Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio, is calling for transparency in the new labor contracts expected to be approved soon by the City Council. DiCiccio says the new set of labor agreements will have a significant impact on the city’s budget through 2016.
“I’ve requested full transparency in these agreements so you can see the impact they will have on you and your family. The proposed budget has $19 million in NEW pay raises, $17 million in a second, additional retirement plan and $12 million in pension spiking (which was promised to end),” wrote DiCiccio. “And there is now talk about raising taxes to pay for these additional costs.”
According to DiCiccio, the state court admonished the Mayor and Council for not previously requesting this information.
On Wednesday, Frank Piccoli, president of AFSCME 2960, wrote to his members, “I have to be honest with you, I hate this package. I feel the city has lied to us the last two years on the economy, has given themselves increases to upper management pay, and had mismanaged city finances. They have misled City Council public employees and the unions. Now they want to balance their mistakes on our backs stripping away union rights as well as pay. We’ve given and given is never enough to get demonized and work harder for less every day.”
Piccolo advised his members that he signed a “tentative agreement with the city on economic proposals at the last hour on Monday, but the agreement in no way states that we have a contract. That decision will be left up toward members on May 2.”
In an effort to gain transparency, DiCiccio sent a letter to the city manager, requesting information that he says is vital. DiCiccio says that he believes that the “most accurate way to measure the true cost of these agreements is to compare the ones coming forward to the ones approved in 2012.”
DiCiccio’s letter reads:
To: Ed Zuercher
Date: April 22, 2014
Re: Labor Contracts
Dear Mr. Zuercher,
As the Mayor and Council near a decision on the 2014 labor contracts, I am requesting the public be given full transparency as to the total cost, command and control of these contracts.
Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper, in her release time ruling, admonished the Mayor and Council for not asking for the total compensation costs and for not fully understanding the true cost versus benefit impact of the 2012 labor contracts. She further maintains the Mayor and Council “abused their discretion” in approving the 2012 contracts.
In light of Judge Cooper’s ruling, and to ensure full transparency and accountability to the public, the council should be provided a complete evaluation of the costs of the 2014 contracts along with a comparison to the costs of the 2012 contracts. To comply with Judge Cooper’s ruling I am requesting answers to the following questions for each individual labor contract before they come to the Mayor and Council for consideration:
1. The aggregate cost of each 2014 contract compared to the aggregate cost of the 2012 contracts,
2. The average compensation per unit member in the 2014 contracts compared to the 2012 contracts,
3. The total cost of merit increases in the 2014 contracts compared to the 2012 contracts,
4. Since longevity is considered a bonus, the aggregate cost of longevity bonuses in the 2014 contracts compared to 2012 contracts (this is total increases not marginal increases),
5. Average days off per unit member in 2014 contracts versus 2012 contracts, and
6. How much pension spiking is permitted in the 2014 contracts compared to the 2012 contracts (pension spiking is any compensation used to calculate pensions above an employee’s salary),
7. Any important command and control features in this agreement, i.e, but not limited to, do the unions require notification, have input or any decision making abilities with overtime assignments? Or any other items the public would find important?
A financial report of these contracts should include, but not be limited to, the above raised questions. The Mayor and Council must have a complete understanding of the economic impacts of the proposed contracts to make the best decisions for the public and the city moving forward. This should be given to the Mayor, Council and the public well ahead of the vote.