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Minutes 09-10-09 MINUTES OF THE BLUE COLLAR BARGAINING SESSION BETWEEN THE SEIU FLORIDA PUBLIC SERVICES UNION, CTW, CLC AND THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM B, AT 1:30 P.M. ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2009, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: For the City of Boynton Beach For SEIU Sharyn Goebelt, Human Resources Director Jeff Mark, Steward, SEIU Michael Low, Deputy Director of Mike Osborn, Steward, SEIU Utilities Operation Carl Booth , SEIU Tim Howard, Deputy Director, Finance Don Roberts, SEIU Marylee Coyle, Assistant Director, Kalim Mahdi, Steward, SEIU, Human Resources Sharyn Goebelt, Human Resources Director, opened the negotiating session at 1:34 p.m. She noted the completed proposal would be TA'd (tentatively agreed to) by the Union President and City Manager. Article 1, Preamble: It was verbally agreed to "no change" at the August 27, 2009 meeting. Article 2, Recognition: It was verbally agreed to the status quo. Article 3, Rights of Employees: It was verbally agreed to the status quo. Article 4, Management Rights: The Union had rejected the following language at the th August 28 session: "4.1.16. To implement at the discretion of the City, any new policy Citywide." The Union believed the language gave the City too much freedom in that policies could be added without the Union having any negotiating powers. Article 5, Strikes: No change. There was no change to this Article. Article 6, Non Discrimination: There was no change to this Article. Article 7, Representation of the City: There was no change to this Article. Article 8, Union Representation: The City proposed to recognize four stewards, rather than eight, as agents of the Union. The Union was open to discussion and would offer 1 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiating Session Boynton Beach, Florida September 10, 2009 a counter proposal. Mr. Booth advised the proposal would be provided at the next meeting. Article 9, Collective Bargaining. The Union would offer a counter proposal. Article 10, Union Time Pool. It was verbally agreed to remain with the status quo. The phrase "Human Resources Director" was added to 10.1., and sick leave "bank" was changed to sick leave "hours." Article 11, Bulletin Boards. There was no change to this Article. Article 12, Progressive Discipline. ?"Misconduct." The Union had no objection to the phrase "on the job," but did object to "off the job." No definition had been provided as to the behavior or actions that were or were not acceptable off the job, realizing that there were off-the-job actions that were detrimental to City employees. As such, it was requested by the Union that the phrase "off the job" be deleted. ?"Serious Misconduct." 4.b. "Refusal or failure to perform assigned duties and responsibilities." The Union did not object to the word "refusal," but did object to the phrase "failure to perform assigned duties and responsibilities." It was explained that a failure to complete a task might not necessarily be the fault of the employee. The next change was to strike the word, "three" preceding "occurrences" in the paragraph above the "Serious Misconduct" chart. The chart served as a guideline and was not "cut in stone." The Union would caucus regarding the change. 12.4.2 The Union requested "written counseling" and "written reprimands" be stricken. The City would discuss the request. 12.5. Types of Disciplinary Action. A. "Written Counseling." The Union had no objection to the following addition: "…and counseling the employee on improvement expected" as well as the addition of the word "further." 2 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiating Session Boynton Beach, Florida September 10, 2009 C. "Suspension without Pay." The Union had no objection to striking the following verbiage: "Any time an employee is suspended for discipline the suspension shall be without pay." E."Dismissal." The Union had no objection to the relocation of the words "information" and "the." Additionally, Article "10" was changed to Article "13." The Union had no objection to the change. 12.6. "Right to Pre-determination Hearing." The Union had no objection to the changes. 12.7. "Employee Appeals – Grievances." The Union would offer proposals on 12.7, 12.7.2 and 12.9. The City informed the Union that, with regard to 12.9, the phrase "administrative leave with pay" would not be acceptable. With the exception of the deletion of "Suspension Pending" in the title of 12.9, it was the City's desire for the paragraph to remain status quo. Article 13, Progressive Discipline. The Union had proposed mediation language. The City had not proposed changes on the Article and would not agree to the Union's proposal. Article 14, Basic Work Week and Overtime. Minor changes had been made pertaining to the work week. Article 15, Task Assignment – Solid Waste. The Union had previously indicated they would caucus on this provision, but requested the language remain status quo. Additionally, the Union requested an explanation as to the City's reasons for changing the task assignments. Article 16, Work Breaks. The Union noted a previous discussion included removal of the word "shift" in 16.1. The City noted the word "shift" should not have been included and would be deleted. The Union proposed to add two 15-minute paid breaks to the employee's one half-hour unpaid lunch period and to allow an employee to receive or decline a one