KEENE, POLICE CLASH ON TAPING TALKS
BENJAMIN YELLE
Sentinel Staff

Negotiations for a new contract with the Keene Police Officer's Association appear to have fallen apart before they've even started.

At issue is the union's request that negotiations be tape-recorded — a break from historical practice.

Union officials say the tapes will ensure a clear record of what is discussed in negotiations. In the past, they say, disagreements have developed about what's been said, and some of those cases wound up in front of the state's Public Employees Labor Relations Board.

Instead of wasting money on lawyers, fact-finders and mediators, union officials say, a disputed point can be cleared up simply by listening to the tape.

The city government has offered alternatives to taping, but so far the union isn't interested.

If an agreement isn't reached soon, the issue appears headed to the labor-relations board.

Two unions represent Keene police officers: one for patrol officers and one for supervisors. The contract for the 30-member police officers association expired June 30; the supervisors' contract expires next June.

Keene also has two fire department unions — one for firefighters, one for supervisors — and one for public works employees. City officials are negotiating now with the two fire department unions.

The police officers' union negotiated its last contract four years ago, covering pay raises and working conditions. New provisions included better dental insurance, sick-time accrual of up to 180 days for officers with more than 25 years of experience and other benefits.

But things were less than explicit in some areas, such as changes in health insurance, said John Stewart, president of the officers' union.

Disagreement over health plans ended up before the labor-relations board. That confusion could have easily been cleared up had the negotiations been recorded, Stewart said.

City Manager John A. MacLean said he doesn't comment on union negotiations. But the city's position was staked out in e-mail exchanges between the city government's lawyer for the negotiations, Thomas J. Flygare, and the union's attorney, Terri Donovan.

"The city has two suggestions to resolve this issue. First, the parties should make a concerted effort to draft the contract in a manner that will avoid misunderstandings. The insertion of examples and hypothetical into the contract would be one way to achieve this," Flygare wrote to Donovan.

"Second, after a full tentative agreement is reached, the city is willing to tape-record a session of up to two hours in length where either party may state its understanding of various provisions of the contract, ask questions of the other party, or engage in a discussion of the contract.

"The city's negotiating team believes that, taken together, these suggestions will do more to promote efficient negotiations and mutual agreement than the presence of tape recorders at all sessions. Hopefully, this will allow us to resolve the ground rules and move ahead to successful negotiations."

But Stewart says two hours of tape won't be enough to capture all the subtleties of negotiations.

His team has also offered concessions, but stands firm on having the sessions taped. It offered to keep the tapes secured and secret; they would be used only in a grievance proceeding or a labor board hearing, "unless otherwise mutually agreed," Donovan wrote.

"The (officers' union) is comprised of professional police officers who proposed these rules to assure that the parties can avoid miscommunication, misstatements which are later misinterpreted, or the dispensing of information at the table which may or may not be correct."

Flygare, said he can't comment specifically on the Keene negotiations, but "I've been in this business for 25 years and negotiated hundreds of contracts," and he's never participated in tape-recorded negotiations.

"I don't know of any time it's ever been done in New Hampshire," he said.

Flygare said taping all negotiations would hinder frank discussion, because the tapes might come back to haunt negotiators.

Tape recordings "would make it far more difficult to reach a settlement," he said. "I believe it would fundamentally alter the process."

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