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Minutes 09-16-09 MINUTES OF THE BLUE COLLAR MEETING BETWEEN THE SEIU FLORIDA PUBLIC SERVICES UNION, AND THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH HELD IN THE PLANNING AND ZONING CONFERENCE ROOM, AT 9:00 A.M. ON SEPTEMBER 16, 2009, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: For the City of Boynton Beach For SEIU Sharyn Goebelt, Human Resources Director Lori LaVerriere, Assistant City Manager Marylee Coyle, Assistant Human Resources Director Tim Howard, Assistant Finance Director Michael Low, Deputy Director of Utilities Carl Booth, SEIU Mike Osborn, SEIU, PSU Don Roberts, SEIU, PSU Kalem Mahdi, SEIU, PSU Sharyn Goebelt, Human Resources Director, opened the meeting at 9:04 a.m. Self- introductions were made. It was noted Jeff Marks, Steward from the Union, was also present. Ms. Goebelt had requested Jeff Livergood, Director Public Works, review the Task Article with the Union. A new printout was issued regarding Article 15, which would be clarified. Article 15, Task Assignment - Solid Waste was discussed. The Union had a concern regarding the language, "Upon completion of daily task, the Task employee may be required to perform other work functions related to Public Works." The question was why have a task system if you want the employee to work ten hour days and then work elsewhere and the employee has job descriptions that must be adhered to. Ms. Goebelt explained that pertained to Section 15.1.3 and on August 27, 2009 they had a verbal agreement with the Union they were fine with that change. Mr. Livergood explained the Task System at the July City Commission budget meeting. Commissioners asked questions related to tasks The intent was to provide some flexibility in the task program so that if necessary, the City can use task employees for other functions and services if they fit within the realm of their job descriptions. The intent was not to eliminate task, rather provide flexibility in response to concerns by the Commissioners. This was a good step to take, short of eliminating Task, as was alluded to at the budget meetings. Mr. Osborn explained the proposal was put together before the budget meetings. Ms. Goebelt explained budget meetings start in February. The parties were aware of the economic climate and the entire contract was reviewed. Each department was contacted to effectively use employees and this was an example. Mr. Livergood explained the language was not created as a direct result of the budget meeting. The contract was prepared prior, but it was a good answer to questions raised by the Commission. Ms. Goebelt clarified they wanted to utilize their workforce any way possible, not eliminating Task. 1 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiation Session Boynton Beach, FL September 16,2009 Mr. Osborn explained the City was eliminating Task. The purpose of a Task employee was when they finished with their Task, they went home. Mr. Livergood explained his comments were that he respects and supports Task. Task has been good for the employees and for the City It has allowed the City to have an incentive to come in, do their work and go home. The work is done efficiently and it allowed the City to grow their services at minimum cost to the taxpayers. He would like Task to continue. Ms. Goebelt explained there may be days that Task employee's work their full ten hours. Task duties vary by the day of the week and by season. For employees assigned to a 10-hour day, it would be inefficient for the employee to do something else for an hour or two. Mr. Osborn inquired why the need to strike the language, "Solid Waste Division" of Public Works, and make it Public Works when the task deals with Solid Waste. Mr. Livergood explained there may be other functions that need to be performed in Public Works. There was discussion Solid Waste Workers have job descriptions for Solid Waste; however, tasks must still be assigned within the realm of responsibility of their positions and job descriptions. This would provide flexibility if their job descriptions allowed them to do that. Some job descriptions are related to equipment operators and not necessarily related to equipment operators in Solid Waste. There was a general classification of equipment operators city-wide. The goal was to provide flexibility. The language was broad. The reality was there was a certain number of man hours the City pays their staff. The City's ability to provide those services has become challenged in the present economic climate. The City was using creative ways to provide those services. Since Tasks vary by day and seasons, there are times when the City pays out a lot of manhours to staff for hours that are not productive. It was the City's job to use those manhours as productively as possible. The City was not proposing to eliminate staff or expect workers to perform work without being paid. Mr. Osborn