AFSCME Local 454 and the City of Virginia, Minnesota
Background
At the beginning of the 1990s, the labor relations climate in the City of Virginia was not good. Relations between the City and Local were strained in the wake of a 1989 strike, disciplinary actions were commonplace, the grievance rate was high, and the level of trust between managers and employees was low. In January 1991 the parties agreed to attempt to improve their relations, and the Labor-Management Committee (LMC) was founded. After first addressing problems caused by an outmoded and punitive disciplinary system, the LMC has moved on to address operational issues such as the organization of work, staffing, and the implementation of new programs.
Structure
The LMC operates under a set of negotiated by-laws, which exists as an agreement between Local 454 and the City. Membership is split evenly between the sides, with one union slot being occupied by an AFSCME representative who need not be a city employee. The LMC has two co-chairs, one from management and one union employee, who rotate chairing meetings. Seven members are elected to one-year terms, with employees being divided between the Public Works, Parks and Recreation, Library, and at-large constituencies. The AFSCME representative, Mayor, and Assistant City Engineer are permanent members.
Accomplishments
The LMC first project was to devise a system of "progressive positive discipline" with help from a neutral facilitator. This replaced the punitive system that had resulted in numerous suspensions and considerable ill-will between labor and management. Under the new system, which emphasizes counseling and personal responsibility, the need for corrective action has diminished. While disciplinary actions were commonplace under the old system, only one written warning has been issued under the new system. Grievances, which used to be filed at a rate of about two per week, have been drastically reduced, to less than one per year. One sign of the higher level of trust between the parties has been the abolishment of time-clocks from the workplace.
When the time came to implement recycling, the LMC came up with a plan to provide this service in-house, without relying on an outside contractor. The City’s recycling program has been a success, essentially paying for itself through the reduction of tipping fees and new revenues from the sale of recycled materials.
The LMC was also instrumental in the implementation of another trash-related accomplishment: the "Spring Spruce-Up" program. In the past, public works crews picked up bulk trash and debris from the city’s alley twice a year, a project that had grown in scope over time. In the wake of the "100-Year Flood" in 1996, the amount of debris to be picked up reached an untenable level. The LMC devised a plan to set up centralized locations where the trash could be disposed of, eliminating the need for city crews to pick it up alley-by-alley. The program has generated considerable savings for the city.
Also due to the "100-Year Flood", houses in the city were required to install basement "sump pumps" in 1996. A private firm was hired to perform inspections for a price of $54 per house. The LMC determined that the same function could be performed by a two-person city team, who could inspect 4 to 5 homes per hour at an hourly cost of about $40. The contractor was terminated, and considerable savings were generated by using city employees to perform the inspections.
The LMC devised a new system for overtime and call-outs to ensure the equitable distribution of these assignments.
Through LMC actions, two entry-level skilled laborer positions were created. These laborers act as "floaters" to perform work across departmental boundaries, as needed for special projects or filling in for other employees who are taking leave or using comp time.
