Item Coversheet

City of Topeka
Council Action Form
 Council Chambers
214 SE 8th Street
Topeka, Kansas 66603
www.topeka.org
August 18, 2015
DATE:August 18, 2015
CONTACT PERSON:Jacque Russell, Human Resources DirectorDOCUMENT #:
SECOND PARTY/SUBJECT:Teamsters Local No. 696PROJECT #:
CATEGORY/SUBCATEGORY 007 Contracts and Amendments / 020 Employee Agreements
CIP PROJECT:No
ACTION OF COUNCIL:JOURNAL #:
PAGE #:
DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION:

 

APPROVAL of a three-year labor agreement, effective January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2018, between the City of Topeka and Teamsters Local No. 696, representing street maintenance employees.

 

(Approval will provide the terms and conditions of the employee-employer relationship as tentatively agreed to between Management and the Union.)

POLICY ISSUE:
Pursuant to Topeka Municipal Code Section 2 .25.020(a) approval of employee agreements between the city and a recognized employee organization is approved by the city council and signed by the city manager.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the Governing Body move to approve the labor agreement.
BACKGROUND:

The Union has ratified the tentative agreement. The wage proposal agreed upon provides a 1% across the board increase to the pay matrix in each year of the contract and allows one step movement on anniversary dates for employees who are eligible based on performance evaluation ratings.  

 

Changes to the contract are as follows: 

  1. Clean up references to management throughout contract: changes Director to Superintendent

  2. Article 2, Section 4 Uniforms: Clarify “high visibility” uniforms, allows up to 3 sweatshirts with choice of pullover or zipper style

  3. Article 2, Section 5 Protective Equipment: Increase reimbursement to employee for footwear; also clarifies what City is responsible for maintaining.

  4. Article 2, Section 6 Return of City Property: Adds language to allow the City to deduct from last paycheck the cost of any unreturned uniforms or equipment upon termination of employment

  5. Article 5, Section 6 Grievance Procedure: Clarifies who to address in each step of the grievance procedure.

  6. Article 6, Section 7 Personnel File: Clarifies length of time disciplinary records remain in personnel file.

  7. Article 7, Section 10 Standby: Clarifies procedure for Management to fulfill standby assignments when originally assigned employee is unable to work and unable to find a replacement.

  8.  Article 8, Sections 2 and 3 Overtime Work: Clarification of which overtime situations are voluntary and when they are mandatory.

  9. Article 8, Section 5 Compensatory Time: Adds provision to pay out unused compensatory time on final paycheck of each year for employees hired after January 1, 2016.

  10.  Article 11, Section 2 Posting (Vacancies): Allows Management to conduct external recruitment concurrently with internal posting.

  11.  Article 12, Section 12 Light Duty: Eliminates out of date language.

  12.  Article 15, Section 1 Vacation Eligibility and Allowance: Revised to reflect current practice and allows vacation accruals to continue when on work comp.

  13.  Article 16, Section 12 Union Leave: Provides Union certain time for Union business and specifies when such time can be considered in the computation of overtime; also clarifies provision that would allow for an extended leave of absence to serve as a union official.

  14.  Article 17, Section 2 Healthcare benefits: Updates contract language to reflect separate healthcare benefit agreement.

  15.  Article 18 (Sections 1-3) Wages: 1% across the board increase to the pay matrix in January and one step on anniversary dates for employees who are eligible based on performance evaluations for each year of the contract (2016, 2017, 2018)

  16.  Article 18, Section 4 Competency Pay Plan: Updates equipment and clarifies process to gain equipment competencies; also clarifies field trainer from lead worker positions.

  17.  Article 20: Establishes the 3-year term of the contract.

BUDGETARY IMPACT:

The proposed agreement includes an allowance for individuals meeting the appropriate parameters, an overall “Meets Expectations” or better, to receive a one-step pay matrix increase.  For FY16-FY18, there will be a 1% increase to the pay matrixes in each year.  Note that during the 2016 budget process, Council authorized adding 8 Equipment Operators to perform street maintenance which is why wages increase significantly from 2015 to 2016.* The table below illustrates a basic comparison between the existing agreement and the proposed agreements for 2016-2018 and provides the estimated levy impact if the agreement were to be financed solely with a property tax increase:    

 

 

2015

2016

2017

2018

Wages

1,327,272

1,551,160

1,571,248

1,591,645

Benefits

424,727

482,774

492,995

499,274

Total

$1,751,999

$2,033,934

$2,064,243

$2,090,920

Increase from Prior Year

 

$281,935

$30,309

$26,677

% Increase from Prior Year

 

16.09%

1.49%

1.29%

                                                             0.325  Levy Increase Equivalent

 

*Note: The % increase from 2015 to 2016 would be .17% without the additional positions.

 

SOURCE OF FUNDING:
Special Highway/Motor Fuel Fund
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
Labor Agreement
Summary of Contract Changes
Finance Memo