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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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