Monthly Archives: December 2010

Union provisions need to be changed

A present provision in the Memorandum of Understanding between the city of Manhattan Beach and the Manhattan Beach Police Officers Association requires mutual agreement on changes in the city’s Employee/Employer Relations Resolution.

In effect, the city is unable, without agreement from POA, to meet its legal responsibilities mandated by state law regarding the determination of legislative and managerial policies. These policies include determining the composition of bargaining units; selection of organizations to represent employees; use of city resources by employee unions; exclusion of high-level managers and confidential employees as union members; and procedures for resolving impasses.

In essence, the POA could dissipate managerial authority by legislating a larger number of smaller bargaining units, creating administrative nightmares, multiple time-consuming negotiations, encouraging end runs to influence elected officials, and union gamesmanship to achieve the highest settlement agreements.

In addition, it creates the specter of managers as union members negotiating agreements across the table with their union employees and fostering divisiveness and competition among managers for scarce resources. Furthermore, the POA is placed to promote processes that remove managerial discretion in the resolution of contract disputes.

These are among the realities that have weakened management authority in the public sector making it the leading cause of the inordinate increases in public employee wages, pension and retirement benefits. … Continue reading →