HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-26085 Reso REsoLuTIoN NO. 2005-26085
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH,
FL, ACCEPTING THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE CITY MANAGER TO RESOLVE
THE REMAINING IMPASSE ITEMS BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE COMMUNICATIONS
WORKERS OF AMERICA (CWA), AS RECOMMENDED BY THE FINANCE
AND CITYWIDE PROJECTS COMMITTEE; PROVIDING THAT IN THE EVENT THAT
THE AGREEMENT IS NOT RATIFIED BY THE BARGAINING UNIT EMPLOYEES, THEN
ONLY THE ITEMS IN THE FIRST FISCAL YEAR (OCTOBER 1, 2003 THROUGH
SEPTEMBER 30, 2004) OF THE PROPOSED PACKAGE SHALL BE IMPOSED ON
DECEMBER 7, 2005 PER CHAPTER 447 OF THE FLORIDA STATUTES AND IN THE
EVENT THAT THE AGREEMENT IS RATIFIED BY THE BARGAINING UNIT
EMPLOYEES, THEN THE THREE (3) YEAR AGREEMENT WILL TAKE EFFECT ON THE
DATE OF THE RATIFICATION AND THE BENEFITS IN THAT CONTRACT WILL
BECOME EFFECTIVE AS STATED IN THE TERMS OF THAT PACKAGE OF BENEFITS;
FURTHER IN THE EVENT THAT THE AGREEMENT IS RATIFIED, AUTHORIZING THE
MAYOR AND CITY CLERK TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT.
WHEREAS, the City Manager is herein submitting to the Mayor and City Commission the attached
proposed Labor Agreement between the City of Miami Beach, Florida, and the Communications Workers of
America (CWA), the bargaining agent certified by the Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) for the
employees covered by said Agreement; and
WHEREAS, the previous Labor Agreement was for a three year period from October 1, 2000 through
September 30, 2003'and has expired; and
WHEREAS, in the event that the Agreement is not ratified by the bargaining unit employees, then only
the items in the first fiscal year (October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004) of the proposed package shall be
imposed on December 7, 2005, per Chapter 447 of the Florida Statutes; and
WHEREAS, in the event that the Agreement is ratified by the bargaining unit employees, then the three
(3) year Agreement will take effect on the date of the ratification and the benefits in that contract will become
effective as stated in the terms of that package of benefits.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT DULY RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, that the attached Labor Agreement between the City of Miami
Beach and the CWA for the period covering October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2006, providing that in the
event that the Agreement is not ratified by the bargaining unit employees, then only the items in the first fiscal year
(October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004) of the proposed package shall be imposed on December 7, 2005 per
chapter 447 of the Florida Statutes, and in the event that the Agreement is ratified by the bargaining unit employees,
then the three (3) year Agreement will take effect on the date of the ratification and the benefits in that contract will
become effective as stated in the terms of that package of benefits; further in the event that the Agreement is
ratified, authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the Agre APPROVED A8
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 7thday
~ITYCLERK Robert Parcher
TO
7 ~ent' & LANGUAGE
FORM
of & FOR EXEOUTIOI~
~/ MAYOR
David Dermer
F:\LABO\LABORREL\Labor Relations\Commission Memos\Resolutions\CWA RESO for the 2003-2006 contract.doc
MIAMIBEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor David Dermer and Members of the City Commission
City Manager Jorge M. Gonzal~__..~~-- ~
December 7, 2005
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI BEACH, FL, ACCEPTING THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE
CITY MANAGER TO RESOLVE THE REMAINING IMPASSE ITEMS
BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF
AMERICA (CWA), AS RECOMMENDED BY THE FINANCE
AND ClTYWlDE PROJECTS COMMITTEE; PROVIDING THAT IN THE
EVENT THAT THE AGREEMENT IS NOT RATIFIED BY THE
BARGAINING UNIT EMPLOYEES, THEN ONLY THE ITEMS IN THE
FIRST FISCAL YEAR (OCTOBER 1, 2003 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30,
2004) OF THE PROPOSED PACKAGE SHALL BE IMPOSED ON
DECEMBER 7, 2005 PER CHAPTER 447 OF THE FLORIDA STATUTES
AND IN THE EVENT THAT THE AGREEMENT IS RATIFIED BY THE
BARGAINING UNIT EMPLOYEES, THEN THE THREE (3) YEAR
AGREEMENT WILL TAKE EFFECT ON THE DATE OF THE
RATIFICATION AND THE BENEFITS IN THAT CONTRACT WILL
BECOME EFFECTIVE AS STATED IN THE TERMS OF THAT PACKAGE
OF BENEFITS; FURTHER IN THE EVENT THAT THE AGREEMENT IS
RATIFIED, AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY CLERK TO
EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT.
ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt the Resolution.
BACKGROUND:
On June 26, 2003, the City of Miami Beach and the Communications Workers of
America (CWA) held the first session to collectively bargain a new labor contract.
Both sides proposed significant changes to the existing contract. The City attempted
throughout the course of negotiations to limit each side to focus on a "short list" (a
manageable number of proposals). Although twelve (12) collective bargaining
sessions were held with the CWA and numerous proposals were made in an
attempt to negotiate a mutually agreeable contract, at each subsequent meeting,
the CWA continued to introduce new proposals.
Agenda Item
Date
?-oZ-
On July 7, 2004, the City presented a package offer to the CWA, which included
Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) retroactivity, subject to agreement with the other
proposals in the package. Although the City's bargaining team remained available to
negotiate after the July 7', 2004 date, no further meetings took place until October
29, 2004 as the CWA elected not to meet and negotiate during an extended
vacation period taken by the Union President and several restrictions that the CWA
placed upon the conditions of scheduling future negotiation sessions. On October,
29, 2004, the City once again urged the CWA to consider the offer made to them at
the last session on July 7, 2004, but the offer was again rejected. After nine (9)
hours of negotiations on October 29, 2004, the CWA proposed the following two
new options: (1) Impasse on all issues or (2) agree on certain items and go to
impasse on substantial proposed changes to the pension plan.
The City again urged the CWA negotiation team to conclude contract negotiations
and take the proposed offer to a ratification vote by the bargaining unit members so
they could decide for themselves. The City left the offer open to the CWA for one
week (until November 5, 2004) to consider the offer. The CWA never responded to
the City's offer.
Based on the length of time that had passed, and the inability of the parties to agree
on the proposals, the City felt that a declaration of impasse was the only option left.
In order to bring resolution to the contract, (which had expired on September 30,
2003), on November 10, 2004, in accordance with the procedures defined in the
Florida Statutes, the City sent a letter to the CWA President and the Public
Employees Relations Commission (PERC) declaring an impasse.
During the next several months, the parties attempted to mediate a contract through
the use of a Special Magistrate. Although the Special Magistrate made several
recommendations to the parties, the City felt that the majority of these
recommendations disregarded the overall interest of the City. Therefore, according
to the statutory impasse procedures, the disputed items were to be decided upon by
the City Commission at a public hearing, which took place on August 1, 2005.
During the impasse hearing on August 1, 2005, both the CWA and the City
presented and explained their recommendations on the various disputed items to
the Mayor and City Commission. At the conclusion of the Impasse hearing, the
Commission recommended that the three (3) main impasse items, (1) wages, (2)
pension and (3) health insurance, be referred to the September 14, 2005 Finance
and Citywide Projects Committee for their review and further recommendations. At
the conclusion of the September 14, 2005 Finance and Citywide Projects
Committee meeting, the Committee recommended that an additional meeting be
held to discuss the pension issue only. This meeting took place on October 6,
2005. At the direction of the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee, the City met
with the CWA on October 14, 2005, and the other civilian bargaining units to
discuss the 401A migration proposal.
At the October 19, 2005 City Commission Meeting, the City Commission passed
motions accepting the Committee's and Manager's recommendations made on the
issues of wages, pension and health insurance by the Finance and Citywide
Projects Committee meeting.
