BENEFITS OF BARGAINING MEETING AND CONFERRING. The Fire Perspective Fire Chief Ross Chadwick City of Denton

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1 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING MEETING AND CONFERRING The Fire Perspective Fire Chief Ross Chadwick City of Denton

2 MEET AND CONFER EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIPS Community Labor Management Ross Chadwick 2014

3 THE COMMUNITY Used with Permission

4 MEET AND CONFER EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIPS Community Labor Management Ross Chadwick 2014

5 MEET AND CONFER EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIPS Community Labor Management Ross Chadwick 2014

6 Used with Permission LABOR

7 Used with Permission MANAGEMENT

8 MEET AND CONFER EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIPS Community Labor Ross Chadwick 2014 Loyalty, Communication, Discipline, and Performance Job Security, Safety, Status, Communication and Money Management

9 GUIDING PRINCIPLE To recognize that labor and management have a mutual goal of ensuring the wellbeing and safety of fire/ems personnel and providing high quality service to the public. IAFC/IAFF Labor-Management Initiative

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11 GUIDING PRINCIPLE To work together to improve communications, enhance training, increase participative decision-making, and promote a labor-management relationship based upon mutual trust, respect, and understanding. IAFC/IAFF Labor-Management Initiative

12 MEET AND CONFER EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIPS Community Labor Trust, Respect, Understanding Trust, Respect, Understanding Management Ross Chadwick 2014

13 GUIDING PRINCIPLE To create labor-management partnerships by forming labor-management committees at appropriate levels, or adapting, as necessary, existing councils or committees if such groups exist. IAFC/IAFF Labor-Management Initiative

14 BENEFIT Improve interpersonal communications between labor and management. IAFC/IAFF Labor-Management Initiative

15 BENEFIT Increase the involvement and cooperation from all members of the organization. IAFC/IAFF Labor-Management Initiative

16 BENEFIT Gain an increased focus on the goals that will benefit your organization and its members. IAFC/IAFF Labor-Management Initiative

17 BENEFIT Learn how to minimize the number of grievances and other adverse actions that affect labor-management relationships. IAFC/IAFF Labor-Management Initiative

18 BENEFIT Discover new ways to work through and past labor-management obstacles to accomplish more for the fire department and the community. IAFC/IAFF Labor-Management Initiative

19 BENEFIT Allows variations to Civil Service (Chapter 143) in pay, benefits, hiring, discipline, promotion. City of Denton

20 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING The Austin Perspective Deven Desai Chief Labor Relations Officer Tom Stribling - Ombudsperson 20

21 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING Bargaining benefits can be broken down into 3 different categories (1) Legal benefits (2) Management & Labor relationship benefits (3) Political benefits 21

22 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 1. Legal Benefits (A) Ability to change state law through bargaining - Unique opportunity to change the law if both parties agree. - Key elements of state law that each party wants to alter 22

23 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 1. Legal Benefits (B) For Management (i) Hiring (ii) Promotions Usually Management wants to incorporate additional scored measures to the hiring / promotional exams. 23

24 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 1. Legal Benefits (C) For Associations (i) Pay / Benefits (ii) Discipline State law doesn t mandate pay raises (or prohibit salary reductions), therefore, a key benefit to the associations is to guarantee, contractually, some wage provision in a contract. 24

25 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 2. Management and Labor Relationship The existence of an Agreement usually comes with an improved relationship between the parties. 25

26 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 2. Management and Labor Relationship - There is also a significant psychological benef it that affects the relationship in a positive manner. - People feel better about the rules under which they operate if they feel as though they have been involved in the creation or implementation of those rules. - Feeling of its our contract. 26

27 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 3. Political Benefits (A) There are various types of political benefits that arise from an Agreement 27

28 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 3. Political Benefits (1) Decreased Calls to Mayor / Council from the Associations - Personal Experiences from Austin 28

29 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 3. Political Benefits (2) Another political benefit is that a content public safety workforce doesn t need to resort to calling on the community to ask them to call the city officials. - Examples of this around the country 29

30 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 3. Political Benefits - While strikes are illegal, that doesn t mean there aren t other ways they cant apply pressure. 30

31 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING Memphis, Tennessee 3. Political Benefits - The City instituted a 4.6% pay cut across the board as opposed to instituting layoffs. - The Police Association, unhappy with the cuts to their pay, exercised their first amendment right. 31

32 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 3. Political Benefits IAFC/IAFF Labor-Management Initiative 32

33 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 3. Political Benefits Atlantic City, NJ - The City was contemplating layoffs (after a presumed hiring freeze) in the police department. - The Police Association, unhappy with the possibility of layoffs, took the billboards to warn visitors about the city. 33

34 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 3. Political Benefits "In AC, everyone wants to get lucky. With 73 less police officers, even the bad guys feel lucky. Save Atlantic City, save Atlantic City police officers." 34

35 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 3. Political Benefits Wilmington, North Carolina - Fire Association unhappy about pay and benefits. 35

36 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 3. Political Benefits 36

37 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 3. Political Benefits Houston, Texas - In 2006, the Houston Police Patrolmans Union disagreed with the Police Chief on the safeness of the City. - From the Houston Chronicle Johnnie McFarland, president of the HPPU, vigorously defended each point on the sign posted Friday. Three identical signs will be erected Monday, McFarland said. "Right now, I know the chief has been touting Houston as a safe city, and he also just sent all the officers a memorandum saying 'Houston is a safe and secure city.' We beg to differ," McFarland said. 37

38 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING 3. Political Benefits 38

39 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING Determining Who is and Who is Not on the Bargaining Team - Functions needed - Opinions on who shouldn t be at the table - Benefit of outside spokesperson - Caucuses vs. Joint Session 39

40 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING Preparations for Bargaining When to start How we prepare Informing City Management and Council Getting direction 40

41 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING Union Perspective on Bargaining Tom Stribling 41

42 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING The San Marcos Experience Embracing Change Linda Spacek Director of Human Resources and Civil Service 42

43 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING We ve adopted Meet & Confer: Now What? Adopted 2006 First negotiation process 2008/2009 Second negotiation 2012 Current contract expires Sept 30,

44 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING First Steps Learn, learn, learn. Reach out to others: Similar size cities who have adopted TxPELRA / NPELRA NPELRA Academy Decision to engage outside counsel to lead process 44

45 BENEFITS OF BARGAINING First Steps Meetings with Outside Counsel Interest based bargaining Discuss team who should be in the room? Who should be at the table? Management Team 45

46 OUR FIRST AGREEMENT Strategy Seek first to understand and then be understood Develop trust Share information / educate team Interest based Management Team Identify obstacles and create opportunities for win/win/win. Engage in process 46

47 LEARNING THE MECHANICS Learned new methods of: Record keeping Costing multi year agreements Developing information to support business strategies Engage both teams in information development for shared interest 47

48 DEVELOP/DEFINE AREAS OF SHARED INTEREST Second Agreement Focus on desire for a leading department What does that look like from all perspectives (City, department, community)? What needs to happen to achieve that? Short term / long term? Staffing? Equipment? Wages? 48

49 DEVELOP/DEFINE AREAS OF SHARED INTEREST Second Agreement City Staff and Association Focus on ways to create ways to address obstacles through IBB Trust, respect and understanding 49

50 PREPARATION Work on relationships never stops Keep a running list When to start Getting direction 50

51 MEET AND CONFER EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIPS Community Trust, Respect, Understanding Labor Management Ross Chadwick 2014

52 Question and Answer 52