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02-17-92 v MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CALLED MEETING HELD AT ATLANTIC BEACH CITY HALL ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1992, AT 5:30 PM TO RESOLVE THE IMPASSE BETWEEN THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH AND THE PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS OF JACKSONVILLE BEACH, LOCAL 2622, TAFF, AFL-CIO-CLC. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Gulliford. Present in addition to the Mayor, were Commissioners Edwards, Fletcher, Tucker, and Waters. Also present were City Attorney Jensen and City Clerk King. Local 2622 was represented by Lt. James Hill of the Atlantic Beach Fire Department and Manly Bollin, District Representative for the International Association of Fire Fighters, and the city was represented by Labor Attorney John F. Dickinson and City Manager Kim Leinbach. Mayor Gulliford announced that the meeting was a continuation of the meeting of February 3, 1992, when several of the issues at impasse were resolved. The remaining issues at impasse were: (1) PERSONAL LEAVE; (2) ON THE JOB INJURY; (3) SALARIES; and (4) HOURS OF WORK AND OVERTIME/COMP TIME. He said concerns had been expressed at the previous meeting regarding the City Commission getting involved in negotiations, which did not fall within the statutory requirements regarding these proceedings. He requested the City Attorney to make sure the proceedings followed proper legal order. PERSONAL LEAVE James Hill explained the union' s proposal regarding personal leave was to continue the present system as currently provided in the city's Personnel Rules and Regulations. John Dickinson reviewed the "Personal Leave Hours" section of his proposal and each of the items at impasse. Following a lengthy discussion it was determined there were three issues to be resolved in this section. (a) The union proposed members be allowed to accumulate up to 960 hours of leave time, while the city recommended a maximum of 160 hours. (b) The union proposed leave be granted at the discretion of the Fire Chief with no minimum notice required. The city recommended members be required to submit a leave request at least fourteen calendar days prior to intended absence, except in cases of illness or injury. (c) The union proposed that members be allowed to use personal leave on a hourly basis while the city proposed that personal leave be taken in increments of sixteen hours or more. Mr. Dickinson explained under the city's proposal individuals who were terminated for cause would forfeit any accrued personal leave but the union's proposal did not address this issue. Mr. Hill agreed to accept the city's position on this matter. Motion: Commissioner Waters moved to allow members to accrue up to 960 hours of personal leave time. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. After further discussion, the question was called and on roll call vote, the motion carried 3 - 2. Page Two Minutes of meeting to resolve impasse with Local 2622, IAFF February 17, 1992 Vote: Edwards, no; Fletcher yes; Tucker, no; Waters, yes; Gulliford, yes. Motion: Commissioner Fletcher moved to allow personal leave time to be granted at the discretion of the Fire Chief. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Waters. On roll call vote, the motion carried 4 - 1. Vote: Edwards, yes; Fletcher, yes; Tucker, yes; Waters, yes; Gulliford, no. Motion: Commissioner Fletcher moved to allow personal leave to be used on an hour for hour basis. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Edwards. After further discussion it was the general consensus that the proposal of neither the union nor the city was desirable and Commissioner Fletcher withdrew his motion and Commissioner Edwards withdrew his second. Motion: Commissioner Fletcher moved to allow personal leave to be used in increments of four hours. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Waters and was defeated on a 2 - 3 vote. Vote: Edwards, no; Fletcher, yes; Tucker, no; waters, yes; Gulliford, no. Motion: Commissioner Fletcher moved to allow personal leave to be used in increments of eight hours. