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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESO 41931 ORIGINAL RESOLUTION NO. 4193 RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING RESOLUTION 4136 AND ADO PTING REVISED CHAPTER 12 OF THE MERIT SYSTEM RULES AND REGULATIONS WHEREAS, purs uant to authority contained in Article III, Section 18 of the Ch arter of th e City of Palo Alt o and Section 2. 36.010 of the Palo Alto M unicipal Code, the C ouncil of the City of Palo Alto previously adopt ed Merit System Rules a nd Re gulatio ns on July 1, 1968 by Res olution No . 4136; and WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Palo Alto desires to continue e quita ble and uniform procedures f or de aling with per sonn el matters, and continue to plac e municip al employment on a mer it ba sis so tha t the most qualified available p eopl e may be brought into the municipa l service, whire adopting n eces- sary change s and modifications to such Merit System Rules and Regulatio ns. NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Palo Alto does RESOLVE as follows: That Resolutio n 4136 ado pted July 1, 1968, is amended to the extent tha t Cha pter 12 of the Mer it System Rules and Regulatio ns, attached hereto as EX HIBIT A and by reference made a part he reof, is here by adopted, effe ctive January 1, 1969; othe rwise said Resolution 4136 sha ll rema in in full force and e ffect. INTRODUCED AND PASSED: De cember 16, 1968 AYES: Arno ld, Berwald, Clar k, Comsto ck, Dias, Gallagher, Gullixaon, Pearson, Spae th, Wheatley NOES: None ABSENT: Beahrs ATT ST: APPROVED: y e PRIVED AS TO FORM: ►11I: Ass stargCity • tto yor APPROVED. CC Manager CHAPTER 12 - - EMPLOYER AND E MPLOYEE RELATIONS AND EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATIVES SEC. 1201 RIGHT TO JOIN OR ABSTAIN In the int er est of improving th e effi cien cy of City s er- vic es and the p romotion of sound personn el ma nageme nt, it is the purpo se of this chapter to establish unifo rm p roc edures for e mplo yees, whether individu ally or in organization, to participate in the pro cess of communi ca tion tow ard establish- ing wa ges, hours and oth er terms and c onditions of employment, and to pro vide the means for ami cable dis cussion and adjustment of matte rs of mutual interest, with th e intent of fostering harmo nious employer -employee relations . SEC. 1202 RIGHT TO CHOOSE REPRESENTATION Employe es of the City of Pal o Alt o, except as may be otherwise pr ovide d here in or by law, shall have the right to form, join and participate in the activities of employe e orga nizations of their o wn c ho osing as p rovided in Secti ons 3500-3509 of the Gover nment Code of the Stat e of C alifo rnia. Employee s of the City of Palo Alto shall h ave th e right to refuse to join or par ticipa te in the activiti es of any employee or ganization and shall have the right to repres ent th emselves individually in their emplo yment r elations with the City. SEC. 1203 DEFINITIONS. a. 10 ee. "Employee" me ans any r egular or pa rt-time emp oyee , as define d in these Rule u and Regulations. b. Employee Or &aniza tion. "Employe e Or ga niz ation" means an y organiza tio n which includes employees a nd which has as one of its primar y purpose s re prese nting such e mployee in his emplo yment relatio ns with the City and which has registered with the Perso nnel Officer as pro vided fo r in Sec tio n 1204. c. Recognized Employee Organiz ation. "Re cogniz ed Employee Organiza tion " mea ns an em ployee o rganization that has been re gistered pur suant to Section. 1204, an d ha s been ce rtified pursuant to Se ctio n 1206. d. Scope of Repr ese ntation. "Scope of Repr ese ntation " pertains to matters relating to wages, hours, a nd o ther terms and c onditions of employment. - 31 - e. Manag ement; Management Empl oy ee. "M an agement" or 'Manag ement 'mploy ee" means any City C ouncilman, or any employee h aving the auth ority to exercise independ ent judgme nt in th e i nterests of th e City, to hire, transfe r, suspend, p romot e, discha rge, assign, r eward or discipline other employees, or havi ng the responsibility to direct them, or to ad- just thei r grievances, or eff ectively to recommend such actio n if in connectio n with the foreg oing, the exercise of authority is n ot of a merely routin e or clerical n atur e, but r equir es the use of inde- pendent judgment. f. Man age ment Represe ntative. "Ma nagement Representa- tive^ means the City Manager or his designated representative(s). For the pur poses of Se ction 1962 of the L ab or C od e of the Sta te of Califor nia, the City Manager is designate d as the "governing body" to whom em- ployees of the Fire Department or any other dep art- ment or