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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/06/1998, C4 - INCREASES TO SALARIES AND CITY'S HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFIT FOR MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS, LOCAL 3523 council "�°`°°° j acEnaa Report '�" C7 CITY OF SAN LUIS O B I S P 0 FROM: John Dunn,City Administrative Oflicee:5� Prepared By: Ken Hampian,Assistant City Administrative Officer^lu- Wendy George,Assistant to the City Administrative Officer IFI SUBJECT: INCREASES TO SALARIES AND CITY'S HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFIT FOR MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS,LOCAL 3523 CAO RECOMMENDATION Adopt a resolution increasing the salaries of members of The International Association of Firefighters, Local 3523, by 3% effective July 1, 1997, and 3% effective July 1, 1998, and retroactively increasing the City's Health Insurance benefit from $415 to $420 per month effective July 1, 1997. DISCUSSION Background The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the City of San Luis Obispo and the International Association of Firefighters(the Union), expired on June 30, 1997, after a term of three years. Negotiations to develop a successor agreement were begun in May, 1997. The City's negotiators were Ken Hampian,Assistant City Administrative Officer,Wendy George, Assistant to the City Administrative Officer, Karen Jenny, Risk Manager and Richard Bolanos of Whitmore, Johnson and Bolanos. The Union's negotiating team for regular MOA issues was headed by Larry Parker and consisted of a number of fire personnel. A second Union negotiating team dealt with issues related to a proposed Firefighter I program and was headed by Mark McCullough, with the assistance of Christopher Platten of Wylie,McBride,Jesinger, Sure&Platten. The Firefighter I program was proposed as a way of reducing the cost of entry-level firefighters and reinvesting the savings in added staff. With added staff, overtime costs can be better controlled by making more persons available to meet minimum staffing level requirements and thus avoid the need to "call back" staff on overtime. In addition,public safety can be enhanced by increasing the number of three-person engine companies. During the negotiations process, tentative agreement could not be reached on the Firefighter I program. Nor could it be reached on a follow up proposal made by the Union negotiating team to add new lower steps to the Firefighter salary range as an alternative to the Firefighter I program. This proposal,while agreed to by City and Union negotiators,was later rejected by a vote of Union membership. After a lengthy impasse process, including mediation and fact finding, the fact- finder's recommendation supporting the proposed new Firefighter salary steps was approved by the Council on July 21, 1998 and implemented unilaterally. Although the issue of new entry level salary steps was resolved through the fact finding process,the Union and the City have been unable to agree on all the language to be.included in the MOA relative to certain tentative agreements previously reached. Specifically, disagreement has arisen over wording for the following areas which address implementation of the new salary steps: C-y-/ Council Agenda Report-Firefighter Salary and Health Benefit Increases Page 2 • When new firefighters may become paramedics • Testing and recruitment frequency for entry-level firefighters • Limitation on the number of firefighter applications to be accepted • Certification requirements for entry-level firefighters The Union's position has been that language related to these four areas be included in the MOA in a fashion that assures that they are"zipped up" for the term of the agreement(the specific language is shown in Attachment 1 as the non-underlined text). This would mean that management would not be able to make changes in these areas,however minor,without the Union's permission. While the City has no intention of making changes — and is currently implementing all four provisions at the 100%level—by including such things in an MOA without any language reserving management's basic rights, a dangerous precedent will be set. The effect of this precedent is that the City will need to seek permission from the Fire Union—and maybe other unions in the future— before deciding on such things as recruitment frequency, minimum job qualifications and day-to- day operations, all matters commonly within the purview of management. The broader issue, therefore, is who should be making these kinds of decisions, the City or a union? Our position is that such decisions should remain within the purview of City management. On the other hand, consistent with employer-employee relations law, management must meet and confer over the =acts of such decisions before they are implemented, and this is a practice which the City is committed to follow(e.g.the four provisions in question were developed collaboratively with the Union as a way to address perceived impacts created by the new firefighter entry level steps). To memorialize this obligation,consistent with past practice,the City initially proposed that the provisions be included in "side letters" or appropriate general operating orders of the department. However, this proposal was rejected. The City then proposed that the provisions be documented in the MOA, but in a way that protects basic management rights (by adding the underlined text in Attachment 1). Unfortunately, the Union was