That Minn is against Niziolek for 10th ward council member is excellant
reason to work hard for Dan's election success.
>Dan Niziolek's comments on the MPEA negotiations portend a huge conflict,
>should he be elected to the City Council. Taxpayers should be concerned
>that biased decision-making on labor contracts would work to taxpayers
>disadvantage.
>
>Having initiated the comp time battle during my tenure on the Council, I can
>state that no single issue is more costly to taxpayers than politics
>interfering with sound labor practices. The Minneapolis Professional
>Employee Association (MPEA) position is patently absurd, violating the very
>definition of "exempt employee" under federal labor law. Allowing MPEA or
>any other "exempt representational bargaining unit" to jeopardize years of
>careful contract negotiation with other unions to eliminate the expensive
>and illegal practice of paying salaried employees extra for overtime is just
>not sound policy. The Council, Mayor and City Coordinator have made comp
>time elimination the number one goal of labor policy, to comply with federal
>law. Niziolek, would, at a minimum, have to recuse himself from the MPEA
>contract.
>
>By federal law, only hourly or "non-exempt" employees are entitled to such a
>pay structure. The State of Minnesota paid a $30 million dollar fine two
>years ago on just this issue. The concept of "salary" as opposed to
>"hourly" work is that a professional is being paid for the work product,
>regardless of the time it takes to complete the work. As an accounting
>convenience, the salary is calculated on the basis of an average 40 hour
>week, but essentially, they are being paid for the work product, not the
>hourly work. An hourly employee has a much different set of obligations,
>responsibilities and burden of accountability than a salaried employee, as
>DEFINED in federal law.
>
>Steve Minn
>Minneapolis
>
>----------
>>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>Subject: Mpls digest, Vol 1 #108 - 17 msgs
>>Date: Mon, Mar 12, 2001, 12:01 PM
>>
>
>> Message: 7
>> Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 09:40:40 -0600
>> From: "hkdjn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Subject: [Mpls] MPEA negotiations...
>>
>> 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
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John Ferman
Harriet Avenue
Kingfield Neighborhood
Minneapolis
Ward 10 Pct 10
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
_______________________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
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