explained employees would be rushing to complete their work and come back tired only to be sent to do something else that could ultimately cause an accident. The reason they were put on Task was to perform the job, leave and get out of the public's way. During heavy traffic there are a lot of accidents and City workers would be exposed to more risk. Mr. Livergood noted; however, that was inherent for all workers. Mr. Livergood emphasized it was a way to provide flexibility of using Task employees if their job descriptions will allow for other functions. Short of that, the only other way to address other concerns of the Commission and the public was to eliminate it, and he was not in favor of that. An example would be an unexpected road repair in the afternoon and the Street Division is short staffed. There may be things needed to be done to assist with traffic control or driving trucks to and from the site, so they can help co-workers to ensure they are doing their job safely. It is not an everyday thing. It would be disingenuous of him to support the article if he intended to utilize them everyday. Mr Osborn inquired if training would be provided. Mr. Livergood responded employees would be trained, and the City would consider their working conditions with their peers, their co- workers, and safety would be considered. The City would not ask employees to perform functions which they are not trained for or that would impact their safety. The City has more demands for services with less staff to provide them. The City must keep their responsibility to the community in mind. Mr. Osborn opined the jobs being cut were Blue Collar positions, yet management positions were filled. Mr. Goebelt contended that was incorrect. The City had not been filling positions for two years. It was noted it was much easier to get rid of a vacant position than an occupied position. It was also noted it placed more strain on the remaining positions. The City explained this was occurring in all departments. Mr. Livergood explained he supported the position and believed it was best for his department. 2 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiation Session Boynton Beach, FL September 16,2009 Article 15, Section 15.2 was reviewed. When a City observed holiday falls on an employee's scheduled work day, the employee will receive eight hours holiday pay at straight time. When an observed holiday falls on an employee's non-scheduled work date, it will be treated as a floating holiday and eight hours will be added to employee's vacation leave bank. This was consistently occurring elsewhere in the City with the compressed workweek schedule. This provision was put in the White Collar contract and the Personnel Policy will be updated with the same language. Ms. Goebelt explained the City has honored the contract for the last two holidays, since the compressed workweek was put in place. The City needs to be consistent and was firm on the Article. The Union had several counter proposals using some of the City's and Union's changes. Article 4 - the Union's proposal was for the status quo with the City's language. Article 8 - the Union used language from other agreements, which provides for stewards by the number of bargaining unit members and change it to a steward per 25 bargaining unit members. This did not mean they were dues paying; rather, employee's covered by the agreement. The City would discuss the item during the caucus. Article 9 - The City asked for two Stewards to participate in collective bargaining. The Union's proposal was four. Article 12, Progressive Discipline. The Union did not agree with some of the language as indicated on August 27, 2009 and on September 10, 2009. Under Serious Misconduct, the word minutes, was removed which was discussed previously, and the Union's counter was to remove the words, "or failure' under Item 4B The City would caucus on this item. The Union agreed to remove the word three regarding the instructions for the chart for Serious Misconduct Section The Union requested the removal of the words "written reprimand" in Section 12.4.2. The Union agreed with the City's language for Section 12.5. regarding counseling employees about improvement expected. Section C - Suspension without Pay. The City had deleted language in Just Cause for Discipline because to put someone without pay before there has been an investigation was not the right thing to do. The City added the word further in Section12.5.A. to the last sentence of the first paragraph. It was more for clarification, which the Union agreed with. The Union also agreed to strike the last sentence in Section 12.5.C. Section E, - Dismissal had corrections regarding the word information and a change in the referenced Article from Article 10 to Article 13. The Union agreed to the changes. The Union struck the word "not" in Section 12.7.3 but did not make the commensurate adjustment for that in Section 