HomeMy WebLinkAbout03. (Handout) Presentation of the Negotiations ProcessThe Negotiations Process
CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA
SANITARY DISTRICT
Basic Overview
o The District is a public sector employer
whose collective bargaining is
conducted under Califomia's Meyers-
Milias-Brown Act, or the MMBA.
o The State's Public Employment
Relations Board, better known as PERB,
adjudicates disputes that arise in MMBA
collective bargaining -related matters.
The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act
The provisions that apply to the contract
negotiations processes are found in Califomia •
Govemment Code Trtle 1, Division 4, Chapter
10, § 3505 through 3506.5.
Item 3,
(Handout)
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® Collective bargaining is a right of the
employees at the District, and is not inten
to be adversarial.
e Harmonious labor/management relationshil
make the process of labor contract
negotiations less fraught.
® It is possible to be firm and structured in
formal labor/management interactions, and
still have good relationships.
o Respect on both sides is the most
essential element of a successful round
of negotiations.
Preparations
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litBefore Beginning Negotiations
o Meet with the Districts negotiator to
discuss the outer limits of economic and
non -economic bargaining authority.
e On the economic proposals, be
knowledgeable of the District's financial
position.
ID Be briefed on current economic and
non -economic collective bargaining
considerations.
e Establish the parameters under which the
negotiator can modify proposals during
negotiations, and the points at which the
Board needs to provide additional authority.
(The Chief Negotiator for an employer or a
union/employee association should always
have sufficient authority, within reasonable
parameters, to enter into tentative
agreements.)
Note: The best process allows for a liberal
amount of authority within the economic
parameters, as well as providing clear direction
on any non -economic items that are of special
importance to the Board.
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Typical Economic Considerations
o Recent history of raises and other forms
of compensation
o External influences on compensation,
such as recruitment and retention
problems, depth of the available labor
pool, raises and benefits being provided
by other local public sector employers
with comparable working conditions
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o Statutory issues, such as the Public
Employment Pension Reform Act (PEPRA
and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and
regulatory changes in the industry, such as
new licensing or certification requirements
o The differences between types of
compensation and their added costs
o The short and Tong -term financial obligations
of the District, including the health of
reserves and pending litigation
Typical Non -Economic Considerations
o History of grievances and which articles
have most often been at issue
o History of complaints from supervisors
and managers about outdated language
or provisions in negotiated work rules
o New or evolving situations that require
collectively bargaining work rules or
processes
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o Set clear expectations of what the Board
should be briefed about in closed
sessions. This should include any
updates about potential snags,
unexpected proposals, and any possible
job actions.
Information Requests
® The union team will usually request
information prior to the beginning of
negotiations. The requests normally
involve information about the budget,
but can include questions about attrition
rates, salaries, capital projects, and
other areas.
ti
Negotiations
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Scheduling
o Employees who are on the bargaining
team are allowed work release time for
the meetings and a reasonable amount
of preparation time.
o Employees who work opposite
schedules from the negotiation's'
meetings (i.e., graveyard or swing shifts,
weekends), can be offered a change in
work schedule for the days release time
would be given.
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o Efforts should be made to schedule a
reasonable number of meetings in advance\
with specific hours, and flexibility for ',
meetings with momentum that need to
continue beyond the scheduled end time.
o Set the negotiations to begin far enough in }
advance to allow for a sufficient amount of
time to meet before the current contract
expires
Imontaloppiminipiing
Ground Rules
o Ground rules are often covered too quickly,
and are usually included in the first
negotiations meeting. A separate meeting
should be considered just for ground rules,
and a list of considerations should be
developed by both sides prior to the meeting
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The Proposals
o The first "real" negotiations meeting is
usually when the two sides will introduce
most of their proposals, especially the
economic and key non -economic
proposals. (Reference Ground Rules)
o Discussions will focus on the reasons for
each, and will likely lead to assignments
for both sides to bring information or
make presentations in the next meeting.
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Activities Away from the Table
o The union has an obligation to
communicate with its members about the
progress of the negotiations.
o The District should not be overly concemed
about how the information is being
interpreted in the communications.
e If the process becomes adversarial,
revisiting ground rules might become
necessary, but it's important not to publicly
engage.
Getting to the Comprehensive ■
Tentative Agreement
o The need to resolve the major economic
issues at the table will intensify in the
last two or three scheduled meetings
before the contract expires.
e Creativity and tradeoffs will make the
Board's closed sessions with its
negotiator critical, in terms of getting the
dollars and future impacts right.
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Ratification and Adoption
e Tentative Agreements (TAs) reached
during negotiations on individual items
are generally understood to be
contingent on a full TA.
o The full TA will be taken out to a vote of
the union's membership, and if
accepted, will be presented by the
negotiator to the Board for adoption,
before being implemented.
Impasse
No Agreement is Reached
o One or both sides can declare that the
negotiations are at an impasse.
o If a Last, Best and Final Offer (LBFO) was not
provided prior to the declaration, it is often given.
at this juncture.
e The contract or local rules, such as the EERR ori
Personnel Rules, may require mediation.
e Absent rules or contract provisions, mediation
may still be attempted by mutual consent of
both sides.