divisions of the City or empl oyee org aniz a- tion s may a ddre ss grie vances and recommendations re gar ding wa ges, salarie s, hours and working condi- tions. For the purposes of Sections 3500-3509 of the Governmen t Co de of the State of C alifo rni a, the City Ma nager or his de signate d representative(s) will ac t to represent the City to meet and conf er in g ood faith with represen tative s of e mployee organizations upon r equest. g. Confidential kploree. "Co nfidential Employee" beans an employee who is privy to decisions of City Mana geme nt affecting employee relatio ns. h. Proof of Emplo ye e Approval. Pr oof of emplo yee approva l of a petition —a —de monstrated un der this chapte r by eithe r of the following: (1) Signed and dated signature s on the petition. (2) Signed an d dated employee o rga nizatio n autho ri- zatio n cards. Only signatures of emplo yees cur rently employed, which signa ture s have been executed within six mo nths prior to the da te of filing of the petition or auth- o rization card presenta tio n, shall be acce pted as proo f of employee a pprova l. The to ta l number of employees in a propo sed represe ntation unit shall be determined by using the Coun cil approved City - 32 - • • budget, adjusted to r eflect the positi ons actually occupi ed as of the date of the petition, and excluding su ch classificati ons or individuals as may be limited from membe rship in the unit by the pr ovisions of this Chapter. i. Days. "Days" shall mean cale nd ar days . j. Mediatio n. "Medi ati on" means the process by which an impartial thi rd p arty assists th e parties in r econ- ciling a dispute regardi ng wag es, hours, and other terms and conditions of employm ent between represent a- tives of management and we recognized employee organi- zation . SEC. 1204 REGISTRATION OF EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS a. Application for Registration. An organization that desires to be registered as an empl oye e organizati on, sha ll file with the Personnel Offi cer th e following documents, signed by its presiding officer, showi ng: (1) Name and mailing address of the organi zati on. (2) Names and titles of officers and r epreP.:ntatives. (3) A copy of its constitution and;or by-laws which sha ll co ntain a statement that cne organization has as one of its primary purposes rep resenting e mployees in their e mplo yment r elati ons. (4) Ver ification of emplo yee membership in the or- ga nization which may be sho wn by signed and dated signatur es on a petition or on authoriza- tion cards. An acknowle dgment in writing, signed by a duly authorized o fficer or r epre sentative of the orga nizatio n, tha t the organiz ation a gre es to all of the provisions of this Chapter. A statement that the or ganiza tion has no restriction on member ship base d on race, color, cr eed, natio nal or igin or sex. A designation of those persons, no t e xce eding three in nu mber, an d the ir a ddresses, to who m no tice sent by regular United State s mail will be deemed sufficient notice or the orga nization for any pur pose . -33- 1 • b. Registration. Up on rec eipt and verific ati on of all the information required by S ection 1204a, the Pe rson nel Officer shall, in writi ng, notify the organiz ation th at it has been regist ered as an em- pl oy ee organization. A copy of this notice sh all be filed with the City Manag er's Offic e. The initial term of regist ration shall expir e on the second September 1 followi ng the o rigin al d ate of registr atio n. c. Annual Registration. A registered employe e organiz ati on shall thereafter annually, b etw een August 1 and August 31, file with the PersonnelOffi ce ra stat em ent re- quire d by Section 1204a and th e Perso nnel Offi cer shall annua lly issue the n otice of r egistration re- quired by Section 1204b. SEC. 1205 REPRESENTATION UNITS a. Appropriatene ss of Unit. The app ropriateness of a re presentation unit shall be governed by th e following fac tors: that it is the broadest feasible grouping base d upo n interna l and occupational community of in- te rest; that the history of representation is used in the deter mination; that the unit does not contain c lassifica tions or individuals rest rict ed or limited by this Chapte r; and tha t no City classifi cation shall be in more tha n one representation unit. b. Establishment. A r epresenta tion unit is est ablish ed by petition of eligible employees within the proposed unit. The petition mu st be acc ompanie d by proof of employee appro val equal to at least 30 percent of the eligible e mployee s within the propo se d unit. Th e p e- tition shall be filed with the Perso nnel Officer, who will review the a ppropriatene ss of the represe ntation un it. He shall