BOROUGH OF RAMSEY
BOROUGH OF RAMSEY BOROUGH OF RAMSEY
session at which Mr. Nalbandian, Mr. Botta, and I participated, on that very day, Mr. Heller telephoned the shop steward of the white collar unit and left a phone message on her voice mail telling her no matter what, don’t settle your contract with the Mayor. Don’t do it. Fortunately, she didn’t listen to Mr. Heller’s instructions. Cooler heads prevailed and at that mediation session, we worked out a settlement of the labor negotiations. Thanks to the help of Mr. Botta and Mr. Nalbandian. These indeed were painful negotiations. You may very well have a much easier time at the next go-around. I won’t be here to participate. You might have a very easy time the next time, but I hope for the sake of the taxpayers and residents of this community that whoever takes over those negotiations, keeps in mind the big picture. I have nothing further. H. BOROUGH ATTORNEY – Peter A. Scandariato, Esq. No comments. I. BOROUGH ADMINISTRATOR – Nicholas C. Saros The Borough has received a certificate of achievement from JIF for completing l00% of the 2004 safety incentive program and maintaining an incident rate below 2.0. For the last three years, we have achieved our goals and it is a credit to all of the employees. J. BOROUGH CLERK – Meredith Bendian No comments. VIII. PUBLIC COMMENT Gillian Buonanno, representing the Library Union, stated they came here for one simple reason, to thank Councilman Ratto, Councilman Heller, and Councilman Nalbandian and Councilwoman O’Brien for hearing their concerns this past week. The Mayor just took the gloves off and I have to address the issue. If you are truly concerned about the finances of this town, why did you spend over $70,000 on a labor lawyer rather than compensating loyal employees? What is your answer? Mayor Muti..My answer is this. You did get an OPRA request and you got copies of the invoices. Not all of that money was for labor negotiations. In fact, the majority of it was for other personnel issues which I cannot get involved with discussing, because of the confidential nature. Fifteen thousand dollars was spent in the negotiations with the library union, but if you will recall, and if you looked at your invoices, $500.00 of that was spent in 2003. We, Ms. Rennie (President of the Library Board of Trustees) and I, conducted most of the early negotiations in person without benefit of counsel. Indeed, it was our goal to put extra money in the pockets of library employees rather than pay for legal counsel. Indeed, Emily Rennie and I met with every member of the Library employees. We met in late 2003 and laid out a plan, a proposal, to you that would have instituted a step system of compensation that would have made the changes in the health benefits but would have provided you far more compensation than you finally signed for. That proposal was put to a vote of your membership and was defeated by just one vote. I think you came back to us saying that yes, you wanted the pay increases, that was good but you still were not going to change your health benefits. Six months later, Ms. Rennie and I in June met with all of the employees once again and we said, all right we are going to give you all of those pay raises that we have proposed plus we are going to give each member of the Library Union who gets family health benefits, $2,000.00 in a flexible spending account to cover any out of pocket costs. The change in health benefits would not have resulted in any more than $2,000 in expenses and probably would have resulted in far less. We offered that to you in June of 2004 before we had incurred very much in the way of legal expenses. 8
We gave you a time period in which to accept that. You did not accept that and instead you decided to change unions, which is your prerogative. That caused a delay until the new union got certified. We began negotiations all over again with the new union. We had to start from scratch at their insistence. We had to go through the mediation process. All of which requires legal help because of those dealings with the state agencies and finally, after spending $15,000 in legal fees, we ended up with a settlement today. A settlement that on average is $3,000 less per employee than what Emily Rennie and I had offered more than a year and a half ago. I can prove it to you in the figures. If you like, I will do so. I will respond to Gillian Buonanno’s letter in writing and I will show you the figures that prove that outright. Again, your analysis of the legal expense attributable to negotiations with the unions is off the mark. Cathleen Toomey…We came here in good faith to thank the council people who helped us and you have just put such a flaw on this whole settlement that we made. I don’t believe you have any respect for us and I don’t believe that you care one way or another whether we are happy employees or not. I will be very happy that you are not running for Mayor. Mayor Muti…Thank you. Jane Messenger, 213 East Main Street, maybe it would be a good idea to bring in an unbiased person to look at other health plans and maybe set up a committee with people from the Council as well as the unions to look at those plans. Maybe we could share in some substantial savings to the Borough and maybe better benefits to the employees, as well. Mayor Muti…Thank you. In the contract that both you and the library union signed, there is a provision that permits the Borough to change to another health plan that provides substantially the same benefits; the State or other health plan, if you read your contract which I know because I wrote the language. Either