Bingham agreed to provide additional information by next Monday. There being no further discussion, the negotiations ended at 10:46 a.m. (JArWuAUL {11 J A 11 L J _ Catherine Cherry ,--,.-".,- ~r Recording Secretary 5