HomeMy WebLinkAbout5B AFSCME 2018-2020 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: MAY 7, 2018
AGENDA #: 5B
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 the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, (AFSCME), Council #5, Local 3884
DISCUSSION: Introduction
The purpose of this agenda item is to request City Council approval of a
labor agreement between the American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees, Council #5, Local 3884 (AFSCME) and the
City of Prior Lake for years 2018 through 2020.
History
The Public Employees Relations Act (PELRA) requires the City to meet
and negotiate with labor organizations over the terms and conditions of
employment for represented employees. The AFSCME bargaining unit is
the City’s largest group of represented employees, comprising 48
employees in a variety of job classes (see Appendix A of attached contract
for list of job titles). The existing agreement was a three-year contract that
expired on December 31, 2017.
The negotiation process with AFSCME began in December 2017.
Negotiating on behalf of the City were Lori Olson, Assistant City Manager;
Jason Wedel, Public Works Director; and Mark Girouard, an attorney with
Nilan, Johnson, Lewis PA, the City’s labor and employment law counsel.
The bargaining team representing AFSCME included: Jake Hartman,
Maintenance Worker; Jacinta Heinzmann, Records Specialist and Kevin
Kleist, Engineering Tech 4; and AFSCME business agent Suzanne
Kocurek. Five meetings were held between the parties to outline their
demands and negotiate a proposed collective bargaining agreement.
On April 30, 2018, members of the AFSCME unit voted to ratify the
proposed labor agreement.
As Council may recall, the Law Enforcement Labor Services, Inc. (LELS)
and Teamsters labor agreements, representing City police officers and
sergeants, were negotiated for years 2018-2020 and approved by the City
Council in February 2018. Prior to these negotiating sessions, City staff
and Mr. Girouard met with the City Council in an executive session on
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November 6, 2017 to receive direction on the parameters for these labor
negotiations.
Current Circumstances
Below is a summary of the primary contract amendments agreed upon by
both parties as part of the negotiation process. A complete copy of the
proposed AFSCME Labor Agreement is attached.
Duration Three-year term (01/01/2018 – 12/31/2020)
Compensatory
Time
2018 - status quo, 80 hours max accrual
2019 - 64-hour cap, with re-accrual
2020 - 64-hour cap, with re-accrual
Overtime Moved weekend duty to ‘overtime’ section from the
‘on call duty’ section
Sick Leave
Changed sick leave language to be in alignment
with State law
Paid Time Off For part-time employees, increased paid time off
rate from 96 hours to 104 hours (pro-rated to a 40
hour per week schedule)
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
Boot Allowance Increased safety-toe boot reimbursement from
$75.00 to $125.00 per year.
Health Insurance 2018 - $890.00/month max family contribution
2019 - $945.00/month max family contribution
2020 - Reopen negotiation for health only
Dental Insurance City contribution max of $45.00/month.
Life Insurance Increased city paid life insurance policy from
$40,000 to $50,000
Wages 2018 - 3.0% cost of living increase
2019 - 3.0% cost of living increase
2020 - 3.0% cost of living increase
Appendix A Reflects recommendations of recent compensation
study. Please see below for further information.
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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.
Compensatory Time. Several studies have found that the future workforce
values time over money. This proposed adjustment allows AFSCME
employees more flexibility in accruing and using compensatory time hours
in lieu of pay for overtime worked.
Overtime. In the prior agreement, weekend rounds for Maintenance
Workers were captured in the incorrect section as call back duty. Weekend
duty has been treated like overtime by the parties, and the proposed
agreement reflects this change (with a minimum of 1 hour for sewer and 1
hour for water).
Sick Leave. The sick leave section for both full and part-time employee has
been amended to reflect State law changes, including identifying the family
members for which sick leave can be used to care for.
Paid Time Off (PTO). AFSCME had initially proposed Holiday pay for part-
time employees, a new benefit for this employee group. Upon negotiation,
it was agreed to increase part-time employee PTO rate from 96 to 104
hours, pro-rated to a 40-hour work week, rather than provide Holiday pay.
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.’
Boot Allowance. For employees who are required to wear safety boots to
perform their core job duties, the City agreed to increase the boot
allowance to $125 annually from $75 annually.
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.
Life Insurance. Under the current labor agreement, AFSCME employees
receive a City paid life insurance policy in the amount of $40,000. All other
city employees (non-union, police, and police sergeants) receive a $50,000
policy. The proposed increase in the policy coverage means all employees
will have the same value of life insurance.
Wages. Based upon a staff analysis of labor agreements reached by
similarly sized cities, the proposed annual wage adjustments are in line
with metro area wage increases. A historically low unemployment rate in
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Minnesota and subsequent difficulty in recruiting strong candidates
requires competitive wages to retain valued employees.
Compensation Study. The City conducted a compensation study in 2017.
Because union members’ wages and other benefits are subject to
negotiation, the City had to wait for the negotiation process to propose the
compensation study recommendations for AFSCME employees. Based
upon staff analysis, all but one job classification fell into line with
compensation study recommendations. Upon staff analysis, it was decided
that the Water Operator job duties were not accurately captured in the
compensation study, and the proposal more accurately reflects those
duties by moving the position to grade 160, up from grade 150. The City
was also asked to consider certain job title changes. The City tentatively
agreed to three of these changes: the Receptionist position would now be
called Administrative Assistant; the Records Clerk position would now be
called Records Specialist; and the Recreation Program Assistant would
now be called Recreation Programmer. None of these job title changes
impact the pay rate or job duties for these positions. As was the practice
with the non-union compensation study implantation, AFSCME employees
will move to the closest step in the new system without taking a pay cut. All
wage changes would be retroactive to January 1, 2018.
In addition, minor housekeeping changes were made to clean up dated
language that is no longer relevant to the contract.
Conclusion
Staff believes that AFSCME and the City have negotiated the terms of this
contract in good faith and that the terms of the proposed labor agreement
are fair and are within the parameters set forth by the City Council in
November 2017. The proposed wages and benefits are also in line with the
recently approved labor agreements with LELS and the Teamsters, as well
as with recent changes for unrepresented employees.
The last step in this process is updating the City’s personnel policy which
was last amended in January 2011. The purpose of the revision is to
assure that the document is up to date with current personnel laws and
provides for clear and consistent procedures for administrating personnel
matters for all employee groups.
FINANCIAL
IMPACT:
The 2018 adopted budget includes adequate funding to administer the
terms of the proposed labor agreement.
ALTERNATIVES: 1. Motion and second to approve the resolution ratifying the AFSCME
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:
Alternative #1.
4646 Dakota Street SE
Prior Lake, MN 55372
RESOLUTION 18-___
A RESOLUTION RATIFYING THE 2018-2020 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE CITY OF PRIOR LAKE AND THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE,
COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES (AFSCME)
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 American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Council #5, Local 3384 represents forty-eight (48) City of Prior Lake full and part-time
employees in a variety of positions; and
WHEREAS, the current AFSCME labor agreement expired on December 31, 2017; and
WHEREAS, negotiations between the City and AFSCME 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 AFSCME have voted to ratify the Agreement;
and
WHEREAS, the Agreement becomes effective retroactive to 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 Labor Agreement dated May 7, 2018 +between the City of Prior Lake and AFSCME
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 7th day of May 2018.
VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Braid Burkart
Aye ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
______________________________
Frank Boyles, City Manager