Dubuque Police Protective Association_Arbitration AwardMasterpiece on the Mississippi
Dubuque
AN- amedcacity
2007
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Arbitration Award - City of Dubuque and the Dubuque Police Protective
Association
DATE: September 26, 2011
Personnel Manager Randy Peck is transmitting information on the arbitration award
issued by Arbitrator Richard Pegnetter. The arbitrator awarded the Dubuque Police
Protective Association's wage position of a 2% across - the -board wage increase,
effective July 1, 2011, and also awarded their proposed longevity schedule
improvement, which makes their schedule identical to the longevity schedule received
by employees represented by the Firefighter's Association.
The 2% wage increase and the longevity increase is in conflict with the FY 2012 City
budget and what all the other City employees received. In FY 2012, the other City
employees received no pay increase. The other four bargaining units did agree to three
year contracts which include pay raises in the final two years and a sick leave buy back
provision The Police contract is only for one year and provides no sick leave buy -back
enhancement to their current buy -back program. All full -time City employees will now
receive the Martin Luther King Birthday as a paid City holiday.
The City Council budget guidelines adopted in December 2010 state, "Salary increases
over the amount budgeted for salaries shall be financed from operating budget
reductions in the department of the benefitting employees." The unbudgeted cost of this
arbitration award is $129,189. The Police Department currently has nine vacant
positions. The goal is to fill four of these for the January 2012 openings in the Iowa Law
Enforcement Academy and four more for the April 2012 openings in the Academy. The
ninth vacancy and others that occur in this time period will be filled later in 2012. The
Police Department generally has the capacity to have four officers at a time in the
Department's Field Training Officer (FTO) Program after they return from the Academy.
This provides sufficient savings in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget to absorb this
unbudgeted cost. It is important to remember that across all general fund departments,
the City budgets for a $200,000 shortfall in expenditures by setting the property tax rate
at a level $200,000 less than needed to fund the budget. Therefore, not all savings are
available to cover other expenses.
Michael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Randy Peck, Personnel, Manager
2
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
Dubuque
AI- America city
2007
TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager FROM: Randy Peck, Personnel Manager f c-3
SUBJECT: Arbitration Award — City of Dubuque and the Dubuque Police Protective
Association
DATE: September 27, 2011
On September 23, 2011, I received the arbitration award issued by Arbitrator Richard
Pegnetter. The arbitrator awarded the Association's wage position of a 2% across -the-
board base wage increase, effective July 1, 2011, and also awarded their proposed
longevity schedule improvement which makes their schedule identical to the longevity
schedule received by employees represented by the Firefighter's Association. The
Arbitrator supported the 2% wage increase based on the fact that the contract
settlement patterns for Police Officers in similar Iowa cities show increases in the range
of 2% or more, and that compensation for Dubuque Police Officers would not be well
served by a zero wage increase when other similar cities are providing some increase.
The total additional cost to finance the award for Fiscal Year 2012 is $129,189. Due to
the number of Patrol Officer vacancies, sufficient funds are available in the Fiscal Year
2012 Police Department budget to finance the award.
The requested action is for the City Council to receive and file the arbitration award.
RP Alb
A
*
* ARBITRATION
* AWARD
*
*
*
* Richard Pegnetter
DUBUQUE POLICE * Arbitrator
PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION * September 23, 2011
*
In the matter of the dispute between
CITY OF DUBUQUE
DUBUQUE, .IOWA
and
An arbitration hearing in the above matter was held in Dubuque, Iowa on September 9, 2011
before the undersigned Arbitrator. During the hearing, both the City, City of Dubuque, and the
Association, Dubuque Police Protective Association, were given full opportunity to provide
evidence and argument. The hearing began at 9:00 am and concluded at approximately 1:00
pm. Neither party elected to file a post- hearing brief.
APPEARANCES:
For the City: Randy Peck - Personnel Manager, City of Dubuque
For the Association: Stephen Juergens - Fuerste, Carew, Juergens & Sudmeier, P.C.
