Today Albuquerque's Labor Management Relations Board was scheduled to meet for the first time since December 2009. The two sitting members--Justin Lesky, Esq., the labor representative, and Barbara Stephenson, the management representative--did convene the meeting. However, under the Labor Board's Rules, all three members are required for a quorum, so it could not take any action today, although everyone present was allowed to speak--and speak they did, largely to vent quite a bit of simmering frustration.
Ms. Stephenson, appointed on October 26, 2010, opened the meeting with an apology to all, and a brief history of the Board's recent efforts to appoint a third party neutral. She explained the difficulty of identifying persons who are acceptable to both sides yet also able and willing to serve on a volunteer and largely unpaid labor board. here, the two sitting members had ultimately agreed upon and received agreement to serve by George Bach, Esq., with Bach and Garcia, LLC (from who I, incidentally sublet an office). However, in light of Mr. Bach's pending litigation against the City, Ms. Stephenson subsequently withdrew her recommendation, although his litigation did not concern labor matters . Ms. Stephenson assured the members of the audience that she still retained complete confidence in Mr. Bach's ethical and practical ability to perform his duties and responsibilities as a neutral. Rather, for her the issue was one of public perception, which accords with the general principles of neutrality. She indicated that although she had some discussions with undisclosed City representatives, it was ultimately her decision to withdraw her recommendation.
Mr. Lesky, who was appointed approximately a year ago, then provided the audience greater historical background for the purpose of dispelling any notions that the Board has been engaged in "nefarious" or improper acts related to the appointment of Mr. Bach. Mr. Lesky described the steps taken by him and the prior management representative, Tom Stahl, Esq., and then by him and Ms. Stephenson. He also explained that then-Chief Administrative Officer David Campbell had sent a letter to the Board in early March of this year urging the Board to obtain a third member or the City might take "other measures." Thereafter, the Board attended meetings with the City Attorney's office for the purpose of "brainstorming" names for the third party neutral. Mr. Lesky expressed concern that it might be more difficult to obtain a willing neutral in light of the negative publicity Mr. Bach encountered, and he also expressed concerns about the City's involvement, if any, in the revocation of the recommendation for Mr. Bach.
The Board then opened the floor to public comments. Several union representatives commented, and the weight of their sentiments were, not very surprisingly under the circumstances, that they were "disappointed," and "disheartened." Some used feistier language, and imputed ill-motives to the City, which will no doubt be reported in tomorrow's Journal.
The speakers included Rick Walker with AFSCME Local 1888, Andrew Padilla with AFSCME Local 3022, Debra Naldi, with the Albuquerque Firefighters' Association, and Rocky Gutierrez with AFSCME Council 18. Also commenting was area attorney Paul Livingston, who represents the Albuquerque Transportation Union, and also a number of individual City employees who have pending prohibited practices on file against the City.
All of the representatives making public comment have a number of matters pending before the Board, and some of these pending matters are several years old. The Union representatives are also concerned that they are now entering into collective bargaining negotiations with the City. Specifically, they are worried that without a functioning Board there will be no forum to hear complaints about bad faith bargaining or other irregularities.
Mr. Livingston raised his concerns about these matters and also a pending Representation Petition that he has previously filed. Mr. Livingston also asserts the Board members' meetings with the City have violated the state Open Meetings Act. Because public comments were limited to three minutes pursuant to the duly published agenda, Mr. Livingston was unable to speak his full piece and he was asked to leave by City Security.
Andrew Padilla for AFSCME Council 18 and Mr. Livingston also expressed concerns about the City's involvement in the revocation of the recommendation for Mr. Bach, particularly in light of the recent Court of Appeals decision, City of Albuquerque v. Juan B. Montoya,Case No. 28,846 (Aug. 12, 2010), suggesting that the composition of a labor board must be free from undue influence and manipulation by the public employer.
Finally, at least one representative, Mr. Padilla, likened the situation in Albuquerque to that in Wisconsin and Ohio. All-in-all, the meeting called to mind the timeliness and need Dr. T. Zane Reeve's May 6, 2010 seminar, "Working Together: The Future of Public Employee Collective Bargaining in New Mexico."
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