12.7.2. The Union wanted employees to be able to grieve a one day suspension. The Union proposed to delete Section 12.9, Disposition of Criminal Charges, and requested a copy of the City Policy as the policy needed to be City-wide and it was their understanding it 3 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiation Session Boynton Beach, FL September 16,2009 may not be city-wide. The Union made the same proposal for Task, but will discuss it when they caucus. Article 13, Grievances. The Union proposed to leave it status quo and would TA on the Article. Article 14 was agreed on. Article 15, the Union has a new proposal and would discuss it when they caucused. Article 16 - Work Breaks. The Union wanted to discuss adding the 15 minute breaks to the lunch. The Union had given a verbal proposal that the City was supposed to provide. The change needed to be printed in Section 16.1. The City had agreed to add language from the MOU to 16.1, but there was still no agreement on the Article because the Union wanted to add the unpaid lunch breaks. The Union wanted the flexibility. Article 18 - Wages. The Union did not provide a counter. Ms. Goebelt explained Police and Fire have accepted a wage freeze for the entire fiscal year, and General Employees have been told money has not been budgeted for any wage increase. Article 19 - Promotions, Reclassifications, Transfers and Demotions. This Article was TA'd. Article 20 - Standby and Call Back Pay, Section 20.1.1 The Union added language the employee will be available to be on standby on their off day if employee is still available. The City would discuss the item. The Union requested to review the cost of the AVL program. The cost was $35 per vehicle and $900 per month. The City was not interested in changing it and would get something in writing from Public Works. The City felt it was an efficient way to track the on-call vehicles. Article 24 - Certification Pay. The City had made a proposal to strike it all. The Union's counter was to suspend it for one year, for the length of the agreement. Article 21 - Working in a Higher Class. The Union would caucus on this item. Article 28 - Vacation. The Union added language to Section 28.8.4. regarding emergency vacation. This was for employees who would call in and also to add language that if they get notified at work of the emergency that they can still use that same time. The Union was proposing to use 48 hours for emergency vacation and the employees can use it if they take a call at work regarding an emergency. The Union agreed with changing the word days to hours, to use 80 hours for emergency cash it, to remain at 24 hours for emergency cash in, but if they receive a call on the job of an emergency, the employee can leave and use it in increments of one hour. Presently if an emergency arises, the employee has to call in beforehand or use family sick leave or vacation. The City would caucus on the issue. Article 29 - Bonus Days and Bonus Increases. The Union countered on using it on a four-month basis, yielding three bonus days per year Article 30 - Holidays. The Union's counter proposal was status quo. They would not eliminate any holidays. An issue was when the holiday falls on the workday they receive eight hours holiday pay at straight time. When it falls on a non-scheduled day, it goes into the leave bank. The Union wanted the cost savings comparison if it is on their day off. Ms. Goebelt felt if the 4 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiation Session Boynton Beach, FL September 16,2009 employee has the day off, it still had a cost. It would be eight hours for the day off, payor into the leave bank She did not see what the difference was. It was not overtime, it was straight time. The Union asserted the City's proposal was costlier because the City would be paying 48 hours straight time per week rather than 40 hours per week. She did not see how it could be calculated. The Union expressed a comparison of what was paid last year compared to this year would yield the information. Ms. Goebelt differed and explained not every holiday because not every holiday fell on non-scheduled workdays In those instances, the employee receives hours in their leave bank instead of pay, when in the past, they received pay. Most overtime paid on holidays was public safety. Those Articles were not open in the contract. The Union explained the City Manager announced at a City Commission meeting that by doing away with the holidays, it would save $25,000. The City would caucus on this item. The Union explained the City was paying extra money above and beyond what was paid last year because last year they didn't pay the extra money, they paid straight 40 hours. With this proposal the City would pay 40 hours plus eight for some of the Holidays. Ms. Goebelt clarified the $25,000 was overtime, pay for holidays with the extra eight being pay/wages. The City would caucus and