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Minutes 09-01-11 MINUTES OF THE WHITE COLLAR BARGAINING SESSION BETWEEN THE SEIU FLORIDA PUBLIC SERVICES UNION, CTW, CLC AND THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM B, 2ND FLOOR CITY HALL, AT 3:00 P.M. ON SEPTEMBER 1, 2011, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: For the City of Boynton Beach: For SEIU: Julie Oldbury, Human Resources Director Arleen Barton, Project Manager, Human Resources Michael Low, Deputy Director, Utilities Tim Howard, Deputy Director, Finance Joseph Brenner, SEIU Rob Eichorst, SEIU Skip Lewis, SEIU Julie Oldbury, Human Resources Director, opened the bargaining session at 2:59 p.m. and advised a meeting was called in response to a request to negotiate an agreement for the White Collar Bargaining Unit. Self-introductions were made. Mr. Brenner advised that the Union decided to wait and see what the City wanted to change in the Contract before a proposal was submitted. It was hoped the City would provide a proposal at this meeting. Ms. Oldbury also advised that the City wanted proposals from the Union before negotiations were started. The City wanted to review the changes, if any, and perform an analysis to determine what was feasible. Mr. Brenner said the Union recognized the City was in the middle of a budget crunch and many things had to happen before the next year was determined. One of the reasons the Union decided to wait for a negotiation proposal, was based on budget reviews and where that would lead. He inquired of Mr. Howard regarding the budget's undesignated reserves and if the amount of $611,000, after the emergency funds were entered was a correct figure. Mr. Howard indicated that was an estimated amount because the year would not end until September 30th but that figure would be feasible. Mr. Brenner asked for confirmation that there was a typical monthly summary that went to the City Manager from Finance, outlining where the City was for the year. Mr. Howard indicated it was a Budget Status Report that goes to the Commission and showed a comparison budget to actual for the General Fund and the Utility Fund. Mr. Brenner further stated that both sides were in limbo. In reviewing previous years' budgets, for example, in 2005/2006, there was $21.4 million in reserve funds. Mr. Howard explained that in 2005/2006, Boynton Beach had a healthy fund balance that had accumulated over the years. As the real estate market dropped, Boynton Beach, Meeting Minutes SEIU White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, FL September 1, 2011 among other cities, made the decision to use that fund balance to maintain taxes or for minimal increases. From 2006 to now, it had been used up and what was left was a 10% reserve of the upcoming year's budget that the Commission puts aside in case of a catastrophic event. The 10% was an estimated 2.5 months worth of expenses. Ms. Old bury inquired if the Union was able to provide any indication of what some of the concerns were that might be brought forth so the City could be better prepared for either budget or operational issues. She wanted to get something on the table so the research on the City's part could begin. Mr. Brenner expressed his desire for the same. He indicated he had some thoughts he wanted to discuss with his team and asked for a caucus. The meeting recessed for a caucus at 3:08 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 3:34 p.m. Mr. Brenner advised there were proposals the Union would submit to get the process started. Article 12.5, Riqht to a Pre-determination Hearinq Mr. Brenner advised in Article 12.5, the Union wished to change the top sentence to read "Prior to the effective date of any suspension without pay of one (1) day or more......changed from three (3) days or more. Article 13. Grievance Procedures 13.2 The change was at the last sentence, striking the words "and performance evaluations" to give the employee the right to grieve performance evaluations. Article 16.0 Waqes 16.1 Change "Wages shall remain at their current level and shall not increase for the duration of the agreement"; to say "All bargaining unit employees will receive a one-time bonus of $500 for Fiscal Year 2011-12 to be paid the first pay period following the ratification of the collective bargaining agreement." Ms. Oldbury inquired on 12.5, Right to a Pre-determination Hearing, if there had been a problem in the past with three days versus the one day being requested. Mr. Lewis advised that with White Collar there was not much, possibly three or four with a grievance. However, Mr. Brenner advised in other municipalities there could be a proliferation of one day suspensions based on issues that mayor may not warrant them and, the way it was written currently, an employee in a one or two day suspension that 2 Meeting Minutes SEIU White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, FL September 1, 2011 had a grievance would not have a say. The Union simply wanted to give the employee an opportunity to speak, if there was an issue. Ms. Old bury wanted to confirm that Article 13 was to allow the employee to bring performance evaluations to the grievance proceedings. Mr. Brenner stated that currently, there is so much shuffling of managers, employees, and different departments. A manager could typically tell what type of job an employee was doing, a good job or a bad job, based on the performance evaluation. With so many managers moving around and people shifting departments, there may be an employee who may be getting "4s" across the board; then a new supervisor comes in and states that they do things differently. If an employee can prove the same job was being done, the same work was being produced, the same attendance record was being exhibited, and still had the same attitude but does not receive the proper evaluation, the intent was for the employee to be allowed to grieve that. Mr. Lewis advised there probably would not be much activity on this as performance evaluations were not tied in monetarily any longer. The Union wanted this in place for back up protection in case the monetary tie in returned. Ms. Oldbury said being new and not familiar with the history of things or underlying concerns, she would look at these suggestions and determine what could be worked with operationally. She wanted to approach things fairly for the employee and take evaluations seriously and that process should have true value and meaning and real feedback that could help an employee and remain a fair system. Mr. Brenner assured that if there was a way to remedy with other suggestions, the Union would be open. Mr. Lewis expressed concern on the layoff situation, especially in the White Collar area. Many jobs were lost in different departments. His concern was with seniority and he provided an example: if Code Enforcement were to be taken out of Police and put into the Building Department, Code Officers would lose the seniority built up with one department going into the next. If cuts were made in the new department, Code Officers would be laid off first regardless of seniority. The wording in the section of the current contract leaves the employee unprotected. Mr. Brenner advised there would a proposal regarding this issue. Ms. Brenner commented on Article 16, Wages. He stated with the current budget situation, this was up in the air, but in costing it out, there are approximately 119 people in this particular White Collar Bargaining Unit. The total cost of the proposal in this section would be approximately $59,000 to the City. While it was recognized that this was a sensitive time, there were people who were being told to do more with less and had workloads increase. The Union's goal was for the City to find a way to let employees know that they were not forgotten and possibly the $500 bonus would be enough for the time being. 3 Meeting Minutes SEIU White Collar Negotiations Boynton Beach, FL September 1, 2011 Ms. Oldbury advised that due to recent legislation passed, the City would be bringing to the table the issue with pension requirements. Mr. Howard added, it would be reviewed by the Pension Boards and adopted into the contracts. The way the law reads "at the end of the current union contract, it must be negotiated into the next one". Because the contract year would expire on September 30, it had to be negotiated into the next contract. It was required by the statute. There were no further comments among the participants and time and location for the next meeting were discussed. The next meeting date would be September 14, 2011 in the Utilities Division Conference Room, 124 E. Woolbright Road. Ms. Oldbury thanked all for attending the meeting and the meeting was closed at 3:56 p.m. (2 I . /1 iJ~.e/ ca/LDW-e- Ellie Caruso Recording Secretary 4