Memphis City Council members rescinded a vetoed amendment to the city’s impasse procedure during their May 26 meeting and will consider a new six-person mediation proposal on June 9. The council had previously voted 8-4 to approve the amendment, which replaced the existing three-arbitrator system with a single mediator, but Mayor Paul Young vetoed the measure on May 12. In a three-page veto letter, Young called the amendment “shrouded in enigma” and cited “circular references to unstated processes and requirements, to produce unknown/undefined documents, creating an enforcement impossibility.” He also said the amendment “seeks to enlarge the Council’s authority in direct contravention of the charter, which vests the mayor, solely, as the chief executive officer of the City of Memphis, with the authority to ‘administer, supervise and control all divisions, boards, agencies, offices and employees of the city.’”

Following the veto, the full council rescinded the amendment, reverting to the 2017 impasse rules for now. “Upon passage of this resolution, we’ll be reverting back to the 2017 amendment until we have a new impasse ordinance,” Councilman JB Smiley said. He added, “There will be a follow up resolution, which will schedule the impasse presentation before the full council.” The June 9 proposal will feature a six-member mediation panel with two representatives each from the city, the union, and the council. “This gives all affected parties an opportunity to be a part of the creation of the new impasse ordinance. I think it speaks for itself. We have to give the employee association that is at an impasse with the administration an opportunity to be heard,” Smiley said.

For the time being, city workers’ bargaining units will operate under the previous rules. Council members aim to finalize a new procedure before addressing an ongoing dispute with the firefighters’ union. Unlike arbitrators, mediators cannot issue binding decisions, and any recommendation from the current impasse panel can be nullified by a council vote.