Labor negotiations between Phoenix employee unions and city management are heading for a rocky start even before contract talks officially begin on Jan. 9.
Union officials said they were blindsided by the city's proposal to hire an outside law firm to negotiate with them on behalf of city management and worry the move could alienate them as contract talks commence.
For at least 30 years, Phoenix's Human Resources Department has directly negotiated with labor groups, along with the city manager. But some elected officials pushed for an independent firm to help with talks this time as public scrutiny of employee pay and benefits continues to grow amid a sour economy.
Phoenix is preparing to enter negotiations with five unions and associations representing city employees over contracts that would cover wage and benefit terms for 2012 to 2014. At least two groups, one representing police officers and the other representing landscapers and other field workers, have asked for raises in the first round of proposals.
Luis Schmidt, vice president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2384, is upset that the city didn't inform union officials of its plan to hire an independent firm to handle labor negotiations until Tuesday morning, the same day elected officials were set to vote on the matter. The issue wasn't posted on the agenda for public notice until just before the 24-hour deadline set to comply with Arizona's Open Meeting Law.
"How transparent is that?" Schmidt said.
Some elected officials were also confused by the timing, with some indicating that hiring an outside group was something they've been talking about since November.
On Wednesday, the City Council was set to vote on whether to pay law firm Ballard Spahr up to $400,000 to handle the city's contract negotiations. But elected officials delayed the decision on hiring an outside negotiator until Jan. 4 after demanding more options and asking staff to come back with an expanded list of law firms and agencies that could do the work.
Councilman Michael Johnson said that although he supports the unions and city employees, he agrees that the city should look for outside help to handle labor negotiations.
"We're going to have some tough and difficult negotiations this round because of the rough economy," Johnson said. "And there's movement afoot to scrutinize more what's going on with employee compensation."
National attention on public-employee pay, pensions and raises paired with a more fiscally conservative City Council will make this year's round of labor talks particularly high profile.
Councilman Sal DiCiccio said he wants an outside firm to handle the contract negotiations because it is a conflict of interest to have city employees negotiate with city employees.
Phoenix Human Resources Director Janet Smith said that personnel typically involved in labor talks aren't represented by any of the unions they negotiate with.
"We're management, and we represent the interests of the organization," Smith said.
Frank Piccioli, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2960, said hiring outside help would be a waste of money.
"It's the politics of a few City Council members who want to make themselves look like they're doing something for the public, but it's really at the expense of taxpayers," Piccioli said.
Piccioli said it would make sense to have an outside agency handle negotiations if the last round of labor talks were contentious or adversarial.
But he said that the unions all agreed to 3.2 percent wage and benefit cuts two years ago and cooperated with the city as it faced a $277 million general-fund budget shortfall. The wage and benefit cuts saved the city more than $104 million over two years. This summer, however, some elected officials were upset that employees were still given performance pay raises and bonuses totaling nearly $30 million despite the pay cuts.
"If you can say that last time we fought them tooth and nail, then that makes sense," Piccioli said. "But the argument bears nothing when we've worked well with management and gave everything back."
Union officials said they were blindsided by the city's proposal to hire an outside law firm to negotiate with them on behalf of city management and worry the move could alienate them as contract talks commence.
For at least 30 years, Phoenix's Human Resources Department has directly negotiated with labor groups, along with the city manager. But some elected officials pushed for an independent firm to help with talks this time as public scrutiny of employee pay and benefits continues to grow amid a sour economy.
Phoenix is preparing to enter negotiations with five unions and associations representing city employees over contracts that would cover wage and benefit terms for 2012 to 2014. At least two groups, one representing police officers and the other representing landscapers and other field workers, have asked for raises in the first round of proposals.
Luis Schmidt, vice president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2384, is upset that the city didn't inform union officials of its plan to hire an independent firm to handle labor negotiations until Tuesday morning, the same day elected officials were set to vote on the matter. The issue wasn't posted on the agenda for public notice until just before the 24-hour deadline set to comply with Arizona's Open Meeting Law.
"How transparent is that?" Schmidt said.
Some elected officials were also confused by the timing, with some indicating that hiring an outside group was something they've been talking about since November.
On Wednesday, the City Council was set to vote on whether to pay law firm Ballard Spahr up to $400,000 to handle the city's contract negotiations. But elected officials delayed the decision on hiring an outside negotiator until Jan. 4 after demanding more options and asking staff to come back with an expanded list of law firms and agencies that could do the work.
Councilman Michael Johnson said that although he supports the unions and city employees, he agrees that the city should look for outside help to handle labor negotiations.
"We're going to have some tough and difficult negotiations this round because of the rough economy," Johnson said. "And there's movement afoot to scrutinize more what's going on with employee compensation."
National attention on public-employee pay, pensions and raises paired with a more fiscally conservative City Council will make this year's round of labor talks particularly high profile.
Councilman Sal DiCiccio said he wants an outside firm to handle the contract negotiations because it is a conflict of interest to have city employees negotiate with city employees.
Phoenix Human Resources Director Janet Smith said that personnel typically involved in labor talks aren't represented by any of the unions they negotiate with.
"We're management, and we represent the interests of the organization," Smith said.
Frank Piccioli, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2960, said hiring outside help would be a waste of money.
"It's the politics of a few City Council members who want to make themselves look like they're doing something for the public, but it's really at the expense of taxpayers," Piccioli said.
Piccioli said it would make sense to have an outside agency handle negotiations if the last round of labor talks were contentious or adversarial.
But he said that the unions all agreed to 3.2 percent wage and benefit cuts two years ago and cooperated with the city as it faced a $277 million general-fund budget shortfall. The wage and benefit cuts saved the city more than $104 million over two years. This summer, however, some elected officials were upset that employees were still given performance pay raises and bonuses totaling nearly $30 million despite the pay cuts.
"If you can say that last time we fought them tooth and nail, then that makes sense," Piccioli said. "But the argument bears nothing when we've worked well with management and gave everything back."
-Lynn Bui
*As always, if you locate any Piccioli's Points in your daily searches that I have missed, please send them to me so I can add them!*
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