half-hour or a one-hour unpaid lunch period. The City was agreeable to adding the half hour but not to allowing employees to decline or add the breaks. The Union requested an explanation as to the City's reason for not allowing this, as it was permitted for employees in other areas. The City contended its reasoning was based upon resource issues and was not intended to be discriminatory. While the City understood the Union's position, it would not agree to the designations proposed by the Union and was resolute in its desire for the language to remain as is. 3 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiating Session Boynton Beach, Florida September 10, 2009 Article 17, Compensatory Time. The City and Union agreed to no change. Article 18, Wages. The City contended Police had verbally agreed to a wage freeze for the entire year, although they wished to be moved to their step on September 30,2010. The step move had not been agreed to by the City at this time. An agenda item would be presented to the City Commission at the first public hearing on the budget on September 14, 2009. The second public hearing would be held on September 22,2009. Ms. Goebelt encouraged all to attend. Article 19, Promotions, Reclassifications, Transfers & Demotions. The City and Union agreed to no change. Article 20, Standby and Call Back Pay. The City had received the Union's proposal but wished to remain with the status quo. Article 21, Working in a Higher Class. The City noted the White Collar Union had agreed to trainees not receiving the 5% increase in pay. It was the City's position that the training provided an employee an opportunity to learn while on the job and improve his or her skills. However, it was the City's position that while in training, employees were not entitled to an increase in pay. Article 22, Employees Assigned to Training Duties. The City and Union agreed to the status quo. Article 23, Emergency Pay Policy. It was agreed to add the language: "…or the most current City Emergency Ordinance." Any changes to the Ordinance would require two readings by the City Commission. Article 24, Certification Pay. The City requested this Article be stricken. The Union's position was to remain with the status quo. Article 25, Sick Leave. ?25.2.A. The phrase "five days" was changed to 40 hours. ?25.2.B. The following language was added: "See 25.7.2." (The added language required a physician's note in order to return to work.) ?25.3 This Article was clarified to provide that personal leave hours could be cashed in upon separation from the City at 50%. The Union had no objection to the City's proposed changes set forth above. 4 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiating Session Boynton Beach, Florida September 10, 2009 Article 26, Workers Compensation. There were no changes to this Article. Article 27, Light Duty. There were no changes to this Article. Article 28, Vacation. ?28.3 "Day" was changed to "hours." The Union had no objection. ?28.5 The Union had requested increasing the hours of emergency vacation leave to 48. The City could not agree to this. ?28.8 It had been verbally agreed to change 90 to 80 hours for emergency cash- in. The Union had no objection. ?28.8.4 The Union would provide alternative language with respect to this Article. Article 29, Bonus Hours and Bonus Increases. The Union would provide a proposal. The Union's current position was to remain with the status quo. Article 30, Holidays. The Union requested to remain with the status quo. The City noted the proposed holiday schedule would affect general employees and management. Excluding Police and Fire, the loss of the holidays would result in a savings to the City of $25,000. Mr. Osborn pointed out $55,000 had been budgeted to replace his truck, which had accumulated only 62,000 miles. Rather than spending $55,000 on a vehicle with low mileage, Mr. Osborn suggested the monies could be utilized to fund the holidays. Ms. Goebelt advised she would contact Utilities with regard to the replacement of Mr. Osborn's vehicle. However, it was the City's position to cut the holidays. With the compressed workweek, the City was proposing that when a holiday fell on an employee's scheduled workday, the employee would receive eight hours pay at straight time. When the holiday fell on a non-scheduled workday, it would be treated as a floating holiday and eight hours would be added to the employee's vacation leave bank. This was proposed by the City as an economic issue. The Union did not agree to the City's proposal. Article 31, Compassionate Leave. Ms. Goebelt advised the language was proposed pursuant to a directive from upper management and this would be revisited. Article 32, Military Leave. The City noted it had been agreed to add the following language to 32.3: "Current U.S.S.E.R.A regulations will be followed regarding employee 5 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiating Session Boynton Beach, Florida September 10, 2009 benefits", as well as the language added in 32.5: "Employees on active Military Duty are required to provide the City with their military orders for the duration of their assignment." Article 33, Leave of Absence. The Union had provided language which the City would not agree to. The Union would provide new language. Article 34, Unauthorized Absence. There were no changes to this Article. Article 35, Jury Duty. "Days" were changed to "hours." Article 36, Seniority, Layoff and Recall. The City had made the change previously referred