Niel - Very good questions. Given that I am a MPEA member, I have had some time to think about this issue and talk with council members regarding their role. 1.) Should the city council intervene in the MPEA negotiations? Why or why not? The City Council should only be involved in MPEA negotiations in regards to policy issues and to insure their bargaining team is negotiating in good faith. The latter is good management and should occur behind the scenes and not be a public discussion. As a rule, the city council should not be in the role of micro-managing staff engaged in labor negotiations. In reference to the current MPEA contract, there is a policy issue that involves the council. The policy deals with whether exempt employees should receive compensatory time at the rate of one hour for one hour. As an exempt employee, I can only wonder what the city expects to gain by exempt employees not receiving compensatory time. As I see this issue, the city can gain from eliminating compensatory time in one of two ways: 1) City employees will be working more than 40 hours per week on a regular basis without being compensated for the additional hours. or 2) The new system will eliminate potential abuse that was occurring in the old system. In reference to this point, I would comment that abuse of compensatory time should have been dealt with by management. Given the new system is more complicated, how will managers who could not deal with abuse in the old, simpler system address abuse issues in the new, more complicated system? Everybody generally knows who is abusing the system, we just need management to address the issue. Given this, I disagree with the city�s position to take compensatory time from exempt employees. Removal of compensatory time will only weaken the city�s position to compete with the for-profit market in hiring and retaining employees and its ability to complete work when short staffed. Just as important is the potential path the city is travelling. The word about salaried people (at least those without compensatory time) in the for-profit world is that they are regularly working well in excess of 40 hours per week. As a community organizer and a supporter of families, I am always concerned about policies that seem to point in the direction of making people work more hours. Our families and community will not be strong if the people who make them up do not have the time to invest in them. 2.) Should salaried employees receive the same compensatory time as hourly employees? Why or why not? Yes, I believe that employees should be compensated for work over 40 hours per week at a rate greater than regular compensation. Ironically, MPEA exempt employees receive a lesser compensatory rate than non-exempt employees. Exempt employees receive hour for hour compensation while non-exempts receive time and a half. As a person who has been a union member for 9 years, I value unions and good management. Through my efforts as a shop steward, I have worked to ensure that me and my co-workers receive fair compensation and have a quality work environment. In return, I know that a vast majority of city employees give more than their 40. Dan Niziolek Lyndale Resident MPEA Member 10th Ward City Council Candidate _______________________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