unwilling to accept this proposal and so a new MOA is not presently available for adoption. Proposed Salary and Health Benefit Increases Even though agreements on increases to salary and the City-paid health benefit were reached early in the process, as is customary, they were not put into effect before there was agreement on all other issues and a new MOA was approved. However, the negotiating process has now extended for more than eighteen months. While the language disagreement with the Union is important, and must be resolved before the creation of a new MOA, our differences with the Union have nothing to do with the monetary provisions. Therefore, staff is recommending that the Council unilaterally implement the following agreed upon salary and health benefit increases: • A 3% salary increase retroactive to July 1, 1997- • A 3% salary increase retroactive to July 1, 1998 • An increase in the health benefit from$415 to$420 per month effective July 1, 1997 Implementation of the New Firefighter Entry-Level Steps and Current Recruitment As indicated above,the Council took an earlier unilateral action to establish four new lower steps on the entry-level Firefighter salary schedule. Because there are at least six existing vacancies, the savings resulting from these lower steps has allowed the City to fund an added firefighter position. This position will help achieve the goal of having three-person engine companies at all stations and will also reduce overtime costs. Council Agenda Report-FIrefighter Salary and Health Benefit Increases Page 3 A successful recruitment to fill the current vacancies began shortly after the unilateral action,with over 1,700 inquiries made concerning the job opening and 800 applications received. The candidates appear to be very qualified. For example, 90% of the 100 who actually took the written exam passed it. In proceeding with this recruitment, it is important to note that even though we have not reached agreement with the Union on MOA language for the four areas relating to recruitment and newly hired firefighters, the City has followed, in total, the agreed upon principles outlined in Attachment 1. FISCAL 11"PACT The cost of the salary increases and the health benefit increase for 1997-98 is $80,965. The cost of the salary increase for 1998-99 is $81,158. Adequate funding for both years is included in the current financial plan in the"Potential MOA Adjustments" account. Attachment 1. Proposed Language 2. Resolution C-�J-3 ATTACHMENT 1 ARTICLE — NEW ENTRY-LEVEL FIREFIGHTERS This article shall govern the parities' agreements pertaining to the minimum qualifications, recruitment and utilization of new entry-level firefighter positions. Recognizing that the provisions of this article encompass areas typically reserved to management's discretion. the parties understand and agree that the City reserves the riic ht to make changes to the provisions of this article during the term of this agreement Should it become necessary for the City to propose such changes, the parties shall meet and confer over the impacts, if any, on the terms and conditions of employment of the bargaining unit members prior to implementing the proposed changes. 1. Probationary firefighters may not act as paramedics. They may intern for paramedics after completion of the 18 month probationary period, with possible exceptions granted by the Fire Chief after 12 months for exceptionally well-trained firefighters in consultation with the employee's Captain, the Training BC, an Association representative and the Paramedic coordinator. 2. Testing for entry-level firefighters will occur every two years using the CPS test or equivalent. A current eligibility list will be maintained and entry-level firefighters will go through the current standard "academy", as set forth in G.O. 501.03. 3. Firefighter apprentices will be allowed to apply for entry-level firefighter positions outside the limitation on the number of applications to be accepted. For a given recruitment, if the number received by the City for entry-level firefighter positions is to be limited, the limit will be not less than 100 applications. 4. For new entry-level firefighters, the State Fire Marshal's Firefighter 1 certification will be required. For new entry-level firefighter paramedics, a minimum of Firefighter 1 academy certification is required. All other employment standards remain the same. c-y- y ATTACHMENT 2 RESOLUTION NO. (1998 Series) A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO ADJUSTING COMPENSATION AND THE CITY-PAID HEALTH BENEFIT FOR MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS, LOCAL 3523 WHEREAS, the City of San Luis Obispo and the International Association of Firefighters, Local 3523 have met and conferred to form a new Memorandum of Agreement for the period July 1, 1997,through June 30, 1999; and WHEREAS, the parties have been unable to resolve certain differences and, therefore, a new Memorandum of Agreement has not been formed; and WHEREAS, the City Council has decided that it is in the best interest of both parties to unilaterally implement agreed upon increases to salaries and the City-paid health benefit prior to forming a new Memorandum of Agreement. NOW, THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo as follows: SECTION I. Salary ranges for all members of the International Association of Firefighters, Local 3523, shall be increased by 3% effective retroactively to July 1, 1997. SECTION 2. Salary ranges for all members of the International Association of Firefighters, Local 