Background. The city of Dubuque is a community of approximately 58,000 residents,
located on the Mississippi River in Northeastern Iowa. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest city in
Iowa. The city has sustained growth and success over the past few years. This success has
been recognized by a range of national publications, with Dubuque garnering accolades like;
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Top Ten Smartest Cities on the Planet, Excellence in Economic Development, 100 Best Places for
Youth, 3rd Best in the U.S. forlob Growth, and Best small places for business. The rate of new
job creation in Dubuque is the highest in Iowa among similar cities.
The parties have had a bargaining relationship since 1976, following the Association's
certification in December of 1975. The Association represents a police unit composed of the
following titles; Patrol Officer, Master Patrol Officer, Corporal, Detective, Identification Officer,
and Sergeant. There are currently 89 officers in the bargaining unit. The agreement covering
the unit expired on June 30 of 2011. The parties had negotiated for several months, and
although a number of items were resolved, the parties were unable to complete an agreement.
Mediation was then invoked under the terms of the Iowa Public Employment Relations Act,
Iowa Code Chapter 20. Mediation was not successful and the parties then sought arbitration,
selecting the undersigned as the sole Arbitrator. The parties agreed to an extension of the
March 15 statutory deadline for arbitration and the hearing was scheduled for September 9,
2011. The parties presented the Arbitrator with final offers on the following mutually agreed,
ISSUES AT IMPASSE:
A. Wages. ARTICLE XXV and ARTICLE XVII. The current agreement provides wage
schedules for several different job titles or ranks for bargaining unit employees. These
schedules establish basic bi- weekly wage rates which begin at Step C, with a bi- weekly
rate of $1842.40, topping out after three Step increases at $2046.24 at Step F for a
patrol officer. The Step structure ranges to a five step schedule for a police sergeant that
tops out at $2620.00 in six Steps. The City proposes no increase in wages for the 2011-
12 contract year. The Association proposes a 2% across the board increase. While the
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parties are ending a three year contract as of June 30, 2011, both parties are proposing
wages or wage increases and other contract issues under a one year agreement for
2011 -12.
As part of the wage issue, the current agreement also provides for a schedule of
longevity increases that range from 1% of regular pay after six years of continuous
service to a 5% increase after 30 years of continuous service. The schedule has five
increments that increase by 1% at each increment. The City proposes no change in the
existing longevity clause. The Association proposes an increase in the longevity
provisions that would provide a 1% increase after five years of continuous service,
rather than six, and an improvement in the schedule by reducing the qualifying years of
continuous service at each succeeding step, ending with a 7 %, rather than the current
5 %, at 25 years of continuous service. This change would replace of the current 30 years
of continuous service for the maximum longevity increment.
B. Sick Leave. ARTICLE Xl. The current agreement provides for sick leave
benefits that include the specified rate of pay for sick leave and the calculation of
accounting for the use of accrued sick leave. The City proposes no change in the existing
sick leave provisions. The Association proposes a new clause to be added to Article Xl.
This clause would require an employee who reported sick for three or more consecutive
work days to provide a doctor's work release, if requested, that would indicate the
employee's suitability to return to work.
OTHER ISSUES. In the parties' formal exchange of Issues in preparation for
arbitration, two other Issues were included. These were Holidays and Grievance
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Procedure. The parties agreed at the hearing to remove Holidays, as they had mutually
determined to add Martin Luther King Day as a new holiday. And during the hearing,
the Association indicated that it was no longer making a proposal related to the
Grievance Procedure. The City had made a proposal for no change regarding the
Grievance Procedure. Consequently, this Issue is not included in the instant arbitration
for a final offer selection. Finally, it should also be noted that, even though the current
contract uses two different ARTICLE numbers for Wages and Longevity, the parties
agreed in a September 21, 2011 conference call, observed by a representative of the
Iowa Public Employment Relations Board, that Wages and Longevity were construed by
the parties as a single "wage" issue for purposes of this arbitration.
ARGUMENTS OF THE PARTIES.
Wages - City. The City contends that there are three primary reasons why their proposal
for no wage increase should be selected. One is the comparison of Dubuque police wages with
other police units in similar Iowa cities. The second is the relative growth of Dubuque police
wages within the economic climate and cost -of- living in Dubuque and Iowa. The third reason is
the comparison of Dubuque police wages with the other bargaining units within the city of
Dubuque. The City submits that the sum of these arguments mitigates against a wage increase
for the 2011 -12 contract year.
