PRESENTER: Presenter
Becca Miears, Human Resources Director
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SUBJECT: Title
Approval of a resolution of the City Council of the City of New Braunfels, Texas, renewing and amending the Meet and Confer Agreement between the City and the New Braunfels Professional Fire Fighters Association, Local 3845 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, for a term ending on September 30, 2023.
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DEPARTMENT: Human Resources
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COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: N/A
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On September 23, 2019, the City and the New Braunfels Professional Fire Fighters Association (“Association”) entered into the City’s first Meet and Confer Agreement. The Meet and Confer Agreement has a provision that the Association should notify the city before May 15th of each year of the Agreement if they desired to renegotiate the agreement. The Association timely provided the requisite notice to the City. The parties needed additional time to prepare and meet, so staff requested that City Council approve an extension until January 28, 2022. The parties met on December 6, 2021, at a meeting posted pursuant to the Texas Open Meetings Act and accessible by interested members of the public. The agreement is ready for Council consideration and approval.
ISSUE:
The City staff and Association representatives have met and tentatively agreed (pending Council approval) to renew the term of the Meet and Confer Agreement until September 30, 2023, with the additional following amendments:
Article 3, Section 2. Interview Board: amendment to the board makeup to “two Firefighters, two Engineers, and one Company Officer (any rank below that of Battalion Chief).”
Article 3, Section 5, Reappointment After Resignation: removal of the October 1, 2019 date.
Article 4, Section 1. Intent: Addition of “Applicants will be required to pass the written examination and participate in and complete all components of the assessment center before being placed on the eligibility list for promotion.”
Article 4, Section 2. (c) 2.: Addition of “and completion of all components of the Assessment Center.” This language clarifies the requirement that the candidate complete the entire process.
Article 4, Section 4. Assessment Center: Addition of letter (e) which provides clarity on the application of education points for the Engineer rank, as well as calculation of Engineer rank final score for the eligibility list.
Article 5, Term of Agreement: The term is moved to new Article 6. See next amendment. Article 5 is now entitled “Alternative Disciplinary Process for Minor Incidents”, which “allows for an alternative disciplinary process that will apply only to cases involving minor misconduct as determined at the sole discretion of the Department Head.”
Article 6: Article 5 is renumbered to 6 and the contract term is extended from January 28, 2022 to September 30, 2023.
FISCAL IMPACT:
N/A
Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of the attached Meet and Confer Agreement.