FSPM Unit III Scholarly Activity

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1 Unit III Scholarly Activity Unit III Scholarly Activity Timothy McDowell Colombia Southern University Prof. Todd Weidman June 14, 2023

2 Unit III Scholarly Activity Collective bargaining between a municipality and the employees that serve the citizens is a complex yet vital aspect of the budgetary process. Each bargaining unit representing the various municipal employees have their own intricacies, needs, and wants. Addressing issues and contract terms with each union requires municipal administrators to balance budgetary constraints with employee requests. The collective bargaining process will most likely require the assistance of experienced, private practice labor relations attorneys on both sides of the negotiating table. The attorney for the municipality must be good stewards of tax payer money and the attorney representing the bargaining unit must ensure that the needs of the members are heard and, if possible, met. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, guarantees, among other things, the right to organize a union and to bargain for various employment terms and conditions. The act safeguards certain employee union related rights and prohibits various actions by both employers and union officials. The NLRA grants certain rights to both workers and employers, seeks to prevent practices that could frustrate a peaceful worker-employer relationship and provides mechanisms for workers and employers to resolve disputes (Hegji, 2012). The Fair Labor Standards Act is another important federal law that effects labor negations related to pay and work hours. FLSA dictates how many hours per week employees can work and how an employer must compensate employees for normal work hours and overtime. An important aspect of FLSA relating to the fire service is work hours as most fire service work schedules exceed the standard 40 hour work week. Local laws will also effect labor relations in that most municipalities codify which bargaining units are authorized to represent and bargain for employees. This prevents employees who disagree with other members of their own unions from attempting to undermine the

3 Unit III Scholarly Activity collective bargaining units. This frequently happens when elected officials interfere with the bargaining process by meeting with subgroups within a union to gain terms and conditions benefiting that group. These subgroups may separate themselves by ethnicity, rank, job function or other differentiating classification. The bargaining unit negotiates for numerous aspects of employment including personnel management issues relating to hiring, retention, promotion, discipline, and other conditions. Ensuring that all employment conditions are addressed in the union contract and that employers and employees are aware of the conditions and processes is one of the most important aspects of the collective bargaining process. Employees must be aware of the expectations of the employer and the employer must be aware of the expectations of the employees and the union contract should spell that out. Setting ground rules for the collective bargaining process is the first step in effective negotiations. Katie Shonk relayed 5 labor negotiation strategies in a daily blog for the Harvard Law School. Keep it cordial, start early, imagine worst case scenarios, make realistic offers, and putting it all on the table were listed by Shonk as strategies for win-win negotiations (Shonk, 2023.) Both parties must agree to bargain in good faith and do so with decorum and respect. The parties must understand that each member has a duty to their respective “client.” The municipality has a duty to the tax payer and the union has a duty to its members. Both parties must understand that communication is key to ensuring both parties are heard and that, although there will most certainly be disagreements, emotions should be set aside for the good of the process. Effective labor relations communications begin with the setting of an initial negotiation meeting. This meeting will be simply for each side to present their initial list of negotiation items. These items should be realistic, attainable, and beneficial to the parties in the process. A

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4 Unit III Scholarly Activity union asking for a 50% raise during an economic downturn is not realistic or attainable just as a municipality requesting that employees accept a 50% increase in their medical insurance costs is unrealistic as well. Effective labor/management communications also should include a picture of the financial position of the municipality. Frequently negotiations occur after a budget has been presented and accepted by elected officials which undermines the negotiations process. If the police department is allocated a 3% increase in their budget and the union is asking for what amounts to a 10% budget increase, the process is doomed from the start. Negotiations should begin well in advance of the budget process to ensure that any agreed upon items that have a financial impact are included in the budget. As discussed earlier, both sides have a responsibility to their “clients” and must ensure their rights are maintained. The National Labor Relations Act dictates that certain rights are granted to both parties in a union negotiation and both parties need to ensure that their respective attorneys are well versed on the rights granted under the NRLA, FLSA and other relevant laws. Labor relations attorneys are the gatekeepers to ensure management and labors rights are protected and maintained. In the creation of a new Memorandum of Understanding between a municipality and a newly formed union, all aspects of labor must be spelled out including hiring, promotion, pay, benefits, leave, work schedules and other issues. Many of these topics will likely be covered in the department manual and could be moved to the contract with possibly a little revision. Others will need to be created from scratched. Terms such as pay scales, work schedules, leave practices could all be already agreed upon but may require revision. Benefits such as medical and retirement are complicated issues that may include employees of other bargaining units. Changes to those issues would likely require agreement from other bargaining units if they are conjoined.

5 Unit III Scholarly Activity Negotiation items are typically divided up into monetary and non-monetary items. Non- monetary items are aspects that have no fiscal impact on the department. From a management standpoint, addressing these first can support good will between the parties prior to addressing the more complicated financial items. All of the requested items on the union’s list of negotiation items fall into the pay and benefits category and would all require an increase in budget appropriations for the department. Some are minor, some are major increases such as 100% funded health insurance. The decrease in retirement contribution requires a reporting from the company managing the retirement accounts before any decision could be made on that topic. Decreasing employee contributions to a retirement account that is not fully funded could have lasting effects on the account especially if a significant portion of the labor force is nearing retirement age. As complicated as retirement accounts can be the health insurance funding has its own intricacies. Is the municipality self- insured or does it rely on an outside insurance vendor for employee health insurance. That will certainly impact whether 100% funded health insurance is realistic. Obviously pay and benefits are funded liabilities to a municipality. Many will argue that increasing annual leave doesn’t cost the employer anything but that leave is a funded liability and a budgetary consideration. Ensuring that staffing allows for an increase in annual leave is important prior to agreeing to it. The employer cannot allow for an increase in annual leave only to pay another employee overtime to cover that shift. The municipality would essentially be paying twice the salary for one shift. The other items relate to pay and the budget must be evaluated to ensure that it can support the increase in the salary account. The municipality must also consider the costs associated with the negotiation processes with other bargaining units prior to agreeing to increase in salaries.

6 Unit III Scholarly Activity Typically, a management team for labor negotiations enters into negotiations with an established labor union with an idea of what percentage of increase the budget will support and will attempt to agree to those items that will fit into that increase. Creating a new MOU with a new local is different in that the management team must understand that there will be inherent costs with a new labor union and the contract with that local. Both parties having a realistic attitude toward the process and the budgetary constraints will ensure that the process is a cordial and beneficial as possible.

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7 Unit III Scholarly Activity References: Hegji, A. Federal Labor Relations Statutes: An Overview. CRS Report for Congress. November 26, 2012. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R42526.pdf Accessed June 14, 2023. Shonk, K. Win-Win Negotiations: Labor Relations Strategies. Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School. April 18, 2023. https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/win-win-daily/labor- negotiations-strategies/ . Accessed June 14, 2023.

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