Loading...
05-31-79SpMtg MAY 31, 1979 A special meeting of the City Council of the City of Delray Beach, Florida, was held in the Council Chambers at 4:30 P.M., Thursday, May 31, 1979, with Mayor Leon M. Weekes, presiding~and City Manager J. Eldon Mariott, City Attorney Roger Saberson, and Council members Malcolm T. Bird, Charlotte G. Durante, James H. Scheifley, and Willard V. Young, present. Mayor Weekes announced that this meeting has been called for Council consideration of the Special Master's Report with regard to the contract between the Professional Firefighters of Delray Beach, Local 1842, and the City of Delray Beach, Florida. The public hearing was held at the previous meeting and the public hearing has been closed. This meeting is for the purpose of Council deliberation, discussion and decision. The one thing that was left pending when they met before was members of the Firefighters and the City Admini- stration were to contact the Special Master for clarification of one of the items contained in his recommendation, being item b, which as he rendered it said reclassification, where applicable, retroactive to October 1, 1978. They have received a clarification of that. (Letter is attached). This letter clarifies those items which were not very clear in the Special Master's formal report to Council. The City Attorney stated that the purpose of today's meet- ing is for the City Council to make a decision on the recommendation that was made by the Special Master. The report that Council received from him is a recommendation only. The City Council has the authority to either accept or reject the position of either party and decide the issues raised in that report as City Council sees fit. The City ordinance provides that after the public hearing, the legislative body shall take such action as it deems to be in the public interest in- cluding the interest of the public employees involved. As part of Council's decision, he requested that the issues that are decided go into effect either at the time they have an executed contract on all items or at such time as the other unresolved issues involved in negotiations are brought to Council through a Special Master pro- ceeding and ultimately decided by City Council at that time. Mrs. Durante stated that inasmuch as they have had the public hearing last week and after that hearing they deferred to get a clarification on the Special Master's report, those clarifications have been received and this meeting called today for the purpose of the City Council making a decision on the Special Master's recommend- ation, she is prepared to make a motion. Mayor Weekes asked Council if they would like to have dis- cussion prior to the motion or after the motion has been made. It was Council's consensus to have discussion prior to the motion. Mr. Scheifley stated that it his understanding that the purpose of this meeting is to consider the Special Master's recommend- ation. It looks to him as if they have three alternatives; they can accept the Special Master's report on a, b and c points; they can reject it and the third alternative is to accept it with some modifi- cation. He is very sympathetic for the firefighters and he believes they deserve a raise, however, there are 400 City employees and the 'group they are talking about is a minority of the employees. He feels very strongly that they should treat all employees alike and not single out any particular group and favor them to the disadvantage of the others. He thinks that they should stick to any posture taken during the negotiations and that is his rationale. It is his under- standing that if this contract is signed, the firefighters will be the only employees in the City who receive time and a half for overtime. In other words, they are getting a benefit which the other City em- ployees will not get if and when the contract is signed. He suggested that Council accept b, which is the reclassification where applicable retroactive to February 3, 1979, and c, merit increases retroactive to eligibility date. On a, the slight modification he is suggesting is to give the 5% cost of living increase retroactive to February 3, 1979, which is the exact posture they took during the negotiations. In view of the fact that the contract will call for time and a half for the firefighters and in view of his very strong conviction that all employees should be treated alike, this would be an equalizing factor. Mr. Bird concurred with the objective of fairness ex- pressed by Mr. Scheifley. However, he has a different view in regard to cost of living allowances. The cost of living allowances came into being because of inflation; it had nothing to do with reward or per- formance. If equity is to be served, it is his opinion that they must go back to the date on which all other City employees received their cost of living allowance. Mayor Weekes stated that City Council is undertaking a duty required of them by law and as he understands that duty, they are to act as an impartial board in this instance to consider the merits of the Special Master's reports and to hear both sides of that issue and decide what is the proper course of action. On one hand, if the City Council rejects the recommendations of its administration, they are, in effect, turning their back on their negotiators and on their administration. By the same token, if they turn down what they think is an equitable agreement on behalf of the firefighters, then that is unfair too. They are caught in a very serious dilemma. Mrs. Durante stated that she agrees with what has been said by Mr, Scheifley and Mayor Weekes. They are put in a position to make a decision that they really shouldn't have to. She is not going to try and win a popularity contest. Her position is going to be one that is going to be in the best