HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-034-03/18/2008-EXPRESSING THE CITY COUNCILS OPPOSITION TO A PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT PERTAINING TO COLLECTIVE BAR RESOLUTION 2008-034
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
EXPRESSING THE CITY COUNCIL'S OPPOSITION TO A PROPOSED
CHARTER AMENDMENT PERTAINING TO COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING AND BINDING ARBITRATION
WHEREAS, on March 11, 2008, through the adoption of Resolution 2008-026, the City
Council has submitted to the registered electors of the City at a special municipal election to be held
on Tuesday,June 10, 2008, a proposed citizen-initiated amendment to the City Charter that would
grant certain City employees the right to organize and bargain collectively with the City through a
certified "employee organization" (the "Charter Amendment"); and
WHEREAS, Chapter 2, Article VIII, Division 7 of the City Code already contains a system
of collective bargaining for police employees; and
WHEREAS, there are significant differences between the existing system of collective
bargaining contained in the City Code and the system of collective bargaining and binding arbitration
that would be established by the Charter Amendment; and
WHEREAS,most notably, the Charter Amendment would give a third party arbitrator,who
is not answerable to the citizens of Fort Collins,the responsibility and the authority to make final
and binding decisions on compensation, benefits and working conditions for the bargaining unit
employees of the City; and
WHEREAS, the Charter Amendment contains provisions that are inconsistent and
ambiguous and likely to lead to immediate arbitration or litigation, as illustrated in the following
examples:
a. It is not clear which employees of the City may organize into bargaining units. The
Petition Summary states that"all classified, Fair Labor Standards Act(FLSA) non-
exempt employees"will have the right to organize.The Statement of Policy(Section
1.1 of the Charter Amendment)states that"all classified non-exempt employees and
non-supervisory employees" are accorded the right to organize. The Definitions
section (Section 1.2 of the Charter Amendment) states that "all non-exempt
employees employed within a particular department" may be in bargaining units.
Each of these three provisions sets forth a significantly different universe of eligible
employees.
b. The terms "benefits," "working conditions," and "terms and conditions of
employment" are not defined, but are crucial in determining the rights and
obligations of the parties.
C. Section 1.5(c)of the Charter Amendment prohibits the City from expending any City
funds or resources on any"question"related to union representation or selection,yet
the term"question"is not defined and could conceivably be interpreted to prevent the
questioning of any issue related to union activities; and
WHEREAS,the Charter Amendment would not allow for any reduction or other change in
compensation, benefits,hours, working conditions and other terms and conditions of employment
currently extended to the members of a bargaining unit unless agreed to by the employee
organization;consequently,the City would be unable to effectively manage the most basic of work
conditions or contain the escalating costs of employee benefits by making changes as may be
necessary for a particular group of employees or for all City employees; and
WHEREAS, under the Charter Amendment, the salaries and benefits of comparable cities
around the nation would have to be used for establishing the compensation and benefits of members
of the bargaining units; and
WHEREAS, this system of comparison would be inconsistent with the City's efforts to
determine, for each job category,the appropriate market for comparing compensation and benefits
and would likely result in significant disparities between the compensation and benefits of employees
who were members of bargaining units and those who were not; and
WHEREAS,the Charter Amendment would divert limited taxpayer funds and City resources
to supporting a collective bargaining system that will not be responsive to the needs of the
community, will be cumbersome and expensive to administer, and will not foster a cooperative
relationship between management and employees; and
WHEREAS, the Charter Amendment goes far beyond the rights recently granted to state
employees by Governor Ritter in that, as mentioned above, it would impose mandatory, binding
arbitration in the event of impasse between the union and the City's management and elected officials
with regard to contract terms and conditions; and
WHEREAS, for the foregoing reasons City Council strongly believes that the Charter
Amendment is contrary to the interests of the City.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS, that the Council hereby expresses its strong opposition to the Charter Amendment and
encourages the voters of the City to vote against this ballot measure.
2
Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Co i the City of Fort Co . s this 18th
day of March A.D. 2008.
May
ATTEST:
4�.)�
City Clerk
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