Wis. contract reduces firefighter staffing, prevents layoffs

By Mary Buckley
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

NORTH SHORE, Wis. — North Shore firefighters and the department's board of directors have agreed to a one-year contract for 2010 that will prevent demotions and layoffs but will reduce minimum staffing from 29 to 27 firefighters per day.

The original staffing level for the department when organized in 1995 was 30 firefighters per day. That was reduced due to budgets several years ago.

Steve Tippel, president of Local 1440, said both the union and the board's negotiation team approached the contract responsibly.

"When the department was organized, it was done to provide better service," Tippel said. Because of revenue limits and limits in the governing agreement, the revenue side of the budget was held to a 1 percent increase.

Tipple said the reduction in staffing will lead to the closing of an engine company and one less person on one truck.

Deputy Chief Robert Whitaker said the firefighters swapped a department-funded Health Reimbursement Account for a 0.75 pay increase that will go into effect Dec. 31 of this year.

Under the previous contract, the department had put $500 into the HRA account, but those accounts will be closed, Tippel said. Firefighters will continue to have a flexible benefits account that they fund themselves.

The pharmacy deductible is now $100 per plan member with a maximum of $300 for a family plan. United Healthcare is the carrier for the department's health insurance.

The union also agreed to reduce members' wages by one day's pay. Whitaker said the mechanics of that have not been totally worked out, but it is likely the firefighters will forgo some holiday pay and part of their uniform allowance for the reduction.

Tippel said firefighters in comparable departments (West Allis, Wauwatosa and Waukesha) are getting raises this year.

He is hopeful that an improvement in the economy will benefit the North Shore firefighters in contract negotiations for 2011 and that the board of directors, made up of one member from each of the seven member communities, will continue to work on a ways to improve the funding formula for the department.

The adoption of a separate capital budget for 2010, a first for NSFD, is a step in the right direction, he said.

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