also give notice of the filing to the e mployee s in the pr oposed unit and to a ny recognized emplo yee organization that has filed a written request for suc h notice. A petition for the establishme nt of a repre sentation unit may be c ombined with a pe tition tha t se eks to cettify an employe e organ ization as a re cognize d employee organization. c. Challenge by Employee Organization. If an employee o rga niz ation desire s to challe nge the appropriateness of the pro posed re presentation unit and seeks to es- tablish a differ ent unit, it shall, within 30 days of the filing of the petition it seeks to challenge, file a petition with the Person nel Officer requesting a unit deter min ation thro ugh fur ther -action. - 33.1 - d. Chall eng e by Pers onnel Officer . If the P ersonnel Offic er decides to challe nge the app ropriaten ess of the proposed r epres entation u nit, he sh all within 30 days of filing the original petitio n give noti ce to the p etitioner conce rned of such ch all enge. e. Certifi cation of Unch alleng ed Unit. If there has be en no petition or n otice fil ed challenging a petition to establish a representation unit within 30 days, the Personnel Officer shall certify to the p etitione r that the representati on unit has b een est ablished. f. Ame ndment of Petitions. If a chall enge is lodg ed, the Personnel Offi cer shall notify the original petiti oner in writing. If an amended petitio n is not filed within 7 days of such noti ce th e petition and challeng e shall be tra nsmitted to the St ate Conciliation Se rvice as pro- vided below. Upon the filing of an amend ed petition the original petition shall be d eem ed revok ed and the amended pe tition shall be pr ocessed as an original petition as se t forth above. g. Determination of Dispute. If a challenging petition has bee n duly fired,a nd the ch alle nge has not been re solved by ame ndment or withdrawal, the Pe rs onn el Officer shall first transmit the petition and ch all enge with a r eque st for determination to the St ate Concili- a tio n Service which shall utilize its procedur es to determine the a ppropriate re presentation unit or units . On suggestion of the State Co nciliation Service, an alternate agency may be used. In reso lving r epre sentatio n unit disputes it is recomme nded that the Sta te Concilia tio n Service or al- terna te agency shall in each c ase determine the broad- e st fea sible grouping based upon suc h factors as in- te rnal and oc cupational c ommunity of interest and the histor y of r epre sentation. No city cla ssification shall be included in mor e than one representatio n unit. The State Conc ilia tion Ser vice or alterna te agency may ado pt r ules governing its process of de- te rmination and may consolidate petition s for he aring. The decisio ns of the Sta te Conciliation Servic e, or those of an alter nate a gency if use d shall be tr ans- mitted to the Per so nne l Officer a nd pe titioners. The dec isio ns of the State Conc ilia tio n Service or al- terna te agency shall be final. h. Professio nal Employee's Right to Separate Unit. Profe ssional e mplo ye es shall not be denied the right to be represented separ ately fr om non-professional - 33.2 - • • employees by a professi onal employ ees organization consisting of su ch professional employe es . "Pro- fessional empl oy ees", f or the pu rposes of this s ec- tion, m eans employees eng aged in w ork requiring specialized knowledge and skills attained through completio n of a recognized course of instructi on, including, but not limited to physicians, registered nurses, engineers, architects, teach ers, librarians, and various types of physical, chemic al and biological scientists. In further definition, all of the follow- ing requirements ar e neces sary in meeting the definiti on of professional employe es: (1) His primary duty consists of work ( a) requiring adva nced knowledge in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolong ed course of specialized int elle ctual instruction and study, or (b) o riginal and c re ative in cha racter in a recogni zed field of artisti c en- de avor, and the results of which depends prim arily on the invention, imagination, or talent of th e employee. (2) His wo rk requir es the consistent exercise of discretio n and judgment. (3) His work is pre domina ntly intell ectu al and varie d in cha rac ter and the output or result cannot be standRrdized. (4) He does not devote more tha n 20 percent of his hour s worked in a wo rk we ek to ac tivities not an essentia l part of and necessarily incide nt to such professiona l duties. SEC. 1206 RECOGNIZED EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS a. Pe tition. An employee orga nization that se eks cer tification as a re co gnized e mplo yee o rganiz ation shall file a petition with the Per so nne l Offic er . The pe tition shall ide ntify the re presentatio n unit requested or established pursu ant to Section 1205, for whichpetitioner seeks recognition, and shall in- clude a statement of rea so ns for the co mpo sition of the unit, including the community of inter est. The petition shall be a ccompan ied by all of the do cuments required by Section 1204a, in request for registration. b. Majority and Minority Petitions. The Personnel Officer sha ll determine the percent of pro of of e m- ploye r appr oval gre ater than 50 perce nt of the 33. 