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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Provided Information - 1/21/2025CITY COUNCIL OF SALT LAKE CITY 451 SOUTH STATE STREET, ROOM 304 P.O. BOX 145476, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84114-5476 SLCCOUNCIL.COM TEL 801-535-7600 FAX 801-535-7651 COUNCIL STAFF REPORT CITY COUNCIL of SALT LAKE CITY TO:City Council Members FROM: Austin Kimmel Public Policy Analyst DATE:January 21, 2025 RE: RESOLUTION: COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR THE SALT LAKE CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD NEW INFORMATION During a recent review, staff identified that the draft labor resolution had omitted the Council's role in resolving impasses. The original resolution stated that only the Mayor or the Mayor's designee would resolve any impasse. This differs from the City's labor resolutions, which include both the Mayor and Council in this process. In order to mirror the City’s bargaining process and to preserve the Council’s role in budget approval, staff coordinated on an updated version of the resolution that aligns impasse processes more closely with the City's labor resolutions. To ensure the process was transparent, the Library Executive Director coordinated with the Library Board of Directors, who convened an emergency meeting on Jan. 29, to approve the revised version of the resolution. The updated resolution is included for consideration and Council action during the Tuesday, Feb. 4 formal meeting. Amended resolution text (new text in bold): Section 5.c If, after meeting and conferring under Section 5(a), the Library Executive Director and any affected Employee Organization or Certified Employee Organization are at an impasse as to the petition’s compliance with Section 4, then the impasse will be submitted to the Mayor or the Mayor’s designee, and the City Council, who will have authority to resolve any such impasse and, if appropriate, order an election under Section 5(d). (1) The Mayor or the Mayor’s designee and the City Council may conduct a conference with the Library’s Executive Director and any affected Employee Organization or Certified Employee Organization in order to clarify the nature of the impasse prior to ruling on the impasse. Section 10.c Item Schedule: Briefing: January 21, 2025 Public Hearing: n/a Potential Adoption Vote: February 4, 2025 Page | 2 Should the parties fail to reach an agreement within this time frame, any unresolved mandatory subjects of bargaining shall be submitted to the Mayor or and the Mayor’s designee City Council for resolution. Nothing in this provision shall alter the process for adopting a collective bargaining agreement as provided for in Section 8. ISSUE AT-A-GLANCE The Salt Lake City Public Library is seeking the Council's review and approval of a labor resolution for the purposes of creating a structure and process for collective bargaining with eligible Library employees. The Library’s board of directors approved this resolution during its December 2024 meeting. The Council’s consideration of the labor resolution is one of several steps in the collective bargaining process and establishes the process for employees to file a petition to form a union. If this resolution is approved by the Council, the Library’s employees could begin their petition to form a union. Following this step, Library employees vote on whether to form a union. If over half (50.1% or more) of the eligible employees vote to form a union, the Library Board recognizes the union, and the Library and union representatives can begin negotiating a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The CBA will outline items such as employee wages and benefits, among other things. Once the CBA is agreed upon and approved by the Library Board, then it will also come to the Council for review and approval. Certain terms of the CBA would come into effect subject to the Council appropriating necessary funding, which is ultimately approved in the City’s annual budget deliberation process. Goal of the briefing: to learn about a collective bargaining resolution that would provide a process that could authorize the Salt Lake City Public Library to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with eligible Library employees. KEY POINTS The Council’s role in the Library budget process is unique to other City enterprise funds. The Library Board sets the policy for Library operations. The Council is tasked with reviewing and approving the overall budget and setting the Library’s tax rate. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) has expressed an interest in representing eligible Library employees. While AFSCME also represents employees in other Salt Lake City departments, AFSCME would represent library employees as a separate bargaining unit because the Library is structured as separate from General Fund departments and enterprise funds. It’s important to note that the Library’s compensation and benefits are also separate from the City’s. In previous correspondence with staff, the Library estimates about a 12-18-month period which would include the petition process, union certification vote, and (if the vote is successful) entering into collective bargaining. This tentative timeline indicates a CBA and funding requests to implement it could come to the Council as part of the FY2027 annual budget (April/May 2026). Under this resolution, part-time employees would be eligible for union representation. This is unique compared to the City’s labor resolutions because nearly half of Library employees are part-time. However, under the proposed resolution voting eligibility on union formation is limited to employees who have maintained continuous employment with the Library for six months or more, regardless of their full-time or part-time status. Like the City’s labor resolutions, Library employees holding supervisory and management positions are ineligible to vote and join the union under the proposed resolution. Page | 3 If the union vote fails to meet the 50.1% threshold, a new petition to unionize cannot be filed for another 12 months from the unsuccessful election. POLICY QUESTIONS 1. The Library staff is unique compared to the City. For example, the percentage of part-time employees at the Library is significantly greater. Given that, the Council may wish to ask the Library representatives what considerations they reviewed in deciding to pursue the union options. 2. The Council may wish to ask about how the collective bargaining and negotiating process will work leading up to annual budget discussions, and how that will be the same or different from the City’s collective bargaining negotiations. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION I. Section 8.G, copied from the administrative transmittal –this section may be of interest to the Council in the event of failed negotiations. (g) If the City Council fails to appropriate the funds required to implement a proposed collective bargaining agreement or wage schedule, the Library Board shall, following good faith negotiations with the Certified Employee Organization, adopt a one-year compensation plan or wage schedule for the affected employees and/or adopt a one-year extension of the existing collective bargaining agreement, and shall present the same to the City Council pursuant to the City Council budget process. After good faith negotiations, the Library shall retain final authority regarding the terms and content of any one-year compensation plan or wage schedule adopted under this paragraph for presentation to the City Council.