Gardner City committee begins drafting nonunion pay ordinance, flags labor board filing

Gardner City’s Ad hoc Compensation Proposal Committee opened work Oct. 20 on a proposed ordinance to set pay for nonunion employees, but the city solicitor warned that a pending Department of Labor Relations filing limits what the committee may discuss and that some department-head positions are off-limits.

The meeting began with City Solicitor Benny Pusateri II reading a written opinion advising the mayor and committee that “if a unit is established, the terms and conditions of employment will have to be determined through the collective bargaining process and not by unilateral action by the city.” Pusateri said the opinion—and a filing submitted to the Department of Labor Relations by several department heads—exclude certain department-head positions from the committee’s review.

The solicitor’s opinion was the immediate context for the committee’s discussion, which centered on three practical tasks: establishing an affordability cap for any compensation package, creating a clear list of positions the committee may…