to by the Union in 36.2.e changing "three or more days" to "24 or more work hours" for unexcused absences. The Union noted the City's proposed language eliminated recall, severance pay and the two-week notification to the Union. The Union would offer a counter-proposal, adding the language back into the agreement. Article 37, Recruitment and Selection. The Union would caucus on this Article, but would likely agree to remain with the status quo. The City's response was that it had no interest in having this language included in the agreement, as the language was included in the PPM (Personnel Policy Manual.) Article 38, Safety and Health. The Union would agree to the status quo, with the wage allowance for the purchase of sunglasses remaining at $120. Ms. Goebelt would contact the Risk Management Director to request that he address the various safety issues. Article 39, Tool Replacement. The Union would provide a counter-proposal at the next meeting. Ms. Goebelt noted the City had conducted a survey, and the average rate for tools for fleet mechanics was $300. Article 40, Uniforms. The Union would provide a counter-proposal at the next meeting. Article 41, Insurance. The Union wished to remain with the status quo. Article 42, Personnel Files. There were no changes to this Article. Article 43, Tuition Assistance Program. Ms. Goebelt noted this Article was identical to the programs described in the APM (Administrative Policy Manual) and as such, was stricken. Article 44, General Provisions. There were no changes to this Article. 6 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiating Session Boynton Beach, Florida September 10, 2009 Article 45, Dues Deduction. The status quo would remain. Article 46, Pension. There were no changes to this Article. Article 47, Substance Abuse. The following verbiage was added by the City: "…in the current City Ordinance…". Article 48, Probationary Period. The City proposed to remain with the status quo, while the Union proposed that all promoted employees would be subject to a probationary period of three (rather than six) months. The Union would caucus on this Article. Article 49, Longevity Benefit. The Union wished to remain with the status quo. Article 50, Savings Clause. There were no changes to this Article. Article 51, Modification of Conditions. There were no changes to this Article. Article 52, Posting of Agreement. The City proposed to strike the language in 52.2 and replace it with the following: "The City will post a copy of this Agreement, as ratified, on the City's webpage." The City also proposed to strike the language of 52.3. Article 53, Collateral Documents. There were no changes to this Article. The Union caucused at 2:37 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 2:59 p.m. Chuck Magazine, Risk Management Director, joined the meeting to discuss issues relating to Article 38, Safety and Health, and to answer questions relating to the Safety Committee. Mr. Magazine noted the City's vendor provided proposals for safety shoes and boots for which the City would be paying $90 per pair. The City wished to ensure that all employees who were required to wear safety footware were indeed provided with the appropriate footware. Employees would be fitted at the Warehouse by the vendor and would receive their boots within two weeks. The boots would be provided in lieu of the $190 payment made to the individual employees, and there would be no out-of-pocket expense to the employee. Employees identified as being unable to be fitted properly by the vendor could purchase the boots at a cost not to exceed $90, and could be reimbursed through a 121 form. The $90 boots were considered mid-level boots. 7 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiating Session Boynton Beach, Florida September 10, 2009 Mr. Osborn pointed out he was aware of an employee who was required to wear a composite toe tennis shoe pursuant to his physician's orders. Mr. Magazine advised tennis shoes were not authorized by the Safety Committee and as such, would require a note from the physician. These types of situations would be dealt with on an individual basis. For those employees requiring a special boot, a request should be submitted by the appropriate department to the Safety Committee for approval. Additionally, concerns were addressed with regard to the issue of the shoes/boots not lasting the full year. As such, the Union would offer a counter-proposal at the next meeting. In order to address the Union's concerns, the City agreed to "fine-tune" the wording in Paragraph 38.3 to provide that if the shoes/boots did not last the full year, the City would have them replaced, and when the new shoes/boots were received, the original worn-out shoes/boots would be returned to the City. The City believed Articles 43, Tuition, and 44, General Provisions, had been TA'd (tentatively agreed to) by the parties. Ms. Goebelt had received confirmation from the City Manager and Finance Director that Fire and Police had agreed to a wage freeze for fiscal year 2009-2010 and to revisit the issue on September 30th. It was the desire of both the Union and the City to resolve all issues within the next few bargaining sessions. The City emphasized the continuing economic crisis which would preclude any wage increases. The next meeting would be held September 21, 2009, at 3:30 p.m., with the location to be determined. The session concluded at 3:23 p.m. ( 7'}--~ . () / ~--ur~ 'c..--!- Stephanie D. Kahn Recording Secretary 111709 8