By Dorrene Jeske
Kudos to Council members Susie Van Hooser, Amy Wicks, Neil Garner and Bart Blair for voting to retain the current negotiating process for Ogden City employees! Read the Standard-Examiner writeup here:
• City council rejects resolution to change wage negotiationsThis council vote gives each group involved in the process as close to an equal voice as possible.
The first year that I was on the Council, negotiations were a nightmare with the Ogden Police Benefit Association and Ogden Fire Local 1654 Union going to impasse. The negotiating process in place then put the council in a very awkward position. We had only one source from which to gather negotiation information and that was the administration. The employees were unhappy because they felt that their views and concerns were not being fairly presented to the council. It was very clear that that form of negotiations did not work. The next year Council leadership and staff searched for a different method for negotiations – that method is known as “Interest Based Problem Solving” whereby each of the employee groups, the administration and council each had three representatives that provided each group’s views and concerns. These negotiations usually started in October or at least by the first of the year, and members were trained or received a refresher course so that it was a positive process for everyone. The first year that the“IBPS” system was used, it was unbelievably successful; and the walls of distrust started to come down.
Negotiations went well the next year, but the third year was fraught with problems because:
Problem 1) The Mayor had made up his mind that the city was going to adopt an “incentive” plan no matter what. He met with the council before negotiations started late March and told us his plans. He was told that what he was proposing did not follow the IBPS negotiation process in which he had refused to be trained.
Problem 2) Not enough time to discuss issues.
That year I was on the IBPS team representing the council along with Chair Wicks and Vice Chair Stephens, and I must say that the three employee groups demonstrated an open-minded and accepting attitude.
Problem 3) It was apparent right from the start that the group from the administration had one goal in mind and that was to see that the city adopted the incentive program.
Problem 4) The administration was so determined that they had included the moderator for the IBPS process who was supposed to be neutral throughout the negotiations. The administration had “reached” her and this made a bad situation worse. Their plan was that no one would receive any kind of rate/step increase that July when raises were traditionally given to employees following a performance evaluation – that would make it 18 months that employees would not receive an increase in pay. This was alright for the administration because they had received their “bonuses” the previous October, but created a hardship for many of the employees.
The administration wants to change the negotiation process from the Interest Based Problem Solving approach, which was very successful the first couple of years to one that he and his management team can better control.
THANK YOU, SUSIE, AMY, BART AND NEIL! Many of us are grateful that you have the best interest of the City’s employees at heart and that you not afraid to vote your conscience. On the other hand, I can’t find the words to express my disappointment in Chair Gochnour’s vote last night. I am also disappointed in Councilman Stephens's vote, but not surprised at his or Councilman Stephenson’s votes, inasmuch as these two council members are more interested in staying friends with the Mayor than in doing what's right for Ogden City employees.
