By William Melhado
The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have increased the salaries of California firefighters to put their compensation closer to what local municipalities pay their own firefighters, for the same reason he has axed similar legislation related to state worker pay in previous years: the collective bargaining process.
Assembly Bill 1309 would have required the state to pay California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection employees within a 15% range of the average salary of those with similar jobs working for city and county fire departments across the state. The comparative salaries would be based on an average of 20 jurisdictions’ salaries.
In addition to Newsom’s concerns about the legislation overstepping the bargaining process, the governor said last week that he vetoed the legislation because it would pose significant costs to the state. The bill passed both chambers with near-unanimous approval.
“Establishing a statutory salary floor for employees of a single department undermines (the collective bargaining) process to the detriment of both the state and other bargaining units,” Newsom wrote.
Tim Edwards, the president of CAL FIRE Local 2881, which represents the state’s firefighters, said AB 1309 was intentionally written to assuage the governor’s concerns about the collective bargaining process. Those salary increases would be achieved through negotiations between the union and the California Department of Human Resources, he said.
“All we want to do is have CalHR and the administration of California come to the table with bargaining unit 8, your state fire department, and negotiate in good faith,” Edwards said.
The state’s total compensation for four surveyed classifications lagged 17% behind what several fire departments across California provided their employees, according to the latest compensation survey published by CalHR in 2023.
Also disappointed by the veto was Assemblymember Heath Flora, R- Ripon, who authored the bill.
“As a former CAL FIRE firefighter, this one hits hard. I’ve been in their boots. I know how demanding the job is and what it takes to keep Californians safe during long and brutal fire seasons,” Flora said in a statement. “These firefighters deserve pay that reflects the weight of that responsibility.”
Newsom has vetoed legislation in the past that would have required California to increase state workers’ salaries to close pay gaps. In those veto messages, the governor similarly argued these bills would circumnavigate the collective bargaining process.
Edwards said the legislation was an important additional tool to recruit and retain firefighters, some of whom he noted are paid less than $20 an hour.
California is in the process of transitioning state firefighters from a 72-hour to a 66-hour duty week, which means on average CAL FIRE employees will work 11 days per pay period instead of 12. The union advocated for the change to better protect the health of its members and to keep CAL FIRE employees working for the state, instead of decamping to local jurisdictions with less grueling schedules.
“This was what we felt was the final piece needed to make sure that we retain these people,” Edwards said. “Even though we’re at a (66-hour duty week) and we’re hiring people, we’re losing them to higher-paid departments.”
It’s not clear that Cal Fire faces significant recruitment challenges.
A 2024 report from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office said, “To date, CAL FIRE has not provided evidence that it has faced challenges attracting firefighters to work at the department. For example, CAL FIRE reports that it currently has three times more applicants for entry‑level Fire Fighter I positions than available positions, suggesting that health and wellness concerns are not dissuading people from pursuing this profession.”
Despite the veto, both Edwards and Flora said the fight over firefighters’ compensation isn’t over. The union president said he plans to go back to lawmakers next year and get the issue back in front of the governor.
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