An Agreement is Only the Beginning
The Importance of Implementation in Collective Bargaining
Introduction
There are several components of the collective bargaining process. While the
role of chief negotiator or spokesperson might be the most well known or visible,
others functions such as costing, research, recordkeeping, and logistics can
serve critical roles in the success of effective labor relations. In order to ensure a
smooth season of negotiations, Human Resources Directors typically need to
begin delegating these assignments well before any labor/management meetings
are conducted.
One area that is often not discussed or covered in preparing for negotiations is
the development of an implementation strategy. Once an agreement is reached
and approved by both sides, a contract has been created that requires the
adherence of all involved parties. For this reason, implementation is arguably
one of the most important facets of collective bargaining because if not done
properly, can lead to problems ranging from unhappy employees and poor
labor/management relationships, to increased grievances and legal fees.
Implementing the various components of a single Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) can be difficult in and of itself. However many agencies,
including the one from which this paper draws its examples, negotiate with
several bargaining groups at one time. This scenario can make tracking and
implementation even more arduous, therefore increasing the importance of
developing a sound implementation strategy.
It is the purpose of this paper to explain the importance of developing a strong
implementation strategy prior to coming to the table. In order to illustrate this
purpose, examples will be taken from personal experience in collective
bargaining at the City of Irvine.
Agency Background
Incorporated in 1971, the City of Irvine is still considered very young compared to
some of the more established surrounding cities. The City of Irvine was
established as a charter city, operating under a City Manager/City Council form
of government. The largest geographic city in Orange County at over seventy
square miles, Irvine currently has a population of almost 190,000 that is projected
to exceed 220,000 at build out.
The organization consists of eight operating departments. These include the City
Manager’s Office, Administrative Services (which includes Human Resources),
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Community Services, Community Development, Public Safety (which includes
the police department), Public Works, Redevelopment, and the Great Park
Corporation. Fire services are contracted though the Orange County Fire
Authority. With the exceptions of the Director of Public Safety and the Chief
Executive Officer of the Great Park, each Department Director reports to a single
Assistant City Manager, who in turn, reports to the City Manager. The Directors
of Public Safety and the Great Park report directly to the City Manager. The
Director of Administrative Services oversees Human Resources and serves as
the City’s Personnel Officer and Chief Negotiator.
The City of Irvine’s nearly 1200 full and part time employees belong to one of
eight employee groups, five of which are represented. All part-time staff, human
resources staff, and executive management belong to non-represented groups
and therefore do not participate in the collective bargaining process. However,
even non-represented employees are impacted by the outcome of the
negotiations process and therefore require the attention of Human Resources
and the Implementation Team. All other employees are represented by one of
the five bargaining groups listed below:
Irvine Police Association (IPA)
Membership includes all employees classified as Police Officer, Senior Police
Officer, or Police Sergeant.
Irvine Police Management Association (IPMA)
Membership includes all employees classified as Police Lieutenant and Police
Commander. The Police Chief and Deputy Police Chief are members of the
City’s Management Group and are not represented.
Irvine City Employees Association (ICEA)
Membership includes all full time, nonexempt employees that are not classified in
a position belonging to one the of the City’s professional series.
Irvine Professional Employees Association (IPEA)
Membership includes all full time, exempt and non-exempt employees that are
classified in one of the City’s professional series (i.e. Accountants, Engineers,
Planners, etc.).
Associated Supervisory/Administrative Personnel (ASAP)
Membership includes all full time, exempt employees that serve as supervisors
and mid-management that are not otherwise part of IPEA.
The collective bargaining process at the City of Irvine is actually split, both in time
and process, between the two sworn units (IPA and IPMA) and three non-sworn
or miscellaneous units (ICEA, IPEA, and ASAP). As each group has historically
agreed to two-year contracts, it has been easy to stagger negotiations so that the
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two sworn units can be addressed in one year, and the three miscellaneous units
being addressed in the alternate year. This has been convenient as negotiations
with the sworn units involve traditional bargaining, while interest based
bargaining is utilized with the three miscellaneous groups. The other major
difference between the sworn and miscellaneous units is that negotiations with
the sworn units involve attorneys (on both sides), while the miscellaneous units
rely on the expertise of contract representatives from the Orange County
Employees Association.
While the scheduling and process of collective bargaining can differ between the
sworn and miscellaneous groups, the one constant in collective bargaining at the
City of Irvine has been the need for an implementation team to manage the
tracking and follow-through necessary to maintain positive labor relations.
