Title
Report Regarding a Resolution Approving a Professional Services Agreement with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore in an Amount Not to Exceed $100,000 for Labor Relations Consulting Services, and authorizing the City Manager to execute the agreement. (Leah Lockhart, Human Resources Director)
label
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends that Council approve a professional services agreement with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore in an amount not to exceed $100,000 for labor relations consulting services, and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement.
Body
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The City's full-time and permanent part-time workforce is organized into seven (7) represented bargaining units, and the City maintains collective bargaining agreements with each group regarding wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment. On July 1, 2020 the agreements with four of the City's bargaining units will expire. Therefore, staff recommends beginning negotiations for a successor agreement with each group no later than November, 2019 in order to ensure timely completion. In previous years, the City has either hired a third-party consultant to serve as the City's chief negotiator during bargaining, or the Human Resources Director has served in this role. In light of concurrent strategic priorities underway in the Human Resources Department and current staff capacity, and staff proposes utilizing a combination of consultants and internal staff to conduct and support the labor negotiations process.
Staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for labor relations consulting services, which includes serving as chief negotiator as assigned, advising on bargaining strategy and technical matters related to labor and employment law, assisting with development of proposal language, and performing necessary research in support of negotiations. The consultant would serve as the chief negotiator for three of the four groups, and the Human Resources Director would lead ...
Click here for full text