offer a counter. Article 30 - Compassionate Leave would be revisited. There were two issues. One issue was the 40 hours out of state and the other was 24 hours consecutively when working a 10-hour day. Article 33, Leave of Absence. The Union wanted bargaining unit employees to be granted union leave of up to 80 hours and up to two members may be granted leave of up to 80 hours. The Union would reimburse the City so there was no loss of wages or benefits to the employee. The City would send an invoice for what his wages and benefits were (gross) per year. A question was posed regarding scheduling. The Union had no objections to language being added to accommodate the needs of the City at that time. The City would caucus on the item. The City wanted to discuss Article 10, Union Time Pool later. Article 36 - Seniority, Layoff and Recall. The Union added language back in to notify the Union regarding Seniority Layoff and Recall and when they have the option of taking the nine weeks severance package as opposed to not being put on the recall list. The City would caucus. In Section 36.2 the City was going to add language. Article 37 - Recruitment and Selection. The Union verbally indicated they wanted to leave the language in and have the Article remain status quo. The City wanted to delete the Article. Article 38 - Safety and Health. The Union requested the $120 for glasses. In Section 38.2, the Union struck $90 and inserted $140 for the boots. This was clarified to be only in the case when the boots cannot be properly fitted and it would be at the discretion of the vendor. The Union would like to appoint an individual to the Safety Committee from the Blue and White Collar Union. It noted the contract language indicated they may. Article 39 - Tool Allowance. The Union countered with $500 for fleet mechanics tool replacement. Article 40 - Uniforms. The Union added back 5 tee-shirts and five either long or short sleeved shirts. They took the sweatshirt out and one hat exchange was needed. The City Manager was 5 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiation Session Boynton Beach, FL September 16,2009 adamant about wearing City issued clothing. The City policy would be obtained and the City would caucus on this item. Article 41 - Insurance. The Union countered with keeping the Article status quo The Union requested information regarding how much was budgeted this year for insurance, what the cost was last year, and other information which was inaudible due to people talking over one another. This was for medical, health and dental. The Union felt they were the only ones asked to make contributions towards its cost. Ms. Goebelt said the White Collar was asked to as well but the other Articles were not open Ms. Goebelt indicated she was given instructions by the City Manager to update the PPM, and when negotiations were finished, she would do so. The Union explained this did not pertain to management. The City's premium was based on past claims experience. They have an aging workforce with high claims. The claims forecast provided by Willis increased 23% and the City was obligated to fund it. They budgeted 23%. They went to bid and received a 10% savings for vision, 4% savings with dental and 9.28% increase with medical. The savings they were discussing was a 23% increase to the 10.1 % increase. By being fully insured, about $500,000 was saved and the bid process saved another 11 %. The premium was about $9 million. If the employees were unable to fund, could they opt out. Ms. Goebelt explained when a life changing event occurred employees can opt out, but in open enrollment, employees can opt in and out. The Policy indicates there is one opportunity a year to opt in or out. As to opting out of single coverage, the City's contract covered a set number of employees or the premium may change. There was a disclaimer the rates may change. The Union pointed out the added expense the employee would have to pay would negatively impact their standard of living. Some employees do not use the City's plan; rather, they use their spouse's because they have a less expensive plan. The City acknowledged there was an economic crisis. There was a stimulus program for COBRA participants. The City would discuss the Article. Article 48 - Probationary Period. The Union countered with a three months probation period. Article 49 - Longevity Benefit. The Union countered with status quo. There was agreement to caucus and reconvene at 11 :00 a.m. They would meet on Monday from 10-1. The Union also requested obtaining a copy of how much was budgeted for car phone and cell phone allowances. One was cut 30% and 25% but it was unclear which percentage applied to which benefit. The Union also requested verification whether an employee could opt out of the health insurance because it was too expensive. The City caucused at 10'31 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 11 :14 am Article 