Implementation Team
Depending on the size of the agency, an implementation team can vary greatly in
size and scope. While some smaller agencies may have one or two individuals
responsible for implementation, others may have many more in order to
adequately meet the needs of a larger organization.
At the City of Irvine, the implementation team typically consists of four human
resources employees. The activity and work of the implementation team is
coordinated by a Senior Management Analyst that has been present and at the
table at all negotiation sessions. This ensures any information that is passed to
the team is timely, accurate, and can be kept confidential. As leader of the
implementation team, this individual in responsible for providing regular updates
and progress reports to the Human Resources Manager, who in turn,
communicates progress to the Director of Administrative Services/Chief
Negotiator.
The City’s payroll supervisor is a mainstay on the team as the majority of items
requiring implementation are directly or indirectly related to compensation.
Moreover, the payroll supervisor is responsible for determining the feasibility of
issues/items raised during the course of bargaining. This has eliminated
problems with trying to implement exotic or abnormal changes to a MOU after the
fact, but instead involves those directly affected the moment the issue is raised.
Coincidentally, payroll is a function housed in Human Resources at the City of
Irvine and actually works very closely with staff assigned to labor relations. This
allows for seamless communication and effective administration.
Like the payroll supervisor, a Human Resources Information Systems Technician
was added so that post-bargaining headaches could be avoided when trying to
make changes to the various information systems responsible for payroll and
benefits administration. With the HRIS Technician actively involved from the
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onset, any systems changes could be developed and tested early on to avoid
delays or problems with adhering to agreements.
To complete the team, a Human Resources Technician is assigned to provide
logistical support, track progress, and other general forms of support.
Depending on the nature and complexity of the changes to the various MOUs,
this team can add additional members as deemed necessary. For the most part
however, this core group of four individuals has been adequate to handle the
three key components of implementation: planning, follow-through, and
communication.
Strategic Planning
While this may seem inherently basic in nature, it is surprising how planning, or
lack thereof, can have a dramatic impact on the overall success of an
implementation team. The following illustrates how strategic planning can not
only assist with implementation, but can also improve the overall efficiency of the
organization.
During the course of interest based bargaining with the City Irvine’s largest union,
ICEA, an issue was raised specific to increasing the amount of hazard pay
certain maintenance classifications received while working on the City’s
roadways. Well before an agreement was reached on whether or not the City’s
hazard stipend would be increased, the manager of the implementation team
brought the issue back to the others on the team for discussion. Upon learning of
the union’s request, the HRIS Technician suggested if the stipend were
increased, the time that it would be paid out should be moved from March to
November. This would allow the payroll staff to pay the stipend during a time
when they were paying out other forms of special compensation such as DOT
stipends, vacation buy back, and sick leave conversions. Moreover, the payroll
supervisor began directing her staff to begin preparing to make the necessary
changes to the system to accommodate the change. When management agreed
to increase the stipend, the change to the time of payment was suggested to the
union representatives. The union agreed to the change and payment date was
amended in the MOU accordingly.
This seemingly minor change had a dramatic impact on human resources staff
as the overall efficiency of the payroll increased while workload decreased.
Moreover, the changes to the system were created and ready for implementation
well before the deadline. These benefits probably would not have been possible
had it not been for the fact that the implementation team had a representative at
the table that could provide immediate and accurate information to those that
would have to administer the necessary changes.
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Follow-through
It can be difficult to track all of the agreements and items requiring action when
negotiating with multiple unions at one time. While cost of living adjustments and
other priority issues might be easy to track and implement, it is the other, more
obscure items that can easily be set aside and delayed. These items might not
be linked to compensation and therefore might not seem as prevalent.
At the City of Irvine for example, one agreement was specific to a single
classification and whether or not employees in that classification should be
provided a particular form of safety equipment. A side letter was drafted and
management agreed to study the position, conduct research, and provide
regularly scheduled updates to the union representatives. While this issue was
not related to compensation, and it did not impact many employees, it was
nevertheless one of the more labor intensive items to manage as it required
research, logistical support, reporting, and multiple meetings. It could have been
very easy to miss a deadline or forget about a specific component of the study
had it not been tracked accordingly. In order to avoid this, the City of Irvine
implementation team created a simple spreadsheet to track, prioritize, and
implement multiple items for multiple bargaining units. This spreadsheet served
as a tool for the implementation manager in delegating assignments and keeping
abreast of all important dates and action items, avoiding the possibility of a
missed deadline.