interest for the entire City of Delray Beach. Mr. Scheifley basically outlined what she has in mind as a fair and equitable solution to the dispute that has been going on for some time between the City and the Firefighters Union. That situation in itself has cost the City some dollars that it would not have otherwise had to spend and that.should be taken into consideration when they are talking about what is in the best interest of the taxpayers as a whole. In the event that this contract is signed, in addition to time and a half pay for overtime, there is also another benefit which the firefighters receive that other employees do not and that is their Kelly Day. Mrs. Durante moved that City Council adopt the following recommendations to settle the dispute between the Firefighters Union, Local 1842 and the City of Delray Beach: 1) on reclassification, as reflected in the City's six page document, to be effective as of February 3, 1979, this being the City's position as well as the ~ Special Master's recommendation; 2) on merit increases, to be effec- tive as per the individual's eligibility date, this is the City's position and also the Special Master's recommendation; 3) on the cost of living, a 5% cost of living to be effective retroactive to February 3, 1979, which was the position of the City Council and the City Administration some time ago and after the public hearing, no new information was presented to show how the City could sustain an equit- able change in that position, with the understanding that these items would come into effect at such time as they have a contract on all items or the remaining unresolved items would be brought to City Council through another Special Master proceeding, seconded by Mr. Scheifley. Upon roll call Council voted as follows: Mr. Bird - No; Mrs. Durante - Yes; Mr. Scheifley - Yes; Mr. Young - No; Mayor Weekes - No. Said motion failed with a 3 to 2 vote. Mr. Bird moved that Council adopt the Special Master's recommendations as clarified in recent communications with such retro- active pay and allowances to be effective upon the signing of the contract or the remaining unresolved items would be brought to City Council through another Special Master proceeding, seconded by Mr. Young. Upon roll call Council voted as follows: Mr. Bird - Yes; Mrs. Durante - No; Mr. Scheifley - Yes; Mr. Young - Yes; Mayor Weekes - Yes. Said motion passed with a 4 to 1 vote. Before roll call the following discussion was had: Mrs. Durante stated that she will have to vote no on this motion. She has to vote with her conscience and what she believes to be the best possible position that the City could take. She knows it's not a popular stand but she is not in this seat to win any popularity con- test nor to succumb to any pressure that anybody may put on her. - 2 - 5/31/79 Mayor Weekes stated that he is going to support the motion for the same reason that Mrs. Durante is going to oppose the motion. He wants to do what he thinks is equitable and fair. His vote has nothing to do with pressure or with abandoning the City Administration; it has to do with equity. As Mr. Bird said, the cost of living in- crease has nothing to do with an increase in salary per se; it's to enable the employee to at least maintain some level of living that keeps up with inflation. Mr. Scheifley stated that he sees that the motion is going to pass. It's a very difficult thing to make recommendations that you believe in because he thinks all of Council, as individuals, want to be fair. He feels that there are good arguments to go both ways and he's expressed the arguments as to why he doesn't think it should be effective to October 1, 1978. However, he will vote with the majority to present a degree of harmony on this controversial question. At this point the roll was called to the motion. Mayor Weekes declared the meeting adjourned at 4:50 P.M. ATTEST: MAYOR The undersigned is the City Clerk of the City of Delray Beach and that the information provided herein is the minutes of the meeting of said City Council of May 31, 1979, which ~nutes were formally approved and adopted by the City Council o~ /~/./ Clerk NOTE TO READER: If the minutes that you have received are not completed as indicated above, then this means that these are not the official minutes of City Council. They will become the official minutes only after they have been reviewed and approved which may involve some amendments, addi- tions, or deletions to the minutes as set forth above. - 3 - 5/31/79 MEMORANDUM TO: 'City Council FROM: J. Eldon Mariott, City Manager William J. Rego, President, Firefighters Union Local 1842 SUBJECT: CLARIFICATION OF SPECIAL MASTER'S REPORT DATE: May 25, 1979 At Council's public hearing on the Special Master's report on May 23rd, Council asked ~hat the Administration and Union jointly determine from Special Master Harold Kramer what he intended in item (b) page 4 of his report, namely, (1) did he mean October 1, 1978 or some other date?; (2) what did he mean by "reclassification where applicable"? ' In a conference telephone cOnversation with Mr. Kramer this date at 10:00 a.m, with Union representatives Bill Rego and Dennis Morley and Administration representatives Chief M.T. Jackson'and City Manager J. Eldon Mariott present, the following questions were asked of Mr. Kramer who answered as noted in the parenthesis: Item b) Page 4, Special Master's Report Question 1 Did you mean October 1, 1978 or some other date? (I meant February 3, 1979). Question 2 What did you mean by "reclassifications where applicable"? (I meant as reflected in the Administration's six page document ~mentioned at the top'of page 3 of the Special Master's report, which document stated the reclassifications proposed at the Special Master's last hearing). ity Manager President, Local 1842 JEM:sk