Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Negotiations between the Local 71 workers’ union and the Haines Borough are about to begin, and local union representative Tom Brice said members have already identified “five or six real big issues” they want to address aside from compensation.

Brice wouldn’t say what those issues are, but said some have to do with clarifying language that has been interpreted differently by various managers and interim managers who’ve worked for the municipality since the current contract was approved in July 2013.

 Asked if the union would be pushing for higher wages, Brice said: “That’s the whole purpose.”

 The borough’s negotiating team, set by interim manager Brad Ryan, will be Ryan, Mayor Jan Hill, chief fiscal officer Jila Stuart and assembly member Mike Case, who also chairs the assembly’s Personnel Committee.

 Ryan said it is his understanding the assembly does not have to approve the makeup of the negotiating team.

Assembly member Margaret Friedenauer said she was initially concerned about the team being set without assembly approval, because the group had approved the team before prior negotiations. Friedenauer dropped the issue because the contract will ultimately have to come before the entire assembly for approval.

 Brice said the union’s bargaining team hasn’t yet been set. Last time, its representatives were Brice, Cathy Keller, Scott Bradford, Jane Clark, Phil Benner and Jason Rettinger.

  Brice said he’s been getting “quite a bit of feedback” from union members in the wake of assembly member Case’s proposal to hike clerk Julie Cozzi’s salary by $15,000.

 “As valuable as Ms. Cozzi is, the people who make sure the toilets flush and the roads are clear and arrest the bad guys are just as important,” Brice said. “I think the concern is that the people who provide the borough services to the public need to be recognized as important assets of the community as well.”

 When the assembly accepted the current contract in July 2013, it approved raises and benefits for borough employees that on average were expected to cost an additional $165,000 per year over the subsequent three years.

That approval came after the budget cycle, meaning after setting the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, an extra $165,000 had to be worked in. Some assembly members weren’t happy about that.

Having information about personnel costs during the budget cycle is critical, former assembly member Dave Berry said, and former assembly member Norm Smith asked some revision be written into code that the negotiations take place before the budget cycle.

The current contract stipulates negotiations cannot begin before Feb. 1.

 Chief fiscal officer Stuart said changing the date may be something under negotiation in the new contract.

 Stuart, who said this will be at least her third time negotiating on behalf of borough management, tries to be as impartial as possible. “We’re dealing with limited resources. If we had unlimited resources, I imagine it would be much easier to negotiate,” she said.

 Interim manager Ryan said he hopes the two sides will hold their first meeting in February.