3523, shall be increased by 3%effective retroactively to July 1, 1998. SECTION 3. The City-paid Health Benefit for all members of the Intemational Association of Firefighters, Local 3523, shall be increased from $415 to $420 per month, effective retroactively to July 1, 1997 Upon motion of seconded by and on the following roll call vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: the foregoing resolution was adopted this day of ' 1998. C •yS ResolutionNo.. (1998 Series) Page 2 Mayor Allen Settle -- --- -- ATTEST:. Lee Price;.City Clerk — -- APPROVED AS TO FORM: Jeffrey G':7orgenseh, City At-oYney=- - � s 1 Illobi r7T)NG AGENDA t,EIUEG S ITEM #� m j �i r T 0 :; 1998LSLO CITY COUNCIL KV 2160Santa Barbara Street 1 her_s Associgio� Phone 805-542-9571 San Luis Obispo. California Fax 805-542-9571 93401 AFF Local 3523 FE3 U1C!L ❑CDD DIRAllen Settle, Mayor ° ❑FI J D+'� __San Luis Obispo City ORNEY ❑PW U1N..ERKIORIG ❑POLICE CNFM ❑REG DIR6 October 1998 p DIR��� DIR Dear Mr. Mayor, This letter is to inform you that the San Luis Obispo Firefighters Association agrees with the recommendation of the CAO on item number C4 of the Council Agenda Report for the meeting of October 6. We applaud John Dunn for his willingness to take this step. There is no disagreement over this language or its placement within the MOA. Implementing these benefits is the right thing to do. This action can only have a positive effect on the Fire Department. We would also like to state that the report is factual in its reporting of the specifics of the negotiations. Where we take exception to the opinion of the CAO is on page two (please look at the second and third paragraphs of the Council Agenda Report, after the bulleted items at the top of the page). If the City wanted language reserving its rights it should have proposed that language at the bargaining table...not after the conclusion of negotiations. The discussion of the underlined language in the CAR attachment #1 was absent within the context of negotiations, mediation or factfinding. "The broader issue", the ONLY issue, is whether the City bargains in good faith. When these "management rights" came to the bargaining table it was incumbent on the negotiators, at that time, to state their intent as far as placement of this language and the maintenance of their rights. They accepted this onus with other issues in the MOA (please refer to attachment l,the tentative agreements, page 3, items 8 and 10). Here, there is language dealing with the placement of a tentative agreement outside of the MOA (i.e. in a sideletter). Another tentative agreement addresses the maintenance of the Cities rights. Agreement on this language occurred at the bargaining table with input from both sides. If it was understood that the items dealing with the new entry level firefighters were not to be in the MOA, why then did the City insist upon this language for items 8 and 10? On the cover of City of San Luis Obispo Resolution No.6620 it states that this resolution establishes the framework for future relations between the City of San Luis Obispo, as an employer, and its employees. Section fifteen of this resolution defines Memorandum of Agreement. It states that when the meeting and conferring process is concluded between the City and a formally recognized employee organization, that all agreed upon matters shall be incorporated into a written memorandum of agreement. That is fairly clear and that is why past practice has been to place all tentative agreements, unless other wise negotiated, in an MOA. Resolution 6620, as adopted by Council, is a binding agreement between the City and our labor unit. We agreed to lower pay steps for entry level firefighters. The factfmder set the levels. The City agreed to those four bulleted items on page 2 of the Council Agenda Report. That is bargaining. That is the give and take of negotiating. The City received what it wanted - a way to control over-time that pays for itself. We then received some items we needed, in order to reach agreement.. The City negotiators are intelligent people. They did not give away the farm. There is no loss by anyone. On the contrary, this deal gives the City a rather significant financial savings. It allows us to hire additional personnel.. It protects the union in terms of the quality of recruits, training standards and safety. All this adds up to better service for the COMMUNITY. Not a bad deal. Importantly, both sides can feel as if they have achieved something. This is an important point that cannot be over emphasized. If you desire good working relationships, a goal of negotiating is for both side to come away feeling good about what has transpired. I think that the Council sees the benefit to having a good working relationship. This is shown by the programs it supports, most recently the Organizational Vitality Program. Now the City wants to remove any perceived benefit we may have attained in negotiating this item. What is the message here? Is there a lack of respect for the employee? Is it important to stand behind ones' agreements? This situation does not make for a good working relationship. Currently you have a lawsuit filed against the City by our bargaining unit. Another bargaining unit is at impasse over current contract negotiations. A grievance over past negotiations has been initiated. Two other bargaining units are currently having a difficult time with their negotiations. What is going on here? You, the Council, control one of the largest corporations in the county. The product