Working Together for Public Service:Chapt 3 Snap

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Working Together for Public Service

Snapshot: PORTLAND, MAINE

Hadlock Field is Portland, Maine's most visible example of the benefits of labor-management cooperation. The city wanted to build a baseball stadium to attract a minor league team, but it did not have the $8-$10 million other cities spent to build their ballparks. So management challenged city workers to build it themselves. And they did -- at a cost of only $2.5 million and in record time. Work began in August 1993, and the stadium was ready for opening day 1994, despite the severity of the intervening winter.

This feat would not have been possible a decade ago when the city's labor-management relations were characterized, at best, as confrontational.

Portland's labor-management strife began in 1981, when the city was grappling with economic hard times. At that time, the Parks and Public Works Departments were merged, 48 pieces of heavy equipment were sold, and 38 percent or 128 employees of the city's Department of Public Works were laid off.

"The memory of that time will never leave me," said Jim Pritchard, president of AFSCME Local 481, who had the unpleasant task for telling many of his co-workers they no longer had a job. "It affects how this department works to this day."[9]

When a similar budget crunch arose in 1990, City Manager Bob Ganley took a different approach. Ganley sought to work with the unions to find ways to work smarter, to reduce spending and the size of the workforce. As a first step, a 26-person labor-management committee was formed that included an equipment operator, a working foreman, an assistant city manager, a secretary, an arborist, an engineer, and the head of the department as well as Pritchard. The joint committee prioritized issues, studied them in subcommittees and brainstormed new ideas leading to cost savings and increased efficiencies.

For example, the city achieved a 10 percent reduction in positions with no layoffs and workers actually received pay raises and benefit improvements. Taxes decreased four years in a row, yet service levels were maintained.

We've been able to move away from an adversarial relationship to more of a team concept," said Robert Giampetruzzi, Parks and Public Works employee of the year and Local 481 vice president. "There's no more `us' and `them'," added 30-year veteran Joey Esposito.[9]

The city's cooperative labor-management efforts have received the strong backing of Mayor Philip John Dawson, who told the Task Force: "Workers work beyond the work order just because it's the way to do the job right. We felt like the private sector was taking advantage of the city. We could do it better if workers do their work well. And that reflects well on us as elected officials. It makes it easier to run again for office."

For many Local 481 members, the new relationship with management took some getting used to. City Manager Ganley did his fair share to improve labor-management relations by holding several meetings with individual workers. "The rank-and-file had to hear it from me," said Ganley, who worked his way up through the ranks. "I understand that if you want to know where to save money, you ask the employees. But they have to understand that if you want a stake in the decision-making process, you have to take responsibility."[9]

This mantra of cooperation and mutual respect became the key to implementing the labor-management committee's specific innovations, such as a calendar of city services. This calendar was developed to alert residents to the scheduling of services such as leaf removal and heavy item pickups. It also introduces citizens to city employees through photos and project descriptions and, not insignificantly, saves the city the money it used to spend on advertising such special services. Woven throughout all the projects is the philosophy of cooperation and respect, and the responsive chord it has struck among workers. As a result, workers constantly talk of the pride they feel as they rise to the challenge of serving the public better.

The building of the baseball stadium began like all other projects: a labor-management team was created to figure out a process for the project. The project team started with a base of Public Works employees (the field itself was prepared and maintained by the Parks division). City workers built everything but the steel structures and seating. The labor-management team hired a retired contractor to help with planning, along with drawing upon skills from the engineering department. Volunteers were sought to work on the project, and a broad range of previously unknown talents were identified in all parts of the city workforce. For example, truck drivers, workers in white collar and other jobs were found to have electrical, masonry and welding skills. By sharing their skills through cross-training, other team members learned new skills from fellow workers for use on the stadium and future projects. This cross-training has since enabled many to move to other jobs with the city and to use a broader range of skills, frequently at a higher classification. The greater range of skills has permitted the city to more effectively provide public works services to neighborhoods.

At first, it was feared that several aspects of the project might create difficulties in labor relations, but that never happened. Moreover, because of the trust that had developed between union leaders and management, the project team was able to identify certain provisions in the city's collective bargaining agreement with the union that could have potentially created impediments to the project. The union insisted on the integrity of the main contract, but on a major issue -- working out of class -- the contract clause was waived, but not permanently changed, in order to complete the stadium. Later, the newly gained skills benefited both the city and the workers,through skill upgrades and promotions.

The project team decided matters such as the work schedule, a system of incentives, including points for timely completion, safety, attendance, and so forth. Team members received comp time as well as free tickets, "recognition nights" at ball games, and other awards befitting the nature of the project. For instance, much of the reward system was based on public recognition of city workers, in front of their families and the whole community, for the contributions and sacrifices they made. This was particularly appropriate since the families also contributed to the project's success by not only adjusting to the sometimes long work schedules needed to accommodate weather and time changes, but by providing meals, snacks and moral support.

Few grievances -- and no formal ones -- developed in this atmosphere characterized by cooperation between labor and management. Whenever there was a problem, the dispute was dealt with by taking what became known as "the walk to center field." That's where individuals involved immediately met to attempt to resolve their conflicts. This method worked: the deputy director of the division was jointly empowered to make on-the-spot decisions to keep the project -- and the teamwork -- moving along. This smooth working relationship illustrates one of the key lessons of Hadlock Field: when people communicate and believe in each other, they develop trust and teamwork.

The success of this extraordinary project has been reflected in a number of other new ways of work organization that are continuing to contribute to the excellence of city services.

For instance, the public works division is now divided into five districts based on the boundaries of city council districts. Five teams of five members were selected with an eye to spreading a variety of talents throughout the city. Training and cross-training provided during the stadium project were expanded so that the teams are responsible for all public works functions in their district. Through daily meetings of team leaders, they share or swap people and equipment across districts lines, as needed. The teams have developed a sense of ownership of the work, accountability to the citizens and their political leadership and a good-natured competition for improved performance and recognition. Team competition and performance measurements are facilitated by the availability of data by district on specific tasks. A sophisticated report is presented to the city council at the end of each year detailing such things as hours worked and dollar costs per function.

Another innovative effort is the city construction company, formed after the stadium project demonstrated the ability to do construction projects in-house at lower cost. The company puts together written plans for projects and checks them against expected or actual bids. In one example shown to the Task Force, the company built a brick sidewalk in a historic district for 42 percent less than the estimated cost of traditional contracting out. City workers have shown flexibility in the ability to change shifts rapidly, especially in winter. In one area, they adopted a 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. work schedule, took responsibility for equipment and continued to search for other means by which set-up and take-down time can be saved.

Taxpayers reap the benefits of lower costs, increased efficiency and attention to safe work practices. But workers also are rewarded through a system of bonuses based on cost savings on a per project basis, much like a gain-sharing system. For instance, if cost savings of 10 percent to 25 percent are achieved on an individual project, workers receive a $100 bonus. For savings of 25 percent to 50 percent, the bonus is $250.

But perhaps the real reward is the fact that by working together, labor and management have found a way to retain a loyal and talented public workforce, to enable managers to share power and credit, and to receive the trust and confidence of local elected officials.