Our Cities Work Because We Do!

AFSCME members in Phoenix and Austin fought privatization and helped create the best-run cities in the country. A look at their can-do spirit.

By Susan Ellen Holleran

Phoenix, Arizona, and Austin, Texas, which Governing magazine rates as the nation’s best-run cities, share an important distinction: Their workers are organized by AFSCME. Equally important, both are cities that overcame threats of privatization with a two-way commitment to communication, trust-building and worker empowerment.

Governing’s report was based on an analysis of the 35 American cities with the largest total revenues. At Syracuse University, researchers waded through surveys and stacks of background material. At the same time, Governing staff interviewed hundreds of people, residents and outsiders alike. Then grades were assigned in five categories for each city. The result: Only Austin and Phoenix were awarded an A.

Public Employee talked to AFSCME members and city management to find out how their cities made the grade.

Red Hot Phoenix

Phoenix is rising. When you talk to city workers, their enthusiasm all but bubbles over.

“For the last nine years, our housing department has been among the top five in the country,” declares Eddie Stirewalt, a maintenance worker at a city housing project. He and his co-workers paint, repair and do preventive maintenance there. Stirewalt, Local 2384 chief steward and executive board member, boasts of the solid AFSCME presence at his worksite: Everyone belongs to the union.

TURNAROUND. For AFSCME as well as Phoenix, the picture was not always so rosy.

Nancy Gray had just been elected president of Phoenix Local 2960 in 1990 when City Manager Frank Fairbanks called her to his office about projected budget cuts and layoffs. He wanted her cooperation.

“At first I didn’t trust him,” says Gray, whose members had to swallow a wage freeze. “But as the process went ahead, he educated us. Two years later we were rewarded with increases.” And no one lost a job.

Labor/management cooperation opened the door to a number of experiments. Front-line workers made suggestions; management responded positively.

“If every city employee has one good idea a year, that’s 13,000 ideas,” says Fairbanks. “If I have one idea a month, that’s 12. We’ve been very fortunate in Phoenix. All the unions have cared about the city. We’ve all worked together as a team.”

As part of the cooperative process, job duties have been expanded, and skill-based pay increases implemented.

The city has adopted the concept of “Seamless Service” — in an effort to bring residents the help they need as smoothly and efficiently as possible. For all those who work out in the community, the city developed a pamphlet containing information to help them answer residents’ common questions — even if those questions concern another department. For instance, a sanitation worker can tell a resident how to get a pothole filled.

The results of Seamless Service are visible at the water department. Water is crucial to the desert-dwelling Phoenicians and to their city’s relentless growth. Paying for it can be a problem. In the old days, payment clerks were powerless when faced with frustrated customers. Not now.

“All of us have a brain and common sense,” says Bob Mincher, a Local 2960 member. “I think it’s great that we can make adjustments or payment arrangements with the customers. It’s so good to be able to get an answer right away.”

Workers are also involved in the selection of new technology so they can help customers over the phone. The cooperative process has saved the department big bucks since 1996: about $10 million each year.

‘INFILL.’ While other cities are thinking about rehabilitating their inner core, Phoenix is doing it. And Frank Baca is proud of his role.

The city identified 3,000 vacant lots and offered developers incentives to build homes for low- and moderate-income families. Dubbed the Infill Housing Program, it has been very successful, with 1,800 lots under construction in formerly poor, drug-infested neighborhoods that are within walking distance of many city jobs.

Baca is a building inspector. The Local 2960 member works with developers to make sure all the construction adheres to high standards. He is gratified to see how the neighborhoods have responded by cleaning up their act.

In some cases the cleanup has been assisted by Local 2384 members who work in the city’s tool-loan program. Last year, they provided equipment for more than 300 cleanups — removing over 1,030 tons of debris. Local 2384 members also run the graffiti-busters program, trying to remove the unwanted scrawl as soon as it appears.

LURING TOURISTS. Phoenix depends on tourism for much of its income. Keeping its airport operating at top efficiency is a priority. Local 2384 members maintain the physical plant: heating, water, electricity and — critical in a place where temperatures can rise above 100 degrees and stay there — air conditioning. The union is negotiating appropriate increases as these skilled workers take on a broader range of responsibilities.

"Austin Is A Leader”

Many visitors first encounter Austin at the airport. Spacious and airy, it’s also spotlessly clean. Cecilia Clark and her co-workers keep it that way. They take real satisfaction in the work they do, and Clark, a Local 1624 steward, notes proudly that most of them are AFSCME members.

Texas is not only a right-to-work (for less) state, it also denies public employees the legal right to bargain. Building and maintaining a union takes energy, persistence and dedication. And although Austin has had a long-time AFSCME presence, it was threatened a few years ago when financial pressures led the city to consider privatization and job cuts.

Fortunately, Local 1624 Business Manager Greg Powell found he was not alone in his efforts to protect members’ jobs. He had a partner in Mayor Kirk Watson — whom the local worked hard to elect.

“When I first took office,” says the charismatic Watson, “we talked to AFSCME and to management about how we wanted AFSCME to be recognized as a place management could and should work with as a representative of the employees. I think Austin is a leader.

“You don’t see anything like this relationship elsewhere in the state. We’re trying to govern and lead this city together — to provide better public services.”

Because Local 1624 is seen as an integral part of city operations, union representatives take an active part in staff orientations. They explain how the union works, the dues structure and what workers can expect if they join. Each new hire has the opportun-ity to sign up for union membership or to request further information.

This kind of openness and commitment has helped Local 1624 work with the city to institute such programs as cross-training where workers learn additional skills so they can help out in a variety of job situations. The process can be intimidating, but many workers value the new experience especially when it brings increased pay.

BREAKDOWN. Austin’s water department was in budgetary trouble. The city was considering privatization. Under the previous administration, it had cut jobs. With Watson’s support, Powell began a partnership with the department director — despite a his-tory of friction between workers and management.

“We met with department employees and told them, ‘We need to do everything we can to be competitive,’” says Powell. He explained that workers might be expected to do their jobs in new ways and that the department was committed to increasing pay for additional work. Some workers were skeptical, and 60 left the union. “We have regained them and gotten 100 others,” he says.

Richard Everton has benefited from the partnership. A mechanic at the water treatment plant, he is cross-training in operations. “Although the last math class I had was high school algebra,” he is delighted with the program and likes learning new things. A Local 1624 steward, Everton tries to encourage co-workers who find change difficult.

PEOPLE POWER. Dave Winget and George Ozarowski are cross-training at Austin Power’s Holly Plant. As utility deregulation gains momentum, management and the union are working to keep the municipal system competitive. They are also aware of environmental concerns in the vicinity of the plant and throughout the service area. The plant now monitors the temperature of water discharged into the lake. It has installed noise mufflers.

Such changes are important to AFSCME members and their families. Take Winget. He frequently bikes near the plant. He remembers how noisy it used to be and appreciates the mufflers.

Austin Power is also experimenting with solar power, and AFSCME members are developing related skills. Ten years ago, things were different. Workers were ordered to clean up a PCB spill without protective gear. “The union stood up for us,” says Winget.

Ozarowski, formerly a Polish student activist, is studying instrumentation to handle increased plant automation. “I like it better than being an electrician,” he says. During the cross-training, the city has pledged, job loss will come only through attrition.

They both appreciate the pay. “The 25-percent raise makes it a well-paying job,” says Winget.

Throughout the city, AFSCME members know that Austin works because they do.“When the city gets an award, management will say, ‘We managed well,’” says Watson. “But it’s the folks who actually provide the services who perform the ultimate task of governing: getting results.”