Other Items In Dispute at Impasse
At the conclusion of the City Commission meeting on October 19, 2005, the
Commission referred the remaining impasse items to the Finance and Citywide
Projects Committee for review and recommendations. This review took place by the
Finance and Citywide Projects Committee on November 10, 2005, and the following
recommendations were made:
· As a preliminary matter, a unanimous motion was passed to accept the
following items that both the City and the Union agreed at this meeting should
remain status quo as presently provided in the contract.
o Sick/vacation leave accrual (no change)
o Accreditation pay (proposal to create this was withdrawn by Union)
o Overtime pay (at 3.5 times) for holiday call-in (no change)
o Reporting pay (no change)
o Tuition reimbursement procedures (no change)
o EMT Lifeguard pay (no change)
The Finance Committee's recommendations for items one through twelve (1-12)
below resolve the remaining impasse items and shall become part of the contract if
it is imposed by the City Commission (whether or not the Agreement is ratified by
the bargaining unit employees). The Committee's recommendations on these
twelve (12) items were unanimously approved by the Finance and Citywide Projects
Committee members present on November 10, 2005.
1. Election of Remedies
The grievance/arbitration process set forth in the Agreement shall be the exclusive
method for resolving all grievances filed by the bargaining unit. The Personnel
Board will no longer have jurisdiction to hear any appeals filed by CWA members
regarding discipline.
2. Detached Primary Union Representative
The Union will have a detached primary union representative to conduct all union
business as described throughout the CWA collective bargaining agreement (with
the exception of attendance at negotiation sessions or Labor Management
meetings). In addition, the union shall have a back-up designee that may be
allowed to conduct union business on City time, if necessary, only if the primary
union rep is sick or on vacation.
3. Cleaning Allowance
The current cleaning allowance as currently set forth in Section 8.10 of the collective
bargaining agreement will remain unchanged (status quo).
4. Promotions
The current promotion processes as currently set forth in Section 9.18 will remain
unchanged (status quo). The current City practice utilizes a combination of written,
typing and a weighted interview process depending upon each classification.
5. Seasonal/Temporary Employees
The number of Seasonal/Temporary employees that may be used to supplement
the workforce shall be increased in Section 9.6 from thirty (30) to one hundred
(~00).
6. Random Drug Testing
Adopt the City's proposed language in Article 10 to create a random drug testing
program (as presently used with AFSCME and GSA) for public safety classifications
including: Communications Operator, Complaint Operator II, Crime Scene
Technician I and II, Dispatcher, Dispatcher Trainee, Lifeguard I, II and Lieutenant,
Pool Guard I and II, Property and Evidence Technician I and II, Public Safety
Specialist and Police Photographer.
7. Certification Pay
No new certification pay benefit shall be created for any employees.
8. Lifeguard/Pool Guard Scheduling
Adopt the City's proposed language in Section 7.2, to allow Management the
flexibility to make decisions regarding the proper scheduling for lifeguards in order
to best protect our citizens while being able to react to events and seasonal needs.
The current contractual language for Lifeguard scheduling mandates a four day/ten
hour workday from February 1 until October, at the end of daylights savings time,
with no flexibility allowed. The pool guard scheduling shall remain unchanged
(status quo), which is a five day/eight hour workday.
9. OSHA/Asbestos standard removal
Although no language changes shall be made part of the contract, the
recommendation was to adopt a practice of informing employees through a written
notice whether the building has been inspected and if inspected whether there is
asbestos present and make the inspector report available.
10. Pay for Performance
Adopt the Pay for Performance system, which is currently used with the other
civilian bargaining units (AFSCME and GSA) in place of the existing step plan in
Article 8. The existing longevity will be built into the salary ranges. Under the Pay
for Performance system, employees have the opportunity to progress through the
salary ranges more quickly.
11. Uniforms
Adopt, as part of Section 8.11, the City's proposed language regarding
"sponsorship" for uniforms and delete the word "cotton" from the current uniform
provision in Section 8.11 of the collective bargaining agreement. Include language
that Lifeguards shall be provided one (1) Class A uniform shirt, one (1) Class A
uniform pant and one (1) badge.
12. Contracting Out
Adopt the City's proposed language in Section 9.11, which clarifies the City's
obligation to discuss the effects of the decision to use subcontractors with the Union
only in the event that it would result in lay-offs to any bargaining unit members.