13 - Grievance and Arbitration procedures. This Article would be left as was and the City printed it. The cell phone allowance in the current year budget was $102,756. The initial budget request for 2010 was $72,980. The current amount in the budget was $51,086 6 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiation Session Boynton Beach, FL September 16,2009 The car allowance in the current year budget was $183,285. The initial request for the 2010 budget was $165,026. The current amount in the budget was $120,394 City wide. Article 4 - Management Rights. The City agreed to status quo contingent on Articles 8 and 9. The City undertook an analysis and there were 171 Blue Collar employees. The language the Union proposed was one steward to every 25 members which equated to 6 stewards. The City agreed to go from 8 stewards to 6 stewards, and in Article 9, the City agreed to change 6 Stewards to 4 stewards at the table. The City's counter for Article 12 was the City agreed (in totality of the Article) to delete "off the job" and just say under Misconduct "on the job." In Section 4.B, Serious Misconduct, the City was willing to remove the word failure and add the word refusal to perform assigned duties and responsibilities. Section 12.4.2. the City agreed to not add written reprimands regarding procedures for disciplinary actions and administrative review by Human Resources. The City was firm in Section 12.7 to leaving in "regular employees may not grieve a one-day suspension"and they were firm with leaving in the criminal charges. Article 13- Grievance and Arbitration procedures was TA'd. Article 15 - Solid Waste. The City agreed to leave in Section 15.1.3 as it currently reads, but was firm in the language in Section 15.2. about the eight hours holiday pay at straight time and eight hours going to the leave bank. Article 16 - Work Breaks. There was agreement the word "Shift" would be deleted in Section 16.1. The City would agree to this language but not agree to add 15 minutes to lunch. They were fine with the proposal the Union presented this morning. Article 20 - Standby and Call Back Pay. The City agreed with the status quo. The City agreed to say, "An employee will be able to be on standby if they work a minimum of four hours on that day. Article 21 - Working in a Higher Class. The City was firm that employees will not receive pay be trained to work in a higher class. Article 24 - Certification Pay. The City agreed to change the language to say the Article is suspended for one year. Article 28 - Vacation. The City agreed with the Union's proposal which had encompassed some of the City's changes regarding hours, eliminating the reference to days, changing the emergency cash in to 80 hours, and agreed regarding notification of emergencies at work, to add language that at work, when notified of an emergency, regarding using emergency vacation, the City wanted to add, "no more than four times annually." The Union caucused at 11 :24 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 11:44 a.m. The Union agreed to the package regarding Articles 4, 8 and 9 since the majority of the Union's language was there. 7 Meeting Minutes SEIU Blue Collar Negotiation Session Boynton Beach, FL September 16,2009 Article 12 - Progressive Discipline. The Union was holding on the package deal and requested a copy of the City-wide policy. Ms. Goebelt had not yet updated the PPM and would hold the employees to it. Ms. Goebelt went on record that the language would be in there. Article 15 - Task Assignment Solid Waste. The Union felt because of the language about the eight hours and ten hours, it brings Holidays, Article 30 into play. The Union can live with the language in Article 15, and the 8 and 10-hour language on Holidays if they leave the three holidays in. The Union felt the savings the City spoke about was due to overtime and not holidays themselves. If the Union accepted language about how holidays would be paid, then the holidays should not be an issue The Union was accepting 15 and including Article 30, leaving holidays in and accepting the rest of the language. The Union agreed to consider the proposal. Article 16 - Work Breaks. The Union accepted removing the word "Shift" and withdrew their proposal to add the 15 minute breaks to lunch. Article 20 - Standby and Callback Pay. The Union was firm on this Article Article 21 - Working in a Higher Class The Union agreed to the language in this Article and it should have been TA'd Article 24 - Certification Pay. The Union agreed to the suspension of one year. Article 28 - Vacation. The Union agreed to the language regarding not using emergency vacation more than four times per year and the rest of it. It was decided the City would consider the counter proposals and discuss them at the next meeting. The meeting ended at 11 :50 a.m. LCWtvlLR 0JLtA)U..;f/ Catherine Cherry ! Recording Secretary (Transcribed from one recording) 8