of this corporation is Service to the Community. The natural resource of this corporation is the employee. It is incumbent upon the management of this corporation to provide a secure and respectful environment from which the employee can provide the highest level of service to the community. This is especially important when we are being asked to do more with less. Whatever the outcome is from these separate actions the result will be the same, a significant number of City employees with feel a lack of respect and appreciation. Allow the Fire Department to put these negotiations behind it. Require the CAO to put the language in the MOA, without any additions or deletions. Stand behind the deal that was made. Th;T;99LQ� Mark McCullough, President San Luis Obispo Firefighters Association IAFF Local 3523 S7,�n Luis Obispo and Local 3523 Tentative Agreements Relating to Memorandum of Understanding . ..,gotiations: 1 . The contract will be from July 1 , 1997 to June 30, 1999. - 2. Salary increases will be 3% effective the first full pay period in July, 1997, and 3% effective the first full pay period in July, 1998. 3. Family Leave for care of an immediate family member who is not part of the household and not hospitalized will be increased to 24 hours. It shouldbe noted that this change does not increase total sick leave accrual. Tile Association agrees to a future opener to discuss an incentive program to ,educe sick leave usage as part of a joint process with other employee associations. �4. The City will agree to remove banding on promotional examinations and, if a candidate is by-passed during the selection process, that person will be given a written reason by the Fire Chief as to why s/he was by-passed. The City agrees to an opener to discuss the promotional process if the Fire Chief goes below the top three candidates in making his selection on promotional exams two or more times during the term of this contract. 5. The City agrees to the implementation of the PERS employee-paid 9% option discussed (Gov. Code Section 20636 (c ).(4), with the understanding that the .28% employer cost of the program will be included as part of the total compensation cost of any negotiated package. 6. The City agrees to vacation leave accruing up to a maximum of twice the annual rate. Article 19, Section 6 (E) shall be deleted. All other references to the current 300-hour cap will be changed to reflect twice the annual rate. Language will be added in a new Section 6 (E) which states that "should an employee be in danger of losing vacation accrual due to reaching the twice annual vacation cap, for reasons other than those found in Section 6 (1) and (A the Fire Chief will review the circumstances which have prevented the employee from taking vacation and will determine whether or not the employee should be allowed to accrue beyond the cap or should be authorized to exercise his/her one-time annual opportunity for vacation payout under Section 6 (M) of this article. Particular consideration will be given to those circumstances where vacation use is denied because of reduced staffing levels." 7. Medical insurance will increase to $420 per month. 8. The Association agrees to an opener to discuss changes to the salary steps in conjunction with discussions with other employee associations. This opener commits the Association to participate in the development of a program, but does not bind the Association to accepting the outcome of the process. 9. The Station 1 captain's incentive will remain at $100 per month, with language changed in the MOA to indicate that the reason for the incentive is due to the additional Station 1 wu. .;load. r 10. In the absence of the Battalion Chief, the Fire Chief may temporarily act as BC in situations that would p :serve 3-person engine companies at all four stations. 11. The City agrees to impi:ment the same bi-lingual program that currently exists in the Police Department. :.idividuals who qualify for the incentive must be able to meet all the bi-lingual mads of the Department. The Personnel Department will work with the Fire Department staff to develop appropriate testing scenarios. 12. The meet and confer process on 3-person engine companies will be completed within 90 days of adop,ion of the MOA. B. Tentative Agreements Relating to New Entry-level Firefighters: 1 . The City agrees to add four lower pay steps to the existing firefighter range and to fill existing firefighter vacancies at the new entry level step, and to add and fill one additional firefighter position at the new entry level step. The four new steps, to be implemented as soon as possible, are as follows: a) $29,874.00 b) $31 ,434.00 c) $33,098.00 d) $34,840.00 Step progression will be subject to existing personnel standards, with the timing for progression as follows: Probationary firefighters will move from Step A to Step B after six months. Progression from Step B to Step H will be at one-year intervals for each Step, and from Step H to Step I at a two-year interval. 2. Probationary firefighters may not act as paramedics. They may intern for paramedics after completion of the 18 month probationary period, with possible exceptions granted by the Fire Chief after 12 months for exceptionally well-trained firefighters in consultation with the employee's Captain, the Training BC, an Association represent,...•ie and the Paramedic Coordinator. 3. Testing for entry-level firefighters will occur every two years using the CPS test or equivalent. A current aiigibility list will be maintained and entry-level firefighters will go through the current standard "academy", as set forth in G.O. 501 .03. 