3 - • • employe es within the r epresentati on unit shall be c ertified as a majority petition. A petition acc om- pani ed by proof of employee approval of b etwe en 30 and 50 percent of the employ ees within the representa- tion unit sh all be certified as a minority petition. c. Challenge. The P ersonnel Offic er shall give written notice of his certific ation of a majo rity or mino rity petition to th e petitioner, to the empl oy ees involv ed, and to any employ ee org aniz ation that has filed a written request f or the rec eipt of such notice with him. Within 30 days of the d ate of such notice, another employee o rganization may file a challenging petitio n seeking to b ecom e the recogni zed employee organization within the repres entation u nit. d. Certification Without Election. If no challenging petition is filed against a maj ority petiti on, the Pe rsonnel Officer shall certify the p etiti one r as the r ecogniz ed employee o rganization of the repres entati on unit. e. Election - Challenged Majority Petition. If a challeng- ing pe titio n is file d against a majority p etition and is a cco mpanied by pr oof of employee approval equ al to at least 30 per ce nt of the e mployees within the rep re- se ntatio n unit, the Personne l Officer shall ref er the matter in request fo r an e le ction to the State C on- ciliation Ser vice or their suggested alternat e, who shall call and condu ct a secret ba llot electi on pur- suant to Sec tion 1206g. f. Ele ctio n - Minority Petitio n. If a minor ity petiti on is filed, the Perso nnel Officer shall, whe ther or not a c hallenging petition is filed, request the State Conciliation Ser vice or the ir sugge sted alter nate to co nduct a secret ballot elec tion pursuant to Section 1206g. If a challe nging petition is filed a ga inst a minority pe tition and is acc ompanie d by proo f of employee appro val e qual to at least 10 perce nt of the employees within the re presentation unit, the election agency sha ll include the challenging emplo yee organi- z ation on the ballot. g. Ele ction Pro cedure. Whene ver an election agency calls an electio n pursua nt to this Chapter, it shall inc lude the choice of no or ganization on the ballot. Emplo yee s entitled to vote in a repre sentatio n elec tion shall be those employees within the r eprese ntation unit whose name s appeared on the payroll immedia tely pr ior to the date of e lectio n. An e mployee or ganization shall be - 33.4 - • • c ertified by th e Personnel Offic er as the recognized employ ee organi zation within the rep resent ation unit if the maj ority of those casting valid ballots at the ele cti on cho oses said organization. In an electi on where none of the choices receives a majo rity of the valid ballots cast, a ru n-off election shall be con- ducted b etween the tw o ch oices receiving th e largest number of b allots c ast. There shall be no more than one repres entatio n election in a 12 -month peri od within the s ame rep resent ation unit. h. Term of Certifi cation. The initial term of certifica- tion for a recognized employee organizati on shall expire on the se cond September 1 following the d ate of initial certification. In the absence of decertific ati on, th e ce rtific ation of the re cognized empl oy ee organization shall continue fr om Septembe r 1 to September 1 th ere- after. i. Decertification Procedure. A decertificatio n petiti on may be filed with the Personn el Offi cer by employees or an employee orga nization to determine wheth er or not a recognized emplo yee orga nization continu es to repr es ent a ma jority of the e mployee s within the repres ent ation unit. Such petition must be accompanied by proof of e mplo ye e approval equal to at least 30 per cent of th e e mploye es within the representa tion unit. Such a pe- tition may be r eceived by the Perso nnel Offic er, only within the 90 day period immedia tely preceding an annu al anniversar y da te of re cognition. When such a valid petition has bee n filed, the State Conciliati on Ser vice or their sugge sted alterna te, shall condu ct an election to de termine whether or no t the incumbent reco gnized emplo yee organization shall be decertifi ed if a major ity of those casting valid ballots vote for de cer tific ation, or in appropriate cases if a majority vote fr r the petitioning organizatio n. In the absence of a e ;,ortification, the certification of the re cognized e mployee or ga nization sha ll contnue on a ye ar-to -year basis. SEC. 1207 RIGHTS. OBLIGATIONS AND LIM ITATIONS a. Employee Orga nizations. Employe e o rganizations may re present their me mbe rs in emplo yment relations only in the matte rs and to the exte nt pro vided by the Go ver nme nt Co de of the State of Califor nia. - 33. 