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St. Pete and union at impasse, again, over pay raises

 
Published Aug. 19, 2016

ST. PETERSBURG — Negotiations between the city and the union representing city workers have broken down, raising the odds of yet another year the City Council may be forced to approve a budget without knowing labor costs.

A bargaining session between the Florida Public Service Union and the city ended Wednesday at an impasse, mainly over pay raises for about 250 newly organized professionals such as engineers, chemists and technology workers.

The union wanted higher raises for professional workers with seniority. For many years during the recession, those workers saw their pay cut or frozen.

Rick Smith, the union's chief of staff, said any professional with at least seven years of experience, for instance, should get 5 percent raises to help make up for the lean years and to deal with recent hires making more money than veterans.

"We've been trying to right huge wage discrepancies," Smith said, adding the issue has hurt morale and recruitment for the city.

The city's human resources director, Chris Guella, said the city offered a 4 percent raise for all union workers, including blue- and white-collar workers.

"We wanted to treat everyone equally. Not just because they've been here longer," Guella said.

So what happens now?

If the two sides can't agree, they'll head to a special magistrate provided by the state. They can also agree to allow the City Council to decide.

Guella hopes that the city and union can meet next week and determine how to proceed.

Raising pay by 4 percent — the same as last year — would cost $2.1 million for all of the city's roughly 1,530 unionized workers, Guella said.

Other issues, including how to incorporate new federal rules on overtime, also need to be addressed, Smith said.

The council must approve the budget by Sept. 30. Two public hearings are scheduled for Sept. 8 and 22. The council normally approves the budget at the second hearing.

In recent years, council members have had to approve the budget without knowing the price tags for various union agreements.

Council member Charlie Gerdes said he's not as concerned about voting on the $508 million budget without labor contracts. The property tax rate has already been set and by law can't be raised, he said.

"The pot is what the pot is," Gerdes said.

As for the City Council settling the dispute, Gerdes said he'd prefer if the two sides tried a special magistrate first.

"I like us to be the last resort," he said.

Contact Charlie Frago at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8459. Follow @CharlieFrago.