Revisions to City Manager’s Proposed Collective Bargaining Ordinance October 3, 2022 Michael Rogers, City Manager Robin L.S. Burroughs, Venable LLP Revision Process The revised ordinance took into consideration: • Thoughts and comments by members of the City Council • Comments made by members of the public during periods of public comment • Proposed revisions and other comments provided by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) • Additional input from City department leadership • Meeting with ATU and Fire Department Representatives. © 2022 / Confidential / Slide 2 Bargaining Units Original Ordinance Revised Ordinance • 3 initial units • 6 total units, adding: • Police • Labor and Trades • Fire • Administrative and Technical • Transit • Professional • Opportunity to expand the number of • Any three units can be certified initially; the bargaining units built in after 2 years first three to achieve certification will be • Police and Fire supervisors excluded from recognized in the first year their respective units had the right to meet • Additional units are phased in one per year and confer with the administration after the initial year • All supervisors excluded from their respective units have the right to meet and confer with the administration © 2022 / Confidential / Slide 3 Employee and Exclusive Representative Rights Original Ordinance Revised Ordinance • Employees have the right to organize, form, • Employee right to request a representative join, assist, and pay dues to employee during disciplinary interviews organizations of their choosing • Employee option to use City technology for • Employees have the right to refrain from Union communications, subject to the concerted activity understanding that communications are not • Exclusive representatives are permitted to private and may be accessed by the City for speak on behalf of all unit employees proper purposes • Exclusive representatives are entitled to • Employees and employee organizations may engage in collective bargaining with the City meet on City premises in designated spaces at appropriate times when employees are off- duty • Exclusive representatives have the right to periodically request a list of bargaining unit employees from the City Prohibited Labor Practices • Under the original ordinance, prohibited labor practices were implied in the language of the ordinance and were subject to judicial review • The revised ordinance provides for a specific list of prohibited labor practices, including (for both parties) bargaining in good faith and a prohibition on discrimination based on union membership • If one party alleges a prohibited practice against the other, it will be resolved in an administrative hearing by the administrator • In general, proceedings before the administrator are appealable to the circuit court with a limited standard of review © 2022 / Confidential / Slide 5 Unit Certification and Decertification Original Ordinance Revised Ordinance • Provided that signatures in support of a • Provides that signatures in support of a petition for election or decertification were petition for election must be submitted valid for 60 days subsequent to any previously held election • Provided that prospective unions would be • Provides that employees must be permitted to responsible for election costs revoke their signatures on a petition for election or decertification • Provides explicit procedures for runoff elections • Provides that the City and the prospective unions will jointly share the cost of elections Authorized Subjects of Bargaining • Wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment remain subject to bargaining • The revised ordinance expands bargaining to include health and dental insurance premiums (including employer contributions and premium cost sharing), deductibles, and co-payments for active employees and covered dependents • The revised ordinance expressly allows for negotiation of “official time” for union officials • The revised ordinance expands bargaining to allow for negotiation of disciplinary procedures, including a grievance procedure which may be negotiated to include binding arbitration © 2022 / Confidential / Slide 7 Dispute Resolution – What is the difference? Grievance Resolution Impasse Resolution A collective bargaining agreement has already The parties have tried to negotiate a collective been negotiated, and the parties have a dispute bargaining agreement, but cannot agree about what about whether it was followed properly: terms it should contain: • Was this employee fired for cause? • What should the minimum pay rate be for this • Did this employee receive proper progressive position? discipline? • What kind of raise can be offered for this • Did the Employer properly provide breaks to position? this group of employees as required by the • How many breaks should an employee receive contract? during their shift and how long should they be? • Should the Employer have offered overtime to • How many steps should the grievance procedure Employee A before offering it to Employee B? have? • How many holidays should the Employer recognize? Impasse Resolution Original Ordinance Revised Ordinance • Parties engage in mediation • Mediation remains mandatory • If mediation fails, parties engage a neutral • If mediation fails, the parties engage a neutral fact-finder who will hold a hearing and issue fact-finder who will hold a hearing and issue findings of fact and recommendations for findings of fact and recommendations for resolution resolution • The City Manager, after considering the • The fact-finder’s recommendations are results of the mediation and fact-finding, automatically adopted unless a party disputes would submit his recommendations to the the recommendation(s) with the City Council City Council through his budget or other • In the event of a dispute, the City Council will proposed legislation. receive a copy of the fact-finder’s report, and will • The City Council retained legislative hold a public hearing to decide how to resolve discretion on all proposals. the disputed issue(s) • City Council’s decision on the disputed issue(s) is final and becomes part of the collective bargaining agreement • The parties may negotiate an alternative resolution at any time during the impasse process Questions?