Fax Signed Negotiation with airSlate SignNow

Initial collective bargaining agreement

[Music] Collective Bargaining refers to negotiations between an employer and a group of employees to determine conditions of employment such as wages working hours overtime holiday sick leave vacation time retirement benefits health care and the list goes on let's take a look at the critical aspects of union contract negotiation in local government collective bargaining is bilateral negotiations between labor and management teams over wages terms and conditions of employment the result of collective bargaining is a document specifying each side's respective rights and obligations known as a collective bargaining agreement negotiation is a discussion intended to produce an agreement in negotiating a collective bargaining agreement the employer and union seek agreement on terms and conditions of employment one of the most important decisions the agency can make with regard to contract negotiations is who to include in the bargaining team to represent management in larger organizations there may be a designated human resource or labor relations professional whose job it is to lead the bargaining team in smaller agencies especially in statutory planning cities the city administrator or City Council may lead the bargaining team either directly or indirectly the bargaining team may also include appropriate department heads or managers for example if the cities negotiate in a Police contract the police chief may be included in the bargaining team to help the team understand the current practices in the department correct misperceptions by the Union and understand the impact of Union proposals it's important to note that all meetings negotiations mediation sessions and hearings between the union and management are public meetings except as may be provided by the BMS commissioner regardless of who's chosen for your bargaining team the team itself should meet before negotiations have started to decide strategy and parameters for bargaining the team should have an understanding of what type of wage or benefit increases are viable for the contract period and what other types of provisions the team is likely to accept or reject the team should decide on a chief spokesperson and for the most part allow that person to do the speaking for the team at the bargaining table a written notification of the desire to meet and negotiate an original contract renewal of a contract or a reopener of a contract must be served by the party wishing to begin the negotiations the notice must be sent to both the party and the Commissioner of the Bureau of mediation services typically the union is the one to start negotiations but management can make the request as well the notice may be served on forms available in the BMS or in written format which includes items listed in the BMS rules in a typical environment the union is more motivated to begin negotiations because they will be asking for wage and benefit increases however in difficult economic times a city or local government agency may be the one wishing to negotiate a new contract in order to implement wage or benefit concessions or changes the most common form of bargaining is quite simple generally there's an initial meetings sometimes called coming to the table at which the union asks for wage or benefit increases and changes or additions to contract language the employer will consider these labor proposals and schedule a second meeting if necessary to respond to the union proposals and present the agency's own proposals management may also come to the first meeting with a list of proposals it would like the union to consider often the first meeting is just spent going down these lists and explaining the rationale behind each of them in presenting management proposals the agency's bargaining team should carefully identify which proposals and responses are contingent upon agreement to an entire contract contingent upon agreement or trade in another area or simply agreed upon without any of these contingencies this avoids confusion as to what has already been offered and agreed upon in negotiations bargaining teams need to guard against a union seeking to selectively pick choose pieces of the management offer most beneficial to the Union when the intent of management is to put together a package that makes overall financial sense for the agency at the second meeting union and management are often more prepared to discuss the items on each other's lists and may have a list of counteroffers to provide for example if the union has asked for a 3% across-the-board wage increase the agency may counter with a 2% wage increase this back and forth or offer and counteroffer process usually continues over several meetings until a package of agreed-upon provisions has been reached it is critical to the Union and management to discuss these provisions carefully to avoid misunderstandings at least one member of the management bargaining team should take careful notes during all of negotiations so if a disagreement comes up later the intent of the bargaining team will be clear once agreement is reached the union takes the list of agreed upon provisions to the entire bargaining unit for a vote this is called a ratification vote the Union must have a majority vote in order to formally agree upon the package in the event that parties voluntarily agreed to terms and negotiations the parties should discuss and seek a statement from the other party that it's negotiation team will recommend the tentative agreement generally the employer will need to take the entire agreement to an elected board or Council for a vote in plan B cities and sometimes charter cities the city manager has the authority to establish terms and conditions for all employees however the City Council in this case still controls the budget so it's good practice even in these agencies to have elected officials approve the final package interest-based bargaining is another method that may be used to negotiate a union contract interest based bargaining comes with a negotiation process from a different perspective instead of trying to come up with an agreement that's best from a management or union standpoint interest based bargaining seeks to understand the heart of the issues over which management and the Union have conflicts both sides discuss their unique interests and seek creative options and solutions the options are evaluated against shared values or standards that are most viable option is then chosen interest based bargaining is time-consuming and labor-intensive requires training and a great deal of patience and may not be suited for an environment we're tough and unpopular changes are required it requires trust commitment and the ability to focus on the long-term nature of the union management relationship versus short-term gains the legal basis for most management rights are found in state law it states that a public employer is not required to meet and negotiate on matters of inherent managerial policy these matters of inherent managerial policy include but aren't limited to the functions and programs of the employer its overall budget utilization of technology the organizational structure and selection of personnel and direction and the number of personnel under Minnesota law and through court decisions and arbitration precedents many items are likely to be seen as mandatory subjects of bargaining this means that there are terms and conditions that an agency must negotiate with the union some of the most traditional and obvious mandatory subjects of bargaining include disciplinary procedures grievance procedures compensation like wages and salaries and benefits such as health insurance vacation and so on permissible subjects of bargaining are those that are either not clearly in the realm of management ripe or clearly in the realm of prohibited subject bargaining oftentimes these subjects for which there is no clear Court ruling or arbitration decision to define whether the city must bargain over them a managerial right can become a permissible subject of bargaining if the agency voluntarily bargains over it this sometimes happens accidentally when an agency gives up a management right by bargaining over it because they're not aware it's a man right under law if an agency does not wish to concede what it believes to be a management right under law there are several alternatives it can offer the Union these include offering to meet and confer but not bargain with the Union over the issue take the issue to an existing labor management committee or offer to form one to discuss non contract issues and share viewpoints invite outside experts to a briefing session to educate both sides on the topic and finally ask the BMS or another mediation organization to provide mediation for this purpose there are only a few prohibited subjects of bargaining these subjects fall into two areas selection of supervisory employees and retirement benefits the law states that no public employer shall sign an agreement that limits its rights to select persons to serve as supervisory employees or requires the use of seniority in their selection this means that an agency cannot bargain with the Union over the procedures it will use to promote employees into supervisory positions in the area of retirement benefits Minnesota law generally precludes agencies from making contributions to retirement plans other than the mandated state plan such as the Minnesota Public Employee Retirement Association PE ra plans however there are some exceptions to this including matching contributions to deferred compensation and post employment health care savings plans [Music] you