Unions present priorities to city administrators

The Missouri Constitution gives these employees the right to "bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing."   That means the right to bargain an agreement that binds both sides, just like every contract the city signs with contractors, service providers and vendors.  Time to have the same respect for your employees that you have for outside companies.  Sheesh!

By ANDREW DENNEY
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Columbia Tribune


As city leaders look ahead to budget talks for next fiscal year, representatives from unions speaking for Columbia city employees are outlining specific requests for improved working conditions.

Talks between unions, the Columbia City Council and city administrators are part of the annual “meet-and-confer” process in which unions can present their cases. Last week, four unions representing workers from the Columbia Fire, Police, Public Works, and Water and Light departments presented their proposals to the council.

The longest proposals came from Laborers' International Union of North America Local 773, which represents Public Works employees, Water and Light workers who work at the municipal power plant and Columbia Transit workers; and the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers Local 2, which represents Water and Light employees. Both are pushing for binding agreements with the city for wages and benefits for the employees they represent to prevent sudden changes by city administrators.

“It eliminates their flexibility to make changes any time they want to,” said David Desmond, a business manager for Local 2. City administrators generally have opposed entrance into binding agreements, saying agreements with unions could tie the city's hands in difficult fiscal circumstances.

Local 773 also has asked for a 50-cent-per-hour raise for Public Works employees and, in an attempt to alleviate wage compression within the department, a base pay rate for new hires. Regina Guevara, a field representative for Local 773, said a base rate for new hires would improve employee morale in the department by preventing a new hire from getting paid more than an employee who has spent some time with the department.

Guevara said Local 773 has about 240 city employees as part of its bargaining unit, of which 45 are dues-paying members of the union. Desmond said the St. Louis-based Local 2 has no dues-paying members from Columbia, but it has agreed to represent the workers.

Requests from unions representing employees of the fire and police departments had shorter wish lists. The Columbia Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 26 has asked for an additional floating holiday for all city employees and free parking for all city employees in city-owned garages. The International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1055 had only one request — that department administrators allow employees to see their written score for promotional tests.

First Ward Councilman Fred Schmidt said the council is in a “difficult place” in that it must balance fair compensation for city employees with taxpayers' concerns, but he said if the city could not provide raises, it could work in the short-term to reduce wage compression in some departments. “We'd love to do the best for everybody; there's just limited resources,” Schmidt said.

Third Ward Councilman Gary Kespohl said considering most city employees have received only a 25-cent-per-hour raise in the past three years and health insurance premiums have increased, workers have been “very patient” with city leaders. He said as economic conditions improve, ensuring the proper compensation of city employees should be a top priority for administrators.

“We're trying to get through this recessionary time, but we're going to get through it,” Kespohl said.