Labor Relations

Happy Labor Day. I hope you are enjoying the day. The Labor sponsored picnic at Sandy Beach was great. Nice that the weather cooperated.

One of the many issues the Assembly deals with is labor unions. I make no apology for being a “Friend of Labor.” Despite occasional problems, I believe unions protect workers and balance the power of management. Currently, some CBJ codes and policies are less than union friendly. The city Personnel Board, which determines union issues for the CBJ has no union representation. City rules and policies allow groups of workers to withdraw from the union but still receive the benefits from union negotiated contracts. This is not the way it works at state and national levels. CBJ rules define things differently. I am currently advocating for rules and policy changes that provide some balance.

Another issue I am pushing is the strengthening of performance measures for the city. CBJ Departments have goals and measures, but in the past they have been mostly a formality. We have not used them as a strategic planning tool to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of city government. I will continue to push for this – but at the moment, whenever I talk about performance measures and performance management, many of my colleagues eyes seem to glaze over as they seem to say “there goes Jonathan again.’

I have also been monitoring managerial reform efforts at Bartlett Hospital. A significant number of employees have expressed strong dissatisfaction with Hospital Management. The clash seems to be around a tension between bottom line productivity measures and patient care and employee engagement. The Hospital Board has taken measures to monitor this situation and make constructive recommendations, but the proof will be the creation of a more positive organizational culture. I will continue to watch and question.

I believe in performance measures. I believe they are good planning tools for any organization. But the indicators must be more than just dollars. They must include indicators of employee, customer and/or citizen satisfaction.

Moving on from labor/personnel issues, on Friday 9/17 the Assembly will have a special meeting to decide whether to apply for the Arctic Winter Games for Juneau for 2014. The Arctic Winter games are a great effort to bring youth from different countries together. They would be a nice boost for Juneau for a short period of time in 2014. They would also cost upwards of 10 million dollars. We hope that the state and Feds would contribute significant dollars, but there is no guarantee. The biggest hurdle is that we need a second sheet of ice—and one that can accommodate at least 1500 spectators. Many people would like that second ice rink, but building it is only one part. It must be staffed and maintained. The current ice rink costs ½ million a year for personnel costs — in addition to utilities and building maintenance costs. I do not at this time see how the positives for a few weeks in 2014 compensate for the risk and expense.

JEDC recently came out with their annual economic indicators I encourage you to look at them. Juneau is “getting by” but there are definite concerns about our economic health. We need to be cautious about our spending at this time and we need to find ways to promote our economic health. I always struggle with the balance between visionary action and constructive caution about how we spend your money. It is a delicate balance.

The next big Assembly decision on the horizon concerns plans to refurbish/replace the downtown cruise ship docks – paid for by cruise ship passenger fees. Like everything else, there are pros and cons. I will get into this in a future post.