5 - • ! b. Unit Rep resent atives. Upo n prior agreeme nt with th e app ropr iate represe ntatives of m an ag em ent, a r eason- able number of employees may be designated by an employ ee organization to act as unit r epr es entativ es. With advance p ermission, and c onditi ons p ermitting, unit repres entatives may be given reasonable time away from thei r duties to act in representing an employ ee on matters within the scope of repr es entation. Each employee org anization sh all pr ovide the P erso nnel Office r with the nam e(s) of the person(s) currently autho rized to represent such organiz ation. c. Limitatio n: Management and C onfidential Empl oyees. No management or confidential empl oyee may be a member of an e mployee organization whi ch represents othe r types of emplo yees. d. Rules No Abroga tion of Rights. By the ad opti on of the provisions of this Chapter, City M an agem ent shall not be deeme d to abrogate its right to establish policy a nd pr oce dure and make wh atever ch anges it co nsider s nec essa ry for the good and efficient s er- vices of the City. The e xclusive rights of City manage ment include , but are not limited to: d etermin e the missions of its co nstituent departments, sections, gro upsand individuals; se t standa rds of s ervi ces; de te rmine the standa rds of sele ctio n for empl oyment and promo tio ns; direct its e mployees; take disciplinary action; relieve its employe es from duty because of la ck of wo rk or for other legitima te reasons; maintain the e fficie ncy of governme ntal opera tions; determine the methods, means, time , and per sonnel by which govern- ment o peratio ns are to be conducted; determine the con- tent of jo b cla ssific ations; take all ne cessa ry actions to carry out its missio ns a nd exe rcise complete con- trol a nd discre tion over its or ganization and te ch- nology of performing its work. e. Meet and Confer in Good Faith. Recognized emplo yee organiza tions, only, sha ll have access to the meet a nd confer proce ss. Upon request, re pr esentative s of a r eco gnized e mployee or ganizatio n shall have the r ight to meet and c onfer in good faith regarding wages, hour s, and o ther terms and conditio ns of e mployment with the appro pr iate representatives of management. Re pre- se ntative s of rec ogniz ed e mployee o rganizations may partic ipate in such meetings without loss of compen- sation or other benefits. "Meet and confer in good fa ith" mea ns the mu tual obligation per sonally to me et - 33.6 - • • and confer in order to fr eely exch ange info rmatio n, opinions and pr op osals and to end eavor to rea ch agreement on m att ers within the scop e of rep resent a- ti on . If agreement is r eached by managem ent and a recognized employee o rg aniz ation, or recognized employ ee organi- zations, on matt ers subject to dete rmination by the City C ouncil, th ey shall j ointly prep are a w ritt en memorand um of such und erstanding, which shall n ot be binding, and present it to the City Manage r's Office. If agreement is reached on matters n ot subject to de- te rmination by the City Council, the app ropriate re- pr esenta tives of m anagement and r ecognized employee organiz ation, or re cogni zed employ ee organizations shall jo intly prepa re a written memo randum of such agree ment. f. Mee t and Consult in Good F aith; Adv an ce Notic e. The City, through its representatives, will consult in goo d faith with re presentatives of rec ognized em- ployee orga nizations. The City, thr ough its repre- sentatives, may meet and consult in go od faith with repr esenta tives of any re gistered employe e o rgani za- tion, as may be deemed necessary or appropriate. All matters affec ting employer -employee relati ons, including tho se no t subje ct to the meet and confer process, are subje ct to c onsultation. Eac h r ecognized employee o rganization affected shall be given reasonable advance writte n n otice of any or dinance, resolution, r ule, or re gulation or pr o- posal dir ectly relating to matters within the scope of representatio n pro posed to be adopte d by the City and