Regarding wage comparisons with other Iowa police bargaining units, the City uses a list
of comparison police units in 15 cities of similar size in Iowa. The benchmarks used are Iowa
cities with a population of between 20,000 and 60,000. The list includes; Urbandale, West Des
Moines, Ames, Bettendorf, Ottumwa, Mason City, Clinton, Fort Dodge, Cedar Falls, Marion,
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Ankeny, Burlington, Marshalltown, Muscatine, and Dubuque (City Exhibit 20). The City argues
that at many points on the salary schedules in these comparison police units, Dubuque officer
pay rates are above the average. The City also notes that Dubuque officers usually have a
stronger fringe benefit package than comparable Iowa police units (City Exhibits 23 and 24).
The City submits that police wages in Dubuque have exceeded the cost -of- living increases for
the region since 1967 (City Exhibits 11 and 12). The City argues that an important measure of
its strong comparative wage position for its police force is the high number of applicants the
City consistently receives for any open police positions. However, perhaps the most important
comparisons urged by the City are the comparisons of Dubuque police wages and benefits,
including longevity, with other non - police bargaining units within the city of Dubuque
workforce.
Regarding internal comparisons, the City stresses that none of the other City bargaining
units will get a wage increase for 2011 -12. These employees include units represented by the
Operating Engineers, the Teamsters, the Transit Union, and the Firefighter's Association.
Further, the City contends that, when total benefits are compared across other City bargaining
units, the police fare better than other City employees. These comparisons included education
bonuses, shift premiums, and cumulative vacation schedules, and longevity (City Exhibits 15-
19). The City emphasizes the potential, internal disruption created if the Association's final offer
of a 2% across the board wage increase, plus an improvement in longevity, was awarded to the
police. The City estimates the cost of the Association proposal for increased wages and
longevity at $96,669.78 (City Exhibit 3). With other compensation costs, the City estimates the
Association proposal to represent a 3% increase for 2011 -12. Heightening the City's concern
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about internal equity is the City's view that a tentative agreement was reached prior to
arbitration and that such an agreement would have been for a three year contract, stabilizing
wages for a multi -year period (City Exhibit 4). The Association membership rejected that
tentative agreement. The City felt that this had a negative impact on the bargaining process
and was part of moving the parties into interest arbitration. The City offered extensive
arbitration case precedent to support its claim that arbitrators and fact finders frequently give
great weight to any tentative agreement reached by the parties (City Exhibits 6 -10).
In sum, the City urged that its final offer was the most reasonable, based on both
external police unit comparisons from similar Iowa cities, and internal comparisons with
Dubuque's non - police employees.
Wages — Union.
The Union supports its final -offer of a 2% wage increase for 2011 -12 with data from a
comparison group of Iowa City police units in Iowa. The Association comparison group uses the
15 largest cities based on population. These cities include, in order of population rank; Des
Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City, Waterloo, Iowa City, Council Bluffs, Ames,
Dubuque, West Des Moines, Ankeny, Urbandale, Cedar Falls, Marion, and Bettendorf.
Dubuque ranked 9th in this comparison group (Association Exhibit 2). The Association argues
that it is seeking a wage increase that is reasonable within the comparison group. Using the
concept of "30 year career earnings," the Association submits that the Dubuque police unit
ranks 14thth out of 15 in 30 year career earnings (Association Exhibit 3). The Association also
contends that Dubuque police salaries rank 14th in the comparison group in terms of base and
top salaries (Association Tab 4)). The Association emphasizes that, in the face of this relatively
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low salary ranking, the Dubuque police unit has handled a steadily increasing work Toad, with
calls for service increasing by 26.5% from 2003 to 2011 projections (Association Tab 14). The
Association also notes that several cities in the comparison group have increased police wages
by 2% or more for 2011 (Association "Contracts /Awards" Tab).
In sum, the Association submits that its wage position is supported by basic salary
comparison data from other large cities in Iowa, by overall compensation comparisons, and by
the increasing work load handled by the Dubuque police unit.
