City council to hear union reps’ concerns

Union activity in Columbia is picking up.

By ANDREW DENNEY
Monday, September 12, 2011

Labor unions representing city workers will have a chance to air their grievances to the Columbia City Council tonight at a special work session.

Union representatives will have the council’s ear on several issues pertaining to city workers, including pay raises City Manager Mike Matthes proposed for the coming fiscal year and the city’s rules of engagement for labor unions.

Rick Weirich, a representative from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2, which covers employees from the city’s Water and Light Department, said Matthes’ proposed 25-cent-per-hour raise does not do enough for workers who have to deal with higher health care insurance deductibles. With more expenses, Weirich said, the pay raise comes out to about 8 cents per hour.

Weirich also said the union is pushing for the city to adopt collective bargaining rules. The city’s ordinance regarding labor talks now follows the meet-and-confer process and prohibits collective bargaining between council members and labor unions. With a meet-and-confer process, Weirich said, the city’s administration is required to meet with union representatives to hear their concerns, but the administration is under no obligation to satisfy a union’s demands.

But with collective bargaining, Weirich said, it would be more likely a binding agreement between the city and unions could be reached. He said Water and Light employees have said the city has not been following its own ordinances regarding employee grievance procedures.

“They’re not wanting to play by the rules, it seems like to us,” Weirich said. Local 2 has represented Water and Light employees since late 2010 after the employees contacted the union, he said.

Weirich said a 2007 Missouri Supreme Court decision that allows teachers’ unions to take part in collective bargaining with districts should also extend to municipal employees.

Laborers International Union of North America Local 773, which represents employees from the city’s Public Works Department, will also come before the council tonight to discuss disparities in policies between the 12 divisions of the department, said Regina Guevara, a union representative.

The Columbia Police Officers Association also will address the council to discuss pay raises for police sergeants. City spokeswoman Toni Messina said the city could consider the issue in preparations for the fiscal year 2013 budget but said city leaders did not want to give higher raises to one particular group of employees in fiscal year 2012, which begins Oct. 1.

The work session will be at 6 p.m. in conference rooms 1A and 1B at City Hall.