6.2. ERMUSR 11-15-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elk River~:~ Municipal Utilities 13069 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 430 Elk River, MN 55330-0430 UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING POMERE6 B~ ~Q~V~ P p~,.ca ED T O S E0.V E Phone: 763.441.2020 Fax: 763.441.5099 TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Troy Adams, P.E. -Utilities Director John Dietz -Chair Daryl Thompson -Vice Chair Al Nadeau -Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: November 15, 201 I 6.2 SUBJECT: Wa a and Benefits Committee U date BACKGROUND: At the recommendation of staff during the October 2011 Utilities Commission meeting, the Commission formed a Wage and Benefits Committee. The Utilities Commission created the committee to be comprised of one Commissioner, John Dietz -Utilities Chair, and three Utilities managers, Troy Adams - Utilities Director, Theresa Slominski -Finance and Office Manager, and Mark Fuchs -Electric Superintendent. The intent for the creation was to have the committee review and analyze wage and benefits information, receive comments and questions from employees relating to wage and benefits, function as a forum for discussion, and ultimately present wage and benefit information to the Utilities Commission. The Wage and Benefits Committee would not have authority to awazd or change wages or benefits; this authority is that of the Utilities Commission. DISCUSSION: On October 26, the Committee held its fast meeting which was open to employees. The scope of this first meeting was to establish the function of the committee, review the preliminary metro-average wage survey, and engage dialogue with the employees over their concerns and/or comments. A follow-up Committee meeting was held on November 2. The following compensation items were discussed: Waees Because of the timing on wage negotiations for many of the metro utilities used in the metro-average survey, the information used included many conservative assumptions. The preliminary results from the survey indicate that the ERMU Journeyman Lineworker position will now be approximately 6.88% below the average and 12.80% below the top. These preliminary survey numbers indicate that without any increase the ERMU Journeyman Lineworker position would be the lowest paid on the survey. To not lose ground with the metro-average trend, the ERMLJ Journeyman Lineworker position would need an increase of approximately 2.06%. By comparison and excluding this 2.06%, an approximate increase of 2.43% would be needed to meet the average of the municipal utilities in the survey and an approximate increase of 4.66% would be needed to meet the top metro municipal in the survey. Again, these numbers aze preliminary because many of these utilities are still working through their labor negotiations. And, wages are only one component to the compensation package.