Sick Leave - City. The City proposes no change in the current sick leave provisions. The
City contends that the change sought by the Association is now covered by a Police Department
General Order that went into effect on January 1, 2011 (City Exhibit 29). The City urges that,
until the General Order on sick leave is found to be inadequate, no change needs to be
negotiated into the contract.
Sick Leave - Association. The Association argues that the sick leave clause they propose
would be more effective if it was part of the contract, rather than left under a General Order
that could not be grieved. The Association provided no exhibits related to the sick leave
proposal.
DISCUSSION
Iowa Code Chapter 20.22 specifies criteria to guide arbitrators in their decision process
in selecting the most reasonable final offer on each impasse item. These criteria include in
summary fashion; the consideration of past collective bargaining contracts and their history,
wage, hours, and conditions of employment comparisons with other similar public employees,
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the interest and welfare of the public, including the power of the employer to levy taxes and
appropriate funds, and any other relevant factors. These criteria will be considered here.
Wages. The ability of the City to fund a reasonable wage increase is not an issue in this
dispute. Dubuque is obviously a well managed city. As noted earlier, the city of Dubuque has
won recent praise in the national and state media for it economic success in the face of the
fiscal challenges that have appeared in Iowa and across the country. The Dubuque is one of
only two cities in Iowa that have reduced city property taxes in the past ten years (Association
Page 21). The final offer selection here must, therefore, focus on other criteria listed under
Chapter 20.22 to guide the Arbitrator.
The City places great emphasis on the internal equity across all the units of City
employees, including police. While I recognize that these are valuable data in managing the
total City workforce, they cannot be controlling in this dispute for several reasons. One is that
the various City bargaining units represent different types of employment and their contracts
vary. For example, some include education benefits, while others do not (City Exhibit 16). Of
greater significance, the other bargaining units perform different work than police officers and
Chapter 20.22 obviously encourages greater weight be given to wage comparisons with similar
public employees (emphasis added). While they share the same employer, police duties are
not similar to the work performed by most other City employees. As public safety employees,
police and fire units have some similarities in work environment, but the differences prevail
over the similarities. Further, while the City stresses the historic effort in Dubuque to keep
starting or entry level wages the same for both police and fire units, there are important
differences in their employment conditions and benefits, like their work schedules and shift
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premiums, and their rate of vacation accumulation (City Exhibits 16 -19). Consequently, while
given some weight, I do not find the data from other bargaining units within the City as
compelling as comparison data from similar police units in other Iowa cities. In their data from
other Iowa cities, both parties used some form or grouping of larger city comparisons. The
parties have not developed an agreed, consistent group of comparison cities in their past
bargaining history. The comparison groups they presented here are similar and I will draw
analysis from both comparison groups.
When wage comparisons from similar police units across Iowa are examined, these data
show that a wage increase for 2011 -12 is the norm. While some of these increases were
negotiated in 2010 as multi -year agreements, contract settlement patterns for police in similar
cities like Ames, Cedar Falls, Council Bluffs, Iowa City, and West Des Moines show increases in
the range of 2% or more for 2011 (Association Contract Settlements /Awards Tab). In Dubuque,
the parties' tentative agreement included a 2.5% increase in years two and three of the
proposed three year contract (City Exhibit 4). In the context of these data from similar cities,
Dubuque police officers compare well in terms of some aspects of their overall compensation.
They rank near the top of their peers in terms of starting salary (City Exhibit 20). They also
compare well in terms of earned vacation opportunities and holidays (City Exhibits 23 and 24).
Using compensation data from the Association, the police unit does not compare as well. The
Association calculated a 30 year "career earnings" amount for comparison. This figure included
base wage, the value of educational incentive, longevity, uniform allowance, paid holidays,
deferred compensation, and the value of unused sick leave (Association Exhibit 3). The
Association data show that, on the basis of 30 year career earnings, Dubuque police rank 14 of
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15 largest Iowa cities (Association Exhibit 3). This ranking would only improve slightly with a 2%
wage increase for Dubuque officers. Similarly, the Association data show that Dubuque police
rank 14th in the group regarding top salaries, and they move to third rank in base salaries
(Association Tab 4). Dubuque police rank 14 among the largest Iowa cities in overall pension
benefits (Association Tab 5). When all these comparison data from larger Iowa police units are
evaluated, what emerges is generally a pattern of Dubuque being mainly in the middle range of
the comparison groups regarding compensation, occasionally near the top and occasionally
below the mean. However, it seems clear that Dubuque police compensation comparisons
would not be well served by a zero wage increase when other similar cities are providing some
increase. Consequently, I will award below that the final offer of the Association is the most
reasonable of the two choices. This decision is based on the following foundation:
A. Given increases in other police units in comparable cities, a 2 %, across the board
wage increase for the 2011 -12 will sustain the relative compensation position of
Dubuque police. This relative position could be at risk with a zero increase. It should
also be noted here that, while Dubuque police officers have fared well in terms of cost -
of- living data, they are generally reflective of police salary changes in other large Iowa
cities.