Impasse guidelines in the State of Florida
After the City Commission renders its final decision and approves the package of
benefits that it deems most appropriate for a contract for both the three (3) year
period and alternatively, if necessary, to cover the first fiscal year at issue (FY 2003-
2004), then the proposed contract will be submitted to the CWA for a ratification
vote of its membership. If the membership votes, by a majority of those bargaining
unit employees who cast votes, to ratify the agreement that was approved by the
City Commission, then the three (3) year agreement will take effect on the date of
the ratification and the benefits in that contract will become effective as stated in the
terms of that package of benefits. If the bargaining unit ratification vote fails to ratify
the contract, then only those terms that were included as part .of the first fiscal year
(October 1,2003 - September 30, 2004) of the proposed three (3) year agreement
will be imposed as of December 7, 2005 and the parties will be back at the
negotiation table to resume bargaining over a contract for a period beginning on
October 1,2004.
Fiscal impact of the City proposals for the CWA bar;ainin~ unit
The financial impact'of the City's proposal package represents a total cost for the
three (3) year contract of $2,757,723. This amount is comprised of $1,579,723 for
COLA/wages and $1,178,000 for pension enhancements. This represents an
increase of approximately $3,700 per CWA employee, which is comparable to the
AFSCME (the second largest civilian bargaining unit).
CONCLUSION
The Administration's recommendation ensures that the City of Miami Beach will
meet its goals of ensuring and continuing fiscal responsibility, hiring and retaining
the best qualified and highest quality employees, and maintaining a good and
competitive pay and benefits package, while providing for an equitable contract for
both the City, the CWA bargaining unit members and all employees. The
Administration recommends that the Mayor and City Commission resolve the
impasse between the City and the CWA by recommending the City Administration's
package of proposals to the CWA membership for a ratification vote for a three (3)
year labor agreement for the period from October 1,2003 through September 30,
2006. Based on this recommended package of proposals, in the event that the
agreement is not ratified by the CWA membership, then only the items in the first
fiscal year (October 1,2003 through September 30, 2004) of the proposed package
shall be imposed as of December 7, 2005, per Chapter 447 of the Florida Statutes.
If the membership votes, by a majority of those bargaining unit employees who cast
votes, to ratify the agreement that was approved by the City Commission, then the
three (3) year agreement will take effect on the date of the bargaining unit
ratification and the benefits in that contract will become effective as stated in the
terms of that package of benefits.
(A supplemental package which includes the City contract language will be provided
prior to the Commission Meeting.)
JMG/RIILG/mr
F:\LABO\LABORREL\Labor Relations\Commission Memos\Commission memo for CWA 2003-2006 (remaining impasse items).doc
MIAMIBEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor David Dermer and Members of the City Commission
FROMi City Manager Jorge M. Gonzalez~_~~ ~"
DATE: December 7, 2005
SUBJECT: SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION FOR COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS
OF AMERICA (CWA) - ITEM RgD.
As you know, at the October 19, 2005 Commission Meeting, the City Commission made a
unanimous decision on the issues of Wages, Pension and Health Insurance.
The items that you will be voting on will be the balance of the remaining items that are
detailed in the Commission Memorandum in your Commission agenda dated December 7,
2005.
Attached is the complete language of the issues that were either approved at the October
19, 2005 Commission Meeting or recommended by the Finance and Citywide Projects
Committee on November 10, 2005.
The matters considered at the most recent Finance and Citywide Projects Committee
Meeting on November 10, 2005 were considered less of an economic nature and more
management rights/working conditions issues. The Finance Committee made
recommendations after much dialogue between the Union and Management and reached a
unanimous decision on each of the items as reflected in my Commission Memo.
The recommendations made on the remaining items generally create a contract and
environment for the Administration to be better positioned to manage the workforce,
incentivize employee performance and align goals with the City's Strategic Plan, outcomes
and initiatives.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you.
JMGIRIILG/mr
F:\LABO~.ABORREL\Labor Relations\Commission Memos\Commission memo for CWA 2003-2006 (Supplemental information).doc
Agenda Item
Date
13..7-05"