10-24-16 Personnel and Finance - Laserfiche WebLink

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Hockenhull for providing financial support and guidance, John Martinez, and other people for providing additional insight. We came in with the goal of trying to find the best agreement for the City and best agreement for the Teamsters. These are men and women of the City who provide a valuable resource day in and day out. We fully understand the value of the work that the Teamsters provide for the City. This is a four (4) year agreement which was a priority for all involved. It provides stability both with what wages will be for the Teamsters and also in the City's management of having stability of what our expenses are going to be. The union really wanted stability and we did too. This is important as we get closer and closer to that much talked about 2020 fiscal curb. We are providing a wage increase over the four (4) years of one percent (1 %), point seventy -five percent (.75 %), point seventy -five percent (.75 %), and one percent (1 %). Supplementing that wage increase will also be additional funding of one and half percent (1.5 %) through the state mandatory PERF funding. This is a unique thing that the City has never done before. The City has also instituted the Activate Health Clinic and this agreement here is the first opportunity for the Teamsters to have it specifically recognized that they have time to participate in this clinic. They will be afforded eight (8) hours to spend time at the clinic, to implement health plans, and this of course is great to the City as it provides a healthy work environment. There are also longevity bonuses in place in this agreement that recognize the dedicated service of so many employees in the union. Some of these employees have been with the City for thirty (30) plus years. For each year, those long -term employees will receive a bonus and with each year that number will increase. What we did was find a financial way to reward this service and dedication to the City. The highest bonus is $400 for those who have worked for the City and dedicated so much of their life to South Bend. We also wanted to come up with concepts that made our union team feel good about being part of the City of South Bend. Committeemember Jo M. Broden stated it was a lengthy but well run process. Each and every one of these negotiated items was well documented and well - founded to everyone's benefit. She stated she appreciates the work that both the union reps and the City Administration staff put in. Councilmember Dr. David Varner asked what is the normal standard contribution for PERF. Mr. Schmidt responded the City normally contributes eleven percent (11 %) and the employee contributes three percent (3 %). Going forward for the Teamsters, the City will contribute twelve and a half percent (12.5) and the employee will contribute one point five percent (1.5 %). Councilmember Oliver Davis asked if this is enough money to try to attract and retain top talent to South Bend. Mr. Schmidt responded he believes it is. The union ratified this agreement in overwhelming support which suggests they are happy with the financial support. When we got into the details, we found out our total compensation package is equal to if not greater than our sister cities. There were some specific incidences where we increased specific positions where it was shown we were not equal to some of the neighboring cities and we were losing some employees to them. Hopefully those increases will halt that problem. There were particular ways where we 2