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Home My WebLink About5C LELS 2018-2020 Union Contract Report Phone 952.447.9800 / Fax 952.447.4245 / www.cityofpriorlake.com 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT MEETING DATE: FEBRUARY 5, 2018 AGENDA #: 5C PREPARED BY: LORI OLSON, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER PRESENTED BY: LORI OLSON, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER AGENDA ITEM: CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION RATIFYING THE 2018-2020 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF PRIOR LAKE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT LABOR SERVICE (LELS) REPRESENTING POLICE OFFICERS DISCUSSION: Introduction The purpose of this agenda item is to request City Council approval of a labor agreement between Law Enforcement Labor Services, Inc. (LELS) and the City of Prior Lake for 2018 to 2020. History The Public Employees Relations Act (PELRA) requires the City to meet and negotiate with labor organization agents over the terms and conditions of employment for represented employees. The LELS bargaining unit represents the City’s twenty (20) non-supervisory police officers. The existing agreement was a three-year contract that expired on December 31, 2017. The negotiation process with LELS began in December 2017. Negotiating on behalf of the City were Lori Olson, Assistant City Manager and Mark Girouard, an attorney with Nilan, Johnson, Lewis, the City’s labor law counsel. The bargaining team representing LELS included Prior Lake police officers Josh Rozga and Dan Olson and LELS business agent Jay Maher. Three meetings were held with these parties to outline the demands and negotiate the proposed collective bargaining agreement. Prior to the negotiating sessions, City staff and Mr. Girouard met with the City Council in an executive session on November 6, 2017 to receive direction on the parameters for wages and benefits for all city employee groups. Current Circumstances Below is a summary of the primary contract amendments agreed upon by both parties as part of the negotiations process. A complete executed copy of the LELS Labor Agreement is attached. Duration Three-year term (01/01/2018 – 12/31/2020). 2 ISSUES: Shift Schedule Minimum time off between shifts reduced from 12 hours to 10 hours. Compensatory Time Increased compensatory time accumulation to: 2018 - 40 hours 2019 - 45 hours 2020 - 50 hours Holidays Added language that names City designated holidays. Wages 2018 - 3.0% 2019 - 3.0% 2020 - 3.0% Personal Leave Added language that states employees hired on or after July 1 receive one (1) personal day. Health Insurance 2018 - $890.00/month max family contribution 2019 - $945.00/month max family contribution 2020 - Reopen negotiation for health only Dental Insurance Monthly City contribution max of $45.00/month. Funeral Leave Added language to include stepchildren and stepparents as immediate family members. Added two (2) days to funeral leave for death of spouse, child or parent. In negotiating this agreement, the staff considered the following: Duration. The City typically seeks three-year agreements with all bargaining units to ensure a longer period of labor peace and to enable budget preparations at actual costs rather than estimates. Shift Schedule. Allows for greater scheduling flexibility by management. Compensatory Time. Several studies have found that the future workforce values time over money. This proposed adjustment allows officers to increase their compensatory time hours so they may select time off rather than pay for overtime worked. Holidays. This change eliminates any confusion about what a ‘holiday’ is and is consistent with the language in the City’s personnel policy and AFSCME labor agreement. Wages. Based upon a staff analysis of similarly sized cities, the proposed wage adjustments are in line with metro area wage increases. An historic low unemployment rate in Minnesota and subsequent difficulty in recruiting strong candidates requires competitive wages to retain valued employees. 3 Personal Leave. Under the current contract, an employee who starts at any time during the year would be eligible for two (2) personal days. This clarifies one day for those hired in the last half of the year and is consistent with the City’s personnel policy. Health Insurance. The health insurance City contribution increases are based on an assumed 12-15% increase per year in health premiums with the City and employee splitting the cost of the increase. Given the volatility of the health markets, both the City and the union agreed that reopening the contract to negotiate 2020 health premium contributions is in our mutual best interest. Dental Insurance. Increased City contribution from $40.00 to $45.00. Funeral Leave. This is a rarely used benefit with little cost to the City but maximum impact for the affected employee at the time of the bereavement. This change also takes into account the evolving definition of ‘family.’ In addition, minor housekeeping changes were made to clean up dated language that is no longer relevant to the contract; to mileage and witness fee reimbursement process for court time; and to clarify current uniform allowance rates. Conclusion Staff believes that LELS and the City have negotiated the terms of this contract in good faith and that the proposed terms of the proposed labor agreement are within the parameters set forth by the City Council in November 2017. The proposed wages and benefits are also in line with those recently approved for unrepresented employees in 2018. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The 2018 adopted budget includes adequate funding to administer the terms of the proposed labor agreement. ALTERNATIVES: 1. As part of the consent agenda, approve the resolution ratifying the LELS Labor Agreement with the City of Prior Lake for years 2018- 2020. 2. Remove this item from the Consent Agenda for additional discussion RECOMMENDED MOTION: Motion and second for approval of alternative #1. 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 RESOLUTION 18-___ RATIFYING A LABOR AGREEMENT FOR THE YEARS 2018 THROUGH 2020 BETWEEN THE CITY OF PRIOR LAKE AND LAW ENFOCEMENT LABOR SERVICES INC.LOCAL 100 REPRESENTING CITY OF PRIOR LAKE POLICE OFFICERS Motion By: Second By: WHEREAS, the Public Employees Relations Act (PELRA) requires that the City meet and negotiate with the applicable labor organization’s exclusive bargaining agent over the terms and conditions of employment for represented employees; and WHEREAS, the Law Enforcement Labor Services, Inc. Local No. 100 (LELS) represents City of Prior Lake police officers; and WHEREAS, the current LELS labor agreement expired on December 31, 2017; and WHEREAS, negotiations between the City and LELS have taken place and resulted in an Agreement on the terms and conditions of employment, including wages and benefits, for January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2020; and WHEREAS, the employees who are represented by LELS have voted to ratify the Agreement and execute the same; and WHEREAS, the Agreement becomes effective as of January 1, 2018 upon approval and acceptance by the City Council. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PRIOR LAKE, MINNESOTA as follows: 1. The recitals set forth above are incorporated herein. 2. The Agreement between the City of Prior Lake and the Law Enforcement Labor Services, Inc. Local No. 100 dated February 5, 2018 which is effective January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2020 is hereby ratified. 3. The Mayor and City Manager are hereby authorized to execute the above referenced Agreement. Passed and adopted by the Prior Lake City Council this 5th day of February 2018 VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Braid Burkart Aye ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ _____________________________ Frank Boyles, City Manager