4. Firefighter apprentice ­d1l be allowed to apply for entry-level firefighter positions outside the limitation the number of applications to be accepted. For a given recruitment , if the nu ')er of applications received by the City for entry-level O firefighter positions is to be limited, the limit will be not less than 100 applications. 5. The City and the Association share jointly in pursuing the goal of 3-person en¢ine companies at all stations on all shifts. 6. The City agrees to undertake an assessment of the fire department following the procedure outlined in the ICMA/IAFC manual and to have the assessment completed by January 1, 2000. There shall be no limitations on what can be considered during this process, provided that the subject matter falls within the general framework of the assessment format. The Association and the City agree that the assessment's findings and conclusions will be advisory only to the City Administrative Officer and that adoption of any of the findings and conclusions will require the City Administrative Officer's approval and recomendation to the City Council. The Association and the City further agree that implementation of the assessment's findings and conclusions will be subject to the meet and confer requirements under the California Government Code, Section 3500 et. seq. 7. For new entry level firefighters, the State Fire Marshal's Firefighter 1 certification will be required. For new entry-level firefighter paramedics, a minimum of Firefighter I Academy certification is required. All other employment standards remain the same. 8. The current number of positions in the Fire Department represented by the Firefighter's Association is 12 Fire Captains, 15 Fire Engineers, 13 Firefighters, 1 Fire Vehicle Mechanic, and 15 Paramedics within the ranks of Firefighter and Engineer. If it becomes necessary for the City to exercise its management right to change those staffing levels, the City acknowledges its responsibility to meet and confer with the Association on the impacts of any such changes. 9. The present status of the Apprentice Program does not impact on the bargaining unit integrity. The City recognizes its obligation to meet and confer on any future impacts of the Apprentice Program on the bargaining unit. 10. The City and the Association will execute a side letter stating that in fullfillment of paragraph 4 of Article 35 of the 1994-97 MOA, the parties recognize the letter dated March 18, 1996, from William Avery to Wendy George. 11 . There will be no reserve program implemented during the term of the agreement. Article 28 will be deleted from the subsequent MOA. 06 -ay-9 MErTING AGENDA MEMORANDUM D,'-- -/24 AFF ITEM #_._.�_.,.. October 6, 1998 NCIL 13 CDD DIA ❑ '0 ❑FI IR TO: City Council ❑�-j RE CHIC. ❑ :.:. 'f ❑PW DIR �el'���lOAIG 13 POLICE CHP FROM: John Dunn, City Administrative Ofii Ptive ❑I�GIi17 ❑REC DIR Prepared by: Ken Hampian,Assistant City A Officer, 9 f9�4 DIR SUBJECT: FIRE UNION LETTER There are aspects of the Fire Union's October 6, 1998 letter to council members that staff agrees with, and some things we disagree with. It is unfortunate that we have been unable to convince Union representatives to meet with us to share perspectives and hopefully resolve our differences. Concerning our differences with the letter,we offer the following observations: The first thing that happened after all parties signed the list of tentative agreements attached to the Fire Union letter is that it was taken to their membership — and overwhelmingly rejected. The Union then returned to us with a proposed salary range higher than the one shown in the list of tentative agreements (which they originally recommended). This then led to the impasse, mediation, and fact-finding process. While the Union's rejection of the tentative agreement was disappointing, a tentative agreement is just that: tentative, until crafted into a contract and agreed upon by all parties, including the City Council. It is very common to follow-up the negotiation of tentative agreements with meetings to finalize specific contract language, which is what took place initially with Union representatives until the difference surfaced regarding the four areas referenced in the agenda report. This difference seems to have taken both parties by surprise, in that each party apparently remembers our prior communication differently. This is unfortunate,but not highly unusual in matters of negotiation. We disagree with the characterization of our status with other bargaining units. The Union is simply not directly involved in any of these matters and cannot know the true nature of the issues or the relationships between the City and other units. Suffice it to say that we are meeting and working constructively with these groups and we expect to reach successful conclusions with all of them. Indeed, the best way to resolve our differences is to meet and try and reach compromise. We believe we have offered a compromise approach to the Fire Union that assures our full commitment to implement every single tentative agreement—something we are already doing— but without having to give up basic management rights. Unfortunately, the Union continues to reject requests to meet with us to discuss this or any other options. It is our hope that the good faith shown by the implementation of the salary and medical benefit components of the agreement will lead to such discussions and subsequent agreement.