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Waters and on roll call vote, carried unanimously. Commissioner Fletcher said he wished to clarify that the language in the city's contract was acceptable and that the only change necessary would be to substitute the figures which had just been approved. The other Commissioners concurred. INJURY IN THE LINE OF DUTY Attorney John Dickinson said the city's contract recommended compensating a member while absent due to a an on the job injury at the rate of 50% of the member's regular salary for the first seven calendar days of absence. He said the union had requested allowing a member to work at a second job while absent from work due to a compensable injury. He said the city contract was silent to this issue but felt that before approving such a provision, the city's Workers' Compensation carrier should be asked to review same. Mr. Hill said that because of the dangerous nature of the fire fighter's job, if an accident occurred, the union was asking for compensation at 100% of the member' s salary until he could return to work. He said some fire fighters taught CPR, and while their injuries may prevent them from returning to full-time work as a fire fighter, the union was requesting they be allowed to continue other part-time employment outside of the Atlantic Beach Fire Department. Page Three Minutes of meeting to resolve impasse with Local 2622, IAFF February 17, 1992 Motion: Commissioner Tucker moved to accept the city's position and approve compensation for absence due to an on the job injury at the rate of 50% of regular salary. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Edwards, and on roll call vote, was defeated by a vote of 2 - 3. Vote: Edwards, yes; Fletcher, no; Tucker, yes; Waters, no, Mayor Gulliford, no. Motion: Commissioner Fletcher moved to approve compensation for absence due to on the job injury at 100% for the first injury and 50% for subsequent injuries within a three-year period. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Tucker. In further discussion, Commissioner Waters said because of the hazardous nature of the fire fighters' jobs, he felt compensation should be at the rate of 100%. Substitute Motion: Commissioner Waters moved to authorize compensation for absence due to an on the job injury at the rate of 100% of the member's salary for the first seven calendar days of absence. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. After further discussion, the question was called and on roll call vote the motion carried on a 4 - 1 vote. Vote: Edwards, yes; Fletcher, yes; Tucker, yes; Waters, yes; Gulliford, no. Discussion then ensued regarding whether employees could continue performing part-time employment outside the city while on leave due to an injury. Mr. Dickinson said the city's contract did not address this issue and would not prohibit such activity; however, he did not feel the city should endorse such activity by including it in the contract. Motion: Accept the city contract as written without reference to the subject of performing employment outside of the Atlantic Beach Fire Department while on leave due to injury. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Edwards and was unanimously approved. WAGES/SALARIES Mr. Hill explained that Atlantic Beach fire fighters were among the lowest paid in this area. He reviewed exhibits illustrating salary comparisons, the increase in the number of runs by the Fire Department, loss of manpower, etc. He did not feel the Fire Department employees were keeping pace with advances being made by other city departments, particularly the Police Department, and requested the City Commission seriously consider raises sufficient to correct some of the inequities. He presented a salary scale which he felt would make Atlantic Beach Fire Department competitive and prevent further loss of personnel. Page Four Minutes of meeting to resolve impasse with Local 2622, IAFF February 17, 1992 Mr. Dickinson said the city's recommendation was to grant a 3% increase in the Fire Department pay plan and approve a step increase on the member's anniversary date. He reviewed the increases granted to the Fire Department since 1985 and said the current increases recommended could be implemented at a cost of $21 ,063.00. Discussion ensued regarding the cost of issues already granted and the cost of benefits and other costs associated with the concessions granted. Mayor Gulliford noted that the only point of impasse was the pay scale proposed by the union and that proposed by the city. Mr. Hill asked to be allowed to review the city contract to verify that the language was acceptable. Mayor Gulliford called a ten-minute recess to allow Mr. Hill to review the contract. The meeting reconvened at 8:25 PM and Mr. Hill confirmed that the language in the city contract was acceptable. Further discussion ensued regarding when the increases would be effective and Mr. Dickinson said the city's recommendation was that raises would be effective upon execution of the contract. The Mayor asked whether those employees who had had anniversary dates prior to execution of the contract would receive their step increase retro active to their anniversary dates and Mr. Dickinson said that the step system was already in place and members should already have received those step increases. Mr. Dickinson pointed out that the union had requested that increases be retro active to October 1 , 1990 and after review of this matter, Mr. Hill said he felt this was a typographical error and the date should have been October 1 , 1991. At the request of Commissioner Fletcher the Mayor called a recess at this time. The meeting reconvened at 9:10 PM. Motion: Commissioner Fletcher moved to grant a $2,000.00 raise to each of the nine members of the bargaining unit, effective October 1 , 1991. