(a) Initial Hearings. The Arbitration Panel shall hold its first hearings not less than twenty days prior to the expiration date of the existing employment contract.
(b) Time and Place of Hearing. The hearing site for the arbitration proceedings shall be located within the City. The Panel shall hold hearings at such times and places as agreed to by the parties for the purpose of developing those facts and additional arguments which the parties may desire to present or which the Panel may require. Each of the parties may invite to such hearings such members, employees, representatives and staff as each may desire, who shall be provided with proper identification.
(c) Conduct of the Hearing.
(1) The Panel shall give the parties a full and fair hearing, including an opportunity to present evidence in support of their claims, and an opportunity to present their case in person, by counsel or by other representatives as they may elect.
(2) The record of the hearing shall include all documents, written statements and exhibits which may be submitted. Each party may make a stenographic record. The Panel shall, in the absence of agreement of the parties, have authority to make whatever reasonable rules are necessary for the conduct of an orderly hearing. In the formulation of such rules, the Panel shall be governed by the policies and procedures of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service's Arbitration Service Program, Part 1404, Chapter XII of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The Panel shall have the authority to limit the number of witnesses which the parties may call in support of their respective positions on any issue before the Panel, when, in the judgment of the Panel, it is necessary to the expeditious inquiry into the dispute.
(3) The Panel or any of its members may, at the hearing, call as witnesses such members, employees and representatives of the parties as may be necessary, and may participate in the examination of witnesses for the purpose of expediting the hearings or eliciting material facts. The Panel may also request the parties to produce any evidence which the Panel deems relevant to the issue before it.
(4) The hearings may be conducted informally. The receipt of evidence at the hearing need not be governed by statutory or common law rules of evidence. Any written evidence to be presented without testimony shall be submitted to the opposite side seven days prior to the hearing.
(5) In order to encourage frank discussions between the parties, during negotiations, those conversations which occurred and proposals made during such negotiations shall not be referred to in connection with the presentation of any issue to the Panel, except as the parties agree otherwise.
(6) If briefs or other documents are to be filed upon completion of the hearing, the Panel will allow five days to submit written briefs or other documentary material requested or required by the Panel and/or other documentary material that either party to the proceedings may want to submit. If briefs or other documents are to be filed, the hearing shall be declared closed as of the final date set by the Panel for filing with the Panel. The time limit within which the Panel is required to render its decision shall commence to run, in the absence of other agreement by the parties, upon the closing of the hearings.
(d) Decisions of the Panel. All decisions of the Panel shall be in writing and shall set forth the facts and reasons for the Panel's conclusions with sufficient specificity to enable the parties to understand and implement the Panel's decision. All matters presented to the Panel for its determination shall be decided by a majority vote of the members of the Panel. The Panel, in reaching its decision, shall not compromise the final offers of each party and shall select the final offer of either the City or the Union as provided in this subsection. The final offers not agreed to shall be divided into two categories, namely economic and noneconomic, as provided in Exhibit "A," following the text of this chapter. The Panel shall consider all of the economic final offers on an issue by issue basis and all of the noneconomic final offers on a package by package basis. The decision of the Panel shall be final and binding on the parties. The Panel shall render its decision in writing to both parties not more than ten days after the close of the hearings or ten days after the time for filing briefs and/or additional material has expired.
(e) Criteria for Decision of the Panel. The Panel shall decide the dispute by selecting the most reasonable, in its judgment, of the final offers submitted by the parties, giving due weight to those factors listed below that are judged relevant for the resolution of the specific dispute and no others:
(1) The lawful authority of the employer;
(2) Stipulations of the parties;
(3) The interest and welfare of the public, the ability of the City to finance economic adjustments and the effect of such adjustments on the normal standard of City services, the current status of employment in the geographical area and of City employees;
(4) Comparison of the wages, hours and conditions of employment of the employees involved in the arbitration proceeding with the wages, hours and conditions of employment of other public employees performing similar services in public employment in comparable communities;
(5) The overall compensation presently received by the employees, including direct wage compensation, overtime pay, vacations, holidays and other excused time, insurance and pensions, medical and hospitalization benefits, continuity and stability of employment, and all other benefits received. In presenting evidence with regard to overtime, the City will only present evidence as to the last four years and will do so on a year-by-year basis.
(6) Changes in any of the foregoing circumstances during the pendency of the arbitration proceedings;
(7) Any economic and noneconomic issues already agreed to by the parties during negotiations and the cost thereof; and
(8) The entire economic cost to the City for both union and all other City employees which would result from the current union negotiations, including the arbitration decision.
(Ord. 88-172. Passed 5-16-88.)