B. A 2% wage increase for Dubuque police is under the terms of a one -year contract.
This will permit the parties to thoughtfully approach bargaining for a succeeding, and
possibly, multi -year agreement. In the meantime, a one -year increase of 2% will not
cause trauma in the City's budget for Dubuque police compensation. The parties agree
that the total compensation increase for police, with a 2% wage increase, longevity
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improvement, and other fringe benefit costs would total additional costs of just over
$140,000 in 2011 -12. This should have no discernable impact on the City's anticipated
2012 budget of approximately $109,800.000 (City Exhibit Wages Tab pg. 42). Further,
and as discussed earlier, property taxes which heavily fund the police department are
not anticipated to increase.
C. While the information about the possible, tentative, multi -year agreement the
parties had negotiated was considered by the Arbitrator, that knowledge was made less
instructive for the one -year, 2011 -2012 contract being considered here. The Arbitrator
notes the value other neutrals have accorded tentative agreements. However, here the
playing field changed when the parties were facing final -offer arbitration. The City's
arbitration proposal for a zero increase was not coupled with wage improvement in
years two and three of the contract. Consequently, the Arbitrator was not reviewing
the total, three -year wage picture of the police unit when considering the parties' final -
offers. This puts the City's one -year final -offer a step away from the three -year
tentative agreement in terms of value as compelling evidence in selecting a final -offer.
D. As noted earlier, the importance of internal wage comparisons that do not reflect
similar working conditions and duties is not as significant as comparisons with similar
job titles in similar cities. Internal comparisons might gain some relevance and
importance if the employer is seriously struggling financially to meet all employee
compensation needs in general. Such is not the case here.
The final component of the wage issue in dispute is longevity. Here, the evidence is not
strong in support of the Association's request for improvement of longevity pay for the police
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unit. The current longevity pay schedule for Dubuque officers appears very robust in
comparison with longevity provisions in similar police units (City Exhibit 22). If this component
of wages was to be considered separately, a final -offer award by the Arbitrator in favor of the
Association would be questionable. However, longevity here is entwined with basic wages as a
single issue for the Arbitrator. The weakness of the evidence in support of longevity is not
sufficient to overcome the data in support of a basic wage increase. Consequently, a longevity
increase will be awarded as part of the total wage issue.
Sick Leave . No evidence was presented of either comparison data or problems with
practice under the current General Order regarding physician verification of certain medical
absences. I agree with the City that no issues have developed under the General Order which
was implemented in January 2011. Consequently, the need to include this item in the collective
bargaining contract has not been demonstrated.
Therefore, in accordance with the above DISCUSSION, I hereby make the following
AWARD
1. Wages. ARTICLE XXV and ARTICLE XVII . The final -offer of the Association is selected
as the most reasonable. Wages will be increased by 2% across the board in the
2011 -12 contract and current longevity provisions will be increased as follows:
1% after (5) years of continuous service
2% after (10) years of continuous service
3% after (15) years of continuous service
4% after (20) years of continuous service
7% after (25) years of continuous service
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2. Sick Leave. ARTICLE XI. The final -offer of the City is selected as the most
reasonable. There will be no change in the current sick leave provisions in the 2011 -12
contract.
I certify that the above two Issues at Impasse, Wages and Sick Leave, represent the total
items brought before the Arbitrator. The remaining contract terms will remain
unchanged or as mutually agreed to by the parties prior this arbitration award.
Richard Pegnetter
Arbitrator
Westport, Massachusetts
September 23, 2011
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