the State health benefits plan or other insurance plan that provides substantially similar benefits. Your statement is well taken and we should always periodically review the ability to get a better deal with someone else. One of the things that we have to guard against, Jane, and that is, not taking an offer from an insurance company that gives you a low ball figure the first year and then blows you out of the water because they will never guarantee it over the long run. They have to look at the risk history for the unit and things like that and they will say, let’s get a foot in the door. Let’s low ball you the first year. We have had a long-term relationship with Blue Cross/ Blue Shield. I don’t want to go with an outfit that does not have the stability that BC/BS does. That is one of the things we have to be sure about. Many towns are in a bind because they went with a company or they contributed to the Bergen County Joint Insurance Fund and ended up costing a lot more than anticipated. Your point is well taken and something that we should consider to review periodically. Gillian Buonanno….We came here to say thank you and you just put a bitter taste in our mouth and I am sorry that you had to do that because we really wanted to make a fresh start. Just like your comments tonight, it is impossible to make a fresh start. There is no respect for us. It is very obvious and you leave us no choice. We do what we do because we are professionals but we know that we have no support. Cathleen Toomey….I have left messages for all the councilmembers and I did not hear back from any of them. 9
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session at which Mr. Nalbandian, Mr. Botta, and I participated, on that very day, Mr.<br />
Heller telephoned the shop steward of the white collar unit and left a phone message on<br />
her voice mail telling her no matter what, don’t settle your contract with the Mayor.<br />
Don’t do it. Fortunately, she didn’t listen to Mr. Heller’s instructions. Cooler heads<br />
prevailed and at that mediation session, we worked out a settlement of the labor<br />
negotiations. Thanks to the help of Mr. Botta and Mr. Nalbandian. These indeed were<br />
painful negotiations. You may very well have a much easier time at the next go-around.<br />
I won’t be here to participate. You might have a very easy time the next time, but I hope<br />
for the sake of the taxpayers and residents of this community that whoever takes over<br />
those negotiations, keeps in mind the big picture. I have nothing further.<br />
H. <strong>BOROUGH</strong> ATTORNEY – Peter A. Scandariato, Esq. No comments.<br />
I. <strong>BOROUGH</strong> ADMINISTRATOR – Nicholas C. Saros<br />
The Borough has received a certificate of achievement from JIF for completing l00% of<br />
the 2004 safety incentive program and maintaining an incident rate below 2.0. For the<br />
last three years, we have achieved our goals and it is a credit to all of the employees.<br />
J. <strong>BOROUGH</strong> CLERK – Meredith Bendian No comments.<br />
VIII. PUBLIC COMMENT<br />
Gillian Buonanno, representing the Library Union, stated they came here for one simple reason, to<br />
thank Councilman Ratto, Councilman Heller, and Councilman Nalbandian and Councilwoman<br />
O’Brien for hearing their concerns this past week. The Mayor just took the gloves off and I have to<br />
address the issue. If you are truly concerned about the finances of this town, why did you spend<br />
over $70,000 on a labor lawyer rather than compensating loyal employees? What is your answer?<br />
Mayor Muti..My answer is this. You did get an OPRA request and you got copies of the invoices.<br />
Not all of that money was for labor negotiations. In fact, the majority of it was for other personnel<br />
issues which I cannot get involved with discussing, because of the confidential nature. Fifteen<br />
thousand dollars was spent in the negotiations with the library union, but if you will recall, and if<br />
you looked at your invoices, $500.00 of that was spent in 2003. We, Ms. Rennie (President of the<br />
Library Board of Trustees) and I, conducted most of the early negotiations in person without benefit<br />
of counsel. Indeed, it was our goal to put extra money in the pockets of library employees rather<br />
than pay for legal counsel. Indeed, Emily Rennie and I met with every member of the Library<br />
employees. We met in late 2003 and laid out a plan, a proposal, to you that would have instituted a<br />
step system of compensation that would have made the changes in the health benefits but would<br />
have provided you far more compensation than you finally signed for. That proposal was put to a<br />
vote of your membership and was defeated by just one vote. I think you came back to us saying that<br />
yes, you wanted the pay increases, that was good but you still were not going to change your health<br />
benefits. Six months later, Ms. Rennie and I in June met with all of the employees once again and<br />
we said, all right we are going to give you all of those pay raises that we have proposed plus we are<br />
going to give each member of the Library Union who gets family health benefits, $2,000.00 in a<br />
flexible spending account to cover any out of pocket costs. The change in health benefits would not<br />
have resulted in any more than $2,000 in expenses and probably would have resulted in far less. We<br />
offered that to you in June of 2004 before we had incurred very much in the way of legal expenses.<br />
8
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