The following page contains an example of a portion of the spreadsheet used to
record, track, and manage the implementation process for negotiations taking
place at the City of Irvine near the end of Fiscal Year 05/06. The spreadsheet is
divided into three basic sections. These sections include year one agreements,
year two agreements, and items that were not necessarily agreements but still
required action on the part of staff in Human Resources. The actual spreadsheet
used by the implementation team was much longer and more detailed as it
contained data for each of the bargaining units participating in the collective
bargaining process in April of 2006. This particular portion is specific to the
agreements outlined in the MOU with ICEA.
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IRVINE CITY EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
IMPLEMENTATION SUMMARY
MOU EFFECTIVE July 1, 2006
Agreement
Effective/Due
Responsible
MOU
Run Global Utility
Insert language in
MOU
07/01/06
Payroll
X
07/01/06
Benefits
X
07/01/06
Payroll
X
Holiday Closure (Y1 & Y2)
System Conversion
Insert language in
MOU
07/01/06
EE Relations
X
Personnel Rules
Review/Clean up
10/01/06
EE Relations
Increase VEBA contribution
Run Global Utility
07/01/06
Payroll
Medical Caps
Reopen if changed
PS will meet with
ICEA
N/A
Benefits
Side letter
01/01/07
PS Staff
07/01/06
Payroll
Civilian Investigator
Run Global Utility
Determine if credit
is given
Side letter
Increase to $900 Date 11/31
10/01/06
Classification
Vacation Cap
Run Global Utility
07/01/06
Payroll
X
Y2 COLA
Run Global Utility
Update MOU
Language
07/01/07
Payroll
X
TBD
EE Relations
X
X
Y1 COLA
RHS/VEBA
Direct Deposit
Safety Vests
Hazard/AB License Pay
Assignment
Review/ compare
language
Update Personnel
Rules
Prepare City
Council Report/Add
to Agenda
TBD
EE Relations
TBD
EE Relations
TBD
EE Relations
Brief Budget Office
TBD
HR Manager
Update Intranet
Update Salary
Resolution/Grade
Order
Update Job
Materials
TBD
HRIS
TBD
Payroll
TBD
Recruitment
Rules
X
X
X
X
Notes
Increase base
salary by 4.0%
No Changes
Allowed
Side letter
Amend City
Calendar
Notify ICEA of
changes
Increase from 2%
to 3%
Side letter
Special case
(Current ext.)
Increase base
salary by 4.0%
X
X
Budget must be
adjusted
X
Two separate
ranges
Communication
One of the greatest responsibilities for an implementation team is communicating
changes to all of the necessary stakeholders. Again, big ticket items relating to
compensation usually circulate through an organization on their own rather
quickly. It is the other, less known items that require the implementation team to
develop a communication, or in some cases, marketing plan.
During the most recent round of negotiations with IPEA, the management agreed
to extend the City’s professional development benefits to allow exempt
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employees in IPEA utilize professional development funds for travel expenses
(hotel, airfare, mileage, meals, etc.). This particular benefit was already enjoyed
by all members of ASAP and was therefore an important issue for the exempt
members of IPEA. Once a tentative agreement was reached, the implementation
team, working with the City’s training and development staff, developed a
communication plan aimed at all department directors and supervisors that had
IPEA exempt employees as subordinate staff. Once the MOU was ratified by the
general membership of IPEA and approved by the City Council, the
communication plan was executed without delay. This was critical as these
department directors and supervisors historically denied out-of-area training and
seminars to IPEA employees unless it was mandatory, or required by the
department. Since IPEA employees could now utilize their professional
development funds provided by the City to travel, it was important to immediately
educate the appropriate staff to avoid unwarranted denials and possible
grievances.
While this example illustrates the importance of communication to a specific
group, it is typically important to provide a general summary of
changes/agreements to executive management, department heads, and Human
Resources staff (especially benefits and recruitment).
Conclusion
The collective bargaining process is very cyclical in nature. There are peaks and
valleys, with no real ending but only seasons. The task of getting through a
season of collective bargaining can be very daunting to any Human Resources
Director or Labor Relations Manager. It is a highly visible process that can be
extremely tense, stressful, and politically charged. Coming to terms, reaching an
agreement, and getting approval from elected officials can be so consuming that
it can cause shortsightedness and leave much work left unfinished. Having a
sound implementation strategy is the key to bringing the negotiating season to
successful conclusion.
Report prepared by:
Brian King
Senior Management Analyst
City of Irvine
1 Civic Center Plaza
Irvine, CA 92606
(949) 724-6028
bking@ci.irvine.ca.us
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