Labor deal awaits city approval

Kalispell union ratifies contract

Kalispell's unionized city employees ratified a three-year tentative contract on Aug. 15.

The Kalispell City Council expects to vote on that proposed contract on Sept. 4.

And in a replay of conflicting interpretations that helped drag out talks since February 2006, the city administration and union interpret one part of the tentative agreement differently.

Some 43 members of Local No. 256 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees voted to support the tentative agreement on Aug. 15, union representative Timm Twardoski said.

Local No. 256 has 73 members.

Negotiations have been tense, including an informational picket in front of City Hall this summer. The proposed three-year contract would be retroactive to July 1, 2006.

On Monday, City Manager Jim Patrick briefed the City Council about the tentative agreement at a workshop session, at which no votes were legally allowed.

Both sides agreed that many of Kalispell's city employees were - and still are - underpaid when compared to similar jobs elsewhere.

Although raises will differ from worker to worker, Patrick said the employees would average 16 to 18 percent increases in their wages over three years. Even then, those employees will - on the average - be paid $1.50 to $2 an hour below their counterparts elsewhere, he said.

Two major conflicts in the negotiations were how to calculate longevity pay and a matrix-like pay scale used to set up wages to each individual job.

The employees originally argued that the pay matrix - tied to an individual's training, evaluations by supervisors and other factors - was too complicated to understand, while favoring some jobs over others.

The pay matrix has been adjusted so employees now can live with it, Twardoski said.

For years, city employees have been receiving longevity pay at the rate of an extra 5 cents an hour per year. For example, someone who has worked five years for the city would receive an extra 25 cents per hour on top of his or her standard hourly wage.

The city administration and union had split over a proposal to raise that longevity rate to 10 cents an hour per year. The administration wanted the 10 cents to apply only to the last two years of the three-year contract. The union originally wanted the 10 cents to apply to each year of an employee's tenure.

According to Twardoski, the compromise is the 5-cent-per-hour-per-year longevity pay would apply to all years prior to the current contract, while the 10-cent annual longevity pay would apply to the new contract's three years, plus all subsequent years.

But Patrick disagreed with Twardoski's interpretation, saying that nothing - including the terms governing longevity pay - is guaranteed beyond the expiration of the three-year contract.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com