Jacksonville: The Florida Times Union

By David Bauerlein, March 15, 2017

Mayor Lenny Curry’s pension-reform drive got a jolt this week when rank-and-file JEA employees from two unions rejected an offer made by the city-owned utility.

Curry needs buy-in from all the unions involved for the city to gain the maximum amount of financial benefit from a half-cent sales tax that voters approved in August for paying down the massive pension debt that is choking city finances.

In votes this week, JEA employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Laborers’ International Union of North America turned down offers made by JEA.

The unions and JEA will return to the bargaining table next week to try again for a deal.

While those votes were setbacks for Curry, he got strong backing from the International Association of Fire Fighters. In voting that wrapped up Wednesday, 77 percent of union members supported the tentative contract for firefighters through the rank of captain. The contract for district and battalion chiefs sailed through with 86 percent in favor.

Curry wants to close all three of the city’s pension plans — police and firefighters, corrections officers, and general employees — to future hires by placing them into 401(k) style investment accounts. Closing the pension plans will fulfill a requirement of state law for collecting a half-cent sales tax starting around 2031 to help pay down the city’s pension debt.

So far, Curry has gotten union buy-in for closing the Police and Firefighter Pension Plan and the Corrections Officer Pension Plan to new hires, clearing the way for the city to use the future sales tax for paying down pension debt in those plans.

The General Employees Pension Plan has more moving pieces.

Four groups represent city of Jacksonville employees who are in the General Employees Pension Plan: the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the Jacksonville Supervisors Association; the Communications Workers of America; and Laborers’ International Union of North America. City workers in bargaining units represented by those unions have all signed off on Curry’s pension reform push.

But it’s a different story in terms of JEA employees, who have their own bargaining units separate from units for city workers.

The organizations representing JEA employees in the General Employees Pension Plan are AFSCME, the Professional Employees Association, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the Laborers’ International Union of North America.

Unless all the bargaining units for both the city and JEA employees agree that future hires will not go into the General Employee Pension Plan, the city will not be able to close that pension plan and use the half-cent sales tax to help pay down its debt, which accounts for about $900 million of the city’s $2.85 billion of unfunded pension liability.

Ronnie Burris, business manager for the local chapter of LIUNA, said he is optimistic that another round of talks will produce an accord that members of his union can support.

He said in a meeting Wednesday with JEA administrators, he told them that “whatever it takes to get this resolved, we’re going to get it resolved.” He said sticking points involve compensation, not the push to stop offering pension to future hires.

Valerie Guiterrez of the IBEW local representing JEA employees likewise said her union wants to continue bargaining with JEA to get an agreement enacted. She said JEA sought to end negotiations last month by making an offer that the union then brought to members without a recommendation on whether they should approve it. She said the main concerns are compensation and the push to stop offering pensions to future hires.

JEA did not respond to questions about the status of collective bargaining negotiations.

The support Wednesday by the International Association of Fire Fighters follows similar approval last month by the Fraternal Order of Police. Those unions represent employees who are covered by the Police and Fire Pension Fund.

The Fraternal Order of Police is the sole union representing members in the Corrections Officers Pension Plan. They voted Monday to accept the city’s offer, satisfying the requirement for closing the Corrections Officers Pension Plan to new hires.