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Waters. Commissioner Fletcher said according to his calculations, the cost of this increase, including benefits, would be $24,300. Further discussion ensued regarding implementation of the $2,000.00 increase and whether the steps on the current pay plan would be increased by $2,000.00 or whether employees would be moved to a higher step on the current scale to equal the $2,000.00 increase. The question was also raised as to whether the financial impact of the proposed raise was accurate and the Mayor pointed out that the hourly rate would be higher, thus the cost of overtime would be higher. The Mayor said he had a problem with not knowing exactly how much the proposed increase would cost the city. In the absence of the Finance Director, Commissioner Fletcher said he could not be certain his estimate of the cost was correct. Page Five Minutes of meeting to resolve impasse with Local 2622, IAFF February 17, 1992 After a complete discussion of the issue, the question was called and the motion was defeated on a 2 - 3 vote. Vote: Edwards, no; Fletcher, yes; Tucker, no; Waters, yes; Gulliford, no. Motion: Commissioner Waters moved to adopt the city's proposal, but approve a 4x cost of living allowance instead of the proposed 3ZA On roll call vote the motion carried 3 - 2. retro active to October 1, 1991. Vote: Edwards, yes; Fletcher, yes; Tucker, no; Waters, yes; Gulliford, no. HOURS OF WORK, OVERTIME AND COMP TIME Mr. Dickinson recommended the city approve overtime based on a 28-day work cycle, with overtime being paid at time and one half on hours worked over 212 hours. He said this would bring the city into compliance with Section 7K of the Fair Labor Standards Act relative to 24-hours-on/48-hours-off shifts for fire fighters. Mr. Dickinson reviewed Section 7K in some detail and pointed out a memorandum from the President of the International Association of Fire Fighters in which he indicated he anticipated employers would wish to implement this system. Mr. Dickinson felt this system would be easier to administer, and actual hours worked would be more easily and more accurately tracked than on the current system. Under the current system, for each 24 hours worked, the members are paid at an elevated rate of pay for 16 hours and receive leave known as Kelly days at the rate of one day each six weeks. Commissioner Waters inquired whether implementation of this system would result in a financial loss for the fire fighters and Mr. Dickinson said he felt that it would. Mr. Waters felt that before taking anything away from the fire fighters, other financial benefits should have been offered to balance the matter so the change could be implemented with no net loss to the fire fighter. Mr. Hill said he felt this was the most important issue at impasse because the city's proposal represented a financial loss to the fire fighters. He said the present system, including the Kelly days, allowed for more flexibility in scheduling and resulted in a savings to the city. He requested that the City Commission approve the union's proposal and continue authorizing overtime and compensatory time under the current system as provided in the city's Personnel Rules and Regulations. He said this system worked and presented no problems in either administration by the city or scheduling by the Fire Department. Commissioner Fletcher felt in view of the complexity of the issue, and being reluctant to take anything away from the fire fighters, it would be better to continue with the present system and during budget Page Six Minutes of meeting to resolve impasse with Local 2622, IAFF February 17, 1992 workshops for FY 1992/93 to look more fully into the feasibility of implementing the 28-day work cycle as proposed by the city. Motion: Commissioner Fletcher moved to accept the union's proposal and continue computing hours worked, overtime, compensatory time and Kelly days in accordance with the current procedure as outlined in the city's Personnel Rules and Regulations. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Waters and, on roll call vote, was unanimously approved. All issues at impasse having been resolved - Mayor declared the meeting adjourned at 11 :00 PM. r "it iam I. Gulliford, Mayor/Presiding Offi ATTES T: Maureen King City Clerk