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• In 2012, AB 646 amended the MMBA to
a fact finding requirement to the statutory
impasse provisions.
o The fact finding request must be initiated by
union within 30 days if there is no mediation,'
and between 30 and 45 days if there is
mediation.
® The fact finder is the neutral on a three
person panel that conducts an evidentiary
hearing and issues a report.
® The fact finder's report is made public a
ten days. Settlement efforts are usually
made throughout the fact finding process,
and if agreement is reached, the report do
not have to be issued.
® The decision in the fact finder's report is
advisory, unless there is a local rule,
ordinance, or contract language that makes it
binding.
Imposition
® If fact finding was not requested (or not
requested timely), the employer can
move to impose its LBFO after the
impasse, or may offer to try and
negotiate some parts of it.
® If fact finding did take place, options
include the imposition of the LBFO, the
fact finder's recommendations, or an
altemative developed in further
discussions.
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o If altematives to a LBFO (with or without
finding) or a fact finder's report are to be
considered, discuss the forum to be used.
Re-entering negotiations will break the
impasse unless there is an agreement
reached about the process. •
Best Practices - Good Faith
Bargaining
o Be responsive to requests for information
related to the subjects of bargaining, such
budget data.
o Be transparent about the reasons for
proposals, providing supporting information,
whenever possible.
o Trust the negotiator and bargaining team to
understand the limits to the authority they're
provided and allow them sufficient latitude t
work within them.
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o Do not engage in "surface bargaining" by
requiring every negotiated item to have
Board approval before a tentative agreement
can be reached, or by "going through the
motions" with no real intention to bargain.
o Do not engage in "direct dealing" with the
members of the bargaining unit— no private 1
negotiations on the side.
o Do not engage in "regressive bargaining'Nby
reducing proposals without reasonable ,
cause.
o "Hard bargaining" is permitted, but can
escalate job actions and negative
communications. This is not to be confused
with "Boulwarism" which is effectively the
presentation of a LBFO as a first (and only)
set of proposals.
® Understand the differences between the
mandatory, permissive, and prohibited
subjects of bargaining to avoid mis
Definitions and Examples
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Subjects of Bargaining
o Mandatory Subiects of bargaining
include, but are not limited to, wages,
hours, health and welfare benefits, union
rights, special pays (stipends), holidays
and paid leave, grievance and
arbitration provisions, and other,
economic benefits, or changes in work
rules (working conditions).
o Negotiations in mandatory subjects of
bargaining can go to impasse.
oe��m ss ve subiects of bargaining
include, but are not limited to, the
composition of a bargaining unit, wages
and benefits for managers
(unrepresented), the use of a court
reporter to take bargaining notes, or
intemal union business.
o There are very few permissive subjects,
and they can become mandatory based
on how they're handled.
o Negotiations on permissive subjects
cannot go to impasse.
® Prohibited subiects of bargaining
include, but are not limited to,
negotiating working conditions or
benefits that would violate State or
Federal laws, or agency shop provisions
that don't include a fee payer option.
o There is no impasse option because
such provisions would be
unenforceable.
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Types of Negotiating Processes
o Traditional or Positional bargaining is
the most common approach to
negotiations, and involves the exchange
of proposals that are accepted,
modified, or withdrawn as the parties
progress toward a full agreement or
impasse.
o This type of bargaining is defined as
adversarial, but often is not.
0 Traditional or positional bargaining most
often involves what is known as Hard
Baraainina, with the exchange of
proposals being accompanied by
adversarial types of declarations and
holding firm for the longest possible
amount of time.
o This is not to be confused with
Repressive, araai dna, which is an
unfair practice, and involves reducing
the provisions of proposals without
sufficient cause.
o Surface Baraainina and "Boulwarism"
are actually better defined as strategies, `,
and not legitimate negotiations'
processes.
o Both are unfair practices and were
discussed in an earlier slide.
40401 ______,Arosexy .
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® Interest -Based or Principled (also
known as Soft Baraaininal bargaining
involves discussions of interests, not
developed proposals.
o The discussion uses a facilitated process
to identify common and separate interests.
o On the economics, interests are developed
within the employer's authorization
(including increased limits).
o Facilitation is important, and this method is
more collaborative but time -intensive
Direct Dealing
o Direct dealing occurs when the
employer, or agents of the employer,
work around the negotiations process
and attempt to negotiate provisions that
differ from those at the table, or more
importantly, bypass the union and
attempt to negotiate directly with
members of the bargaining unit.
o It is not direct dealing to make
negotiations updates available to
employees through normal venues of
communications, such as websites,
newsletters, or staff meetings, but if not
carefully managed such
communications can become direct
dealing.
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Important - Imposing a
Contract
o If imposing a contract, it is important to
know that there is no legal limit to the
number of years in the imposed term,
but the union may request to bargain on
the mandatory subjects of bargaining
annually and the employer must comply.
Since there are far more mandatory
subjects than permissive, the practical
outcome is that contracts are really onl
imposed for one year.
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