shall be given the opportunity to meet with the appr opriate repre se ntative s of management prior to adoption. In case s of emergency whe n the City Co uncil or de signa ted governing body determines that an ordin - ance, rule, resolutio n, or r egulation relating to the sc ope of re pr esentatio n must be a dopte d immediately witho ut pr io r notice or meeting with a reco gnized emplo yee organiza tio n, management represe nta tives shall provide suc h notice and opportunity to meet at the earliest practical time following the adoption of such or dinance, rule, r esolution , or regulation. "M eet and consult in good fa ith," me ans to communi- cate verbally or in writing for the purpose of pre - senting a nd obta ining view or advising of inten ded actions or re comme ndations. - 33.7 - g. Budgetary and Annual Items; App ropriat e Subjects; Budget S ubmission Date. Those items withi n the scop e of repres entation, relating but not limit ed to, the Compensati on Pl an, g ene ral fringe benefit items, and general it ems of h ou rs and working conditions, any of whi ch would usually aff ect broad cat egories of em- ployees, ar e appr opriate subjects for either consul- tation in go od faith or m eeting and confer ring in good faith only during th e peri od between 150 and 60 days pri or to budg et submission d ate . If ag reement on such issues between repres entativ es of r ecogniz ed e mployee organiz ations and r epr esentatives of manag e- me nt is not re ached by 60 days prior to budg et sub- mission date, th e parties may mutually agree to resolve their diff erences und er the mann er provided fo r in Section 1208 . For the purposes of this s ec- tion, April 1 of each year shall be c onsidered the budget submissio n date. h. Joint Mee tings. In the inte rests of exp edi ency, or for o ther reasons, management r epresentatives may elec t or require that the condu ct of meeting and co nsulting or meeting and conf erring be accomplished on a joint basis with any or all of the s ev eral em- ployee o rganizatio ns or recognized employee organi- zations that may e xist. i. Acc ess of Orga niza tio ns to Wo rk Locations. Conditi ons pe rmitting, represe ntatives of employee organi zations are author ized access to City work locations for the purpo se of conduc ting business within the scope of represe ntation, with the provisions that: no dis- ruptio n of wo rk is involved; the busine ss at hand includes direct membe rs of the particular employee orga niza tion; the business transacted is other than the recruiting of membe rs or the colle ction of dues. Employee organizations sha ll hold all organizational meetings at times other than during working or duty ho ur s of tho se present, and at loc ations other than on City wor k premises. Employee or ga nizatio ns may post notices on bulletin boa rds, providing, such no tices are sta mped by the Perso nnel Division before po sting. The no tice s ar e r estricted to recr eatio nal and soc ia l a ffairs; election or appointment of o ffic er s and representatives, and notices of mee t- ings. Requests for the posting of other mater ial shall be directed to the Personnel Division. - 33.8 - • • s J . Pr ohibition: Rec ognizing Pick et Li ne. Empl oyees shall n ot have th e right to recognize a pick et lin e of a labor or employee org anization while in the p er- f orm ance of their official duties. k. Adoption of Rules and Regulations. Any rules and regulati ons adopted to further the administration of employ er -employee relations and f or the implementation or clarification of the provisions of this Ch apter shall be consistent with the Chart er of the City of Palo Alto, th e Palo Alt o Municipal Code, and with the City's Merit System Rules and Regulations as es- tablishe d in thes e Rul es and as may be further defined by administrative directives. SEC. 1208 IMPASSE PROCEDURES a. M utual Agreement. If after a reasonable period of time the a ppr opriate re presentativ es of man ag ement and recogn ize d e mployee organizati ons f ail to reach agree- men t, the parties together may mutually agree upon a me thod of resolving the dispute including, but n ot limited to, mediation. b. Me diation Procedur e. If the parties ag ree up on medi a- tion but are unable to agr ee on the m ediato r, the par ties sha ll reque st the services of th e State Conciliation Ser vice or suita ble alternate to pr ovide a me diator . Co sts of me diatio n shall be divided o ne- half to the City, and one-half to the recognized em- ploye e or ga nization or r ec ognized employee organizations. The mediator or mediating agen cy shall make no public reco mmendations nor take any public position concerning the issue s, but shall work direc tly with the parties. involved.