(a) Subject to Section A8.590-5(g), disputes or controversies pertaining to wages, hours, benefits or terms and conditions of employment which remain unresolved after good faith negotiations between the City and County of San Francisco, its departments, boards and commissions and a recognized employee organization representing Firefighters, Police Officers or Deputy Sheriffs shall be submitted to a three-member Board of Arbitrators upon the declaration of an impasse either by the authorized representative of the City and County of San Francisco or by the recognized employee organization involved in the dispute.
(b) No later than January 20 of any year in which bargaining on an MOU takes place, representatives designated by the City and County of San Francisco and representatives of the recognized employee organization involved in the dispute shall each select and appoint one arbitrator to the Board of Arbitrators. The third member of the Arbitration Board shall be selected by agreement between the City and County of San Francisco and the employee organization, and shall serve as the neutral arbitrator and Chairperson of the Board. In the event that the City and County of San Francisco and the recognized employee organization involved in the dispute cannot agree upon the selection of the neutral arbitrator within ten (10) days from the date that either party has notified the other that it has declared an impasse, either party may then request the State Mediation and Conciliation Service of the State of California Department of Industrial Relations to provide a list of seven (7) persons who are qualified and experienced as labor arbitrators. If the City and County and the employee organization cannot agree within three (3) days after receipt of such list on one of seven (7) persons to act as the neutral arbitrator, they shall alternately strike names from the list of nominees until one name remains and that person shall then become the neutral arbitrator and Chairperson of the Arbitration Board.
(c) Any arbitration proceeding convened pursuant to this article shall be conducted in conformance with, subject to, and governed by Title 9 of Part 3 of the California Code of Civil Procedure. The Arbitration Board shall hold public hearings, receive evidence from the parties and cause a transcript of the proceedings to be prepared. The Arbitration Board, in the exercise of its discretion, may meet privately with the parties, mediate or arbitrate the issues in dispute. The Arbitration Board may also adopt such other procedures that are designed to encourage an agreement between the parties, expedite the arbitration hearing process, or reduce the costs of the arbitration process.
(d) In the event no agreement is reached prior to the conclusion of the arbitration hearings, the Arbitration Board shall direct each of the parties to submit, within such time limit as the Arbitration Board may establish, a last offer of settlement on each of the remaining issues in dispute. The Arbitration Board shall decide each issue by majority vote by selecting whichever last offer of settlement on that issue it finds most nearly conforms to those factors traditionally taken into consideration in the determination of wages, hours, benefits and terms and conditions of public and private employment, including, but not limited to: changes in the average consumer price index for goods and services; the wages, hours, benefits and terms and conditions of employment of employees performing similar services; the wages, hours, benefits and terms and conditions of other employees in the City and County of San Francisco; and the formulas provided for in this Charter for the establishment and maintenance of wages, hours, benefits and terms and conditions of employment. The impartial Arbitration Board shall also consider the financial condition of the City and County of San Francisco and its ability to meet the costs of the decision of the Arbitration Board.
(e) After reaching a decision, the Arbitration Board shall mail or otherwise deliver a true copy of its decision to the parties. The decision of the Arbitration Board shall not be publicly disclosed and shall not be binding until ten (10) days after it is delivered to the parties. During that ten (10) day period the parties shall meet privately, attempt to resolve their differences, and by mutual agreement amend or modify the decision of the Arbitration Board. At the conclusion of the ten (10) day period, which may be extended by mutual agreement between the parties, the decision of the Arbitration Board, as it may be modified or amended by the parties, shall be publicly disclosed. Except as limited by Section A8.590-7, the arbitration decision, as it may be modified or amended by the parties, shall supersede any and all other relevant formulas, procedures and provisions of this Charter relating to wages, hours, benefits and terms and conditions of employment; and it shall be final and binding on the parties to the dispute, including the City and County of San Francisco, its commissions, departments, officers and employees. No other actions or procedural steps to confirm or approve the decision of the Arbitration Board shall be permitted or required; provided, however, that the City and County of San Francisco, its designated officers, employees and representatives and the recognized employee organization involved in the dispute shall take whatever action that is necessary to carry out and effectuate the decision of the Arbitration Board.
(f) The expenses of any arbitration proceedings convened pursuant to these Charter sections, including the fee for the services of the chairperson of the Arbitration Board, the costs of preparation of the transcript of the proceedings and other costs related to the conduct of the proceedings, as determined by the Arbitration Board, shall be borne equally by the parties. All other expenses which the parties may incur are to be borne by the party incurring such expenses.
(g) The impasse resolution procedures set forth in Section A8.590-5 shall not apply to:
1. any dispute or controversy concerning the San Francisco Police Department's crowd control policies;
2. any procedures or practices relating to the processing and disposition of complaints handled by the Office of Citizens' Complaints; or matters relating to disciplinary procedures that apply to disciplinary actions involving members of the San Francisco Police Department and Fire Department covered by these sections; or matters covered by Charter section A8.343; and
3. any rule, policy, procedure, order or practice which relates or pertains to the purpose, goals or requirements of a consent decree, or which is necessary to ensure compliance with Federal, State or local anti-discrimination laws, ordinances or regulations.
In the event the City acts on a matter it has determined relates to or pertains to a consent decree, or in the event the City acts to ensure compliance with Federal, State, or local anti-discrimination laws, ordinances or regulations, and the affected employee organization disputes said determination, that determination or action shall not be subject to arbitration.
(h) An agreement reached between the designated representatives for the City and the representatives of a recognized employee organization that is submitted to the Board of Supervisors on or before May 15, or a decision of the Arbitration Board that is submitted to the Board of Supervisors on or before May 10, or May 15 if the parties waive the 10-day period between the Board's decision and public disclosure of the decision, shall be effective on July 1 of the same calendar year upon adoption by the Board of Supervisors. An agreement submitted to the Board of Supervisors after May 15, or a decision of the Arbitration Board that is submitted to the Board of Supervisors after May 10, or May 15 if the parties waive the 10-day period between the Board's decision and public disclosure of the decision, shall become effective no earlier than July 1 of the next calendar year upon approval of the Board of Supervisors. But an agreement reached during the term of an existing memorandum of understanding that results in a net reduction, or results in no net increase, in the cost to the City, during the current fiscal year, of existing economic provisions in the existing memorandum of understanding may become effective at any time upon approval by the Board of Supervisors. Economic provisions include, but are not limited to, wages, premium pay rates, overtime, any employer pickup of the employees' retirement contribution, paid time off, and other compensation.
(Amended March 2004; Proposition A, Approved 11/5/2009)