8/6/2019 WP Unions FAQ May 27
2/4
If it is a mail ballot, typically PERCallows a three-week window
so the ballots can be mailed back Intime. If you are out for a week
or so, you should still be able to vote.How many employees are
eligible to be in thebitrgaining unit?There are about 150 employees
that are eligible from the Fleet, Parks & Recreation, Public
Works,and Water &Wastewater Utility departments.What can this
union do for us?That is unpredictable. Possibly, nothing. History
has shown that union-represented City employeeshave not received
anything different than non-union employees. Neither the City nor a
union canpromise or predict anything. Basically, all any union can
do in bargaining is make proposals: it can'trequire an employer to
do anything but consider its proposals in good Jaithj(other than
collect duesfrom anyone who authorizes that). The City has the
right to reject any union proposal whlch isagainst the City's
interests. A long period of bargaining may result with no
beneficial result toemployees.What is the bargaining process?1. If
the union wins the election, the bargaining process begins.2-.
The-union then has thertqht to-barqaln-wlth the City b 'y o ,
presenting- proposals. -."
3. The City can agree to, reject or revise the union's
proposals,and present its own. If bothparties agree on all issues,
a contract is signed.
4. At the end of bargaining, (which can bean extended period of
time, sometimes years),if anagreement cannot be reached, one party
can declare impasse.5. The disputed issues go to a Special
Magistrateforarecommendatibn on each.6. If either side disagrees
with the Special Magistrate's recommendations, the contract
articles
rejected remain in dispute and are placed before the City
Commissionforafinal decision.7. The disputed articles are decided
and imposed by the City Commission. -
How longwill bargaining take?No one can predict. It may take a
very long time. Maitland has been bargaining with the Teamstersover
certain police employees for over five years without a contract.Why
did the City hire Kulture,LLC?The City's core business is providing
city services - parks, streets, water, infrastructure,
publicsafety, things that you do on a daily basis. Dealing with
unions is not our area of expertise. We hiredKulture because they
are the experts in dealing with labor laws and union issues. Just
like if you havea heart condition, you wouldn't see your general
practitioner, you would see a heart specialist.Kulture is our
specialist that is here to train us on things we can and cannot
sayar do to avoid unfairlabot;:pract!G~claimsTh~y
I'1py~.,exper:ieQ
8/6/2019 WP Unions FAQ May 27
3/4
other 3S percentts.ellocated towards getting ourjobsdone.
Although our core business is service,we also need to allocate a
portion of the budgetto other items the community wants,Why does
the City oppose union representation?1. You don't need it. The City
is not required to and does not intend to agree to union
proposa
which it believes to be against its interests, including its
financial interests. You already knohow the bargaining process
works, and what the final result is in cases of impasse. It is
oopinion that the union will not achieve anything that will be of
benefit to you.
2. Expense. Unions typically drive up the costs associated with
legal fees and consumestremendous amount of staff time. History has
shown that our dealings with the local firefightersunion and the
Teamsters union, which represents some of the police officers, have
been veexpensive and time consuming.
3. 'Adversarial wedge. Union representation usually drives an
unnecessary wedge between themployer and the employees as well as
dampens the "city family" feel. In recent years, the Citydealings
with the firefighters' union and the police union have been
associated with some hostilitand antagonism on the part of some of
the employees. This is unfortunate, but it happens andnot
necessary.
7..tfc.Ive4heGf~efighte'$>w.e""'fl!Ceh."ed~4Jehefi~gfeat.:eFtha~Se-~ffel'ed
.-to--the, generemployees because they were in aunlon, and how was
the mostrecentfirefightercontractarrived at? The firefighters union
has been an exclusive bargaining agent since about 1974. Through
the years, multiple agreements were reached and for the most part,
the salary an
benefits awarded to the firefighters were consistent with those
given to other employees. Othebenefits specifically pertaining to
the firefighters. have been negotiated with the City over manyears.
There were years when the City Commission had to impose disputed;
provisions.
Unlike AFSCME Council 79, the firefighters' union (Local 1598),
is run by its own members whare employee-elected officers.
In September 2009, the firefighter's union contract expired,
Because there was nota contractplace, the firefighters' benefits
remained "status quo", which means they did not receive anythinnew,
but, consistent with state law, could not lose any benefits that
were currently in place unthe end of the bargaining process. That
is how the firefighters kept the longevity bonus and steplan longer
than the rest of the City employees.
A status-quo arrangement is not always in the employees' best
interest. If you are newunionized, and a contract is not in place
by the new fiscal year, your current status quo would b"as is",
meaning no merit increases, longevity, or COLA; If the general
employees receive aincrease, you, as a member of a
union-represented bargaining unit, woukinot.recelve anythinnew
unless it were the product of collective bargaining with your
union.
,W-hat's-the-fi-refighterls-union status::now~ During the 2010
negotiations with the firefighters, an impasse was declared and a
speci
magistrate hearing was 'held. At that time, the City and
firefighters both rejected threcommendations of the magistrate
which were not in their interest. No agreement was made.
In 2011, the firefighters elected new leadership and asa result
of continued negotiations thfirefighters and City agreed to a
three-year contract, which resulted in no pay raises for thcurrent
fiscal year. The new contract does provide for a two percent
cost-of-living increase in yeatwo, which will begin October 1,
2011; and a performance-based increase in year three of thcontract
beginning October 1, 2012.
In addition, as a result of this most recent negotiation the
firefighters agreed to eliminate thpreviously awarded longevity
bonus, as it had already been for other City employees,
includinmanagement.
Also, while the previous pay-step plan had been frozen for two
years through negotiations, thplan was completely removed in the
newly agreed to contract.
