Fort Worth Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH, Texas — The city and its firefighters reached a deal on a new contract after more than two years of negotiations but intentionally left out a key piece of the puzzle — an agreement on pension reductions.
The four-year contract, approved by the Fort Worth Professional Firefighters over the weekend, includes raises each year and stricter rules about sick time to help offset the city’s overtime expenses, but the two sides could not agree on the city’s proposed pension reductions.
The City Council is set to approve the contract and changes in current firefighters’ benefits Tuesday night.
The deal will likely mean an end to a lawsuit filed by the association in January alleging that the city failed to negotiate in good faith, Assistant City Manager Susan Alanis said. She said the firefighter association “will have to make a decision if they decide to pursue litigation surrounding the pension.”
Jim Tate, president of the Fort Worth Professional Firefighters, did not respond to calls seeking comment Monday. In a statement, the association said it will address council members Tuesday.
“During the negotiations process the firefighters offered five different proposals to stabilize the health of the pension fund,” the statement said. “Proposals were also offered by the firefighters to restore retiree health care benefits for newly hired firefighters at no expense to the city. Unfortunately the city was unwilling to negotiate to allow the firefighters to provide the necessary funding for either proposal.”
The association was pushing a pension deal that would have allowed separating the firefighters’ pension fund from the Fort Worth Employees Retirement Fund. The tactic would have allowed firefighters to increase their own contributions to maintain the formula for retirement benefits. The city’s contributions would have remained the same.
But the city contends that breaking the funds apart would expose the city to litigation from general and police employees.
“What they are studying now is if they can accept the benefit reductions and separately fund a supplemental fund that would make up the difference,” Alanis said. She said the city has not seen that new proposal.
The council will also vote Tuesday on benefit reductions for firefighters hired before Jan. 10, 2015, including reducing the multiplier used to calculate benefits from 3 percent to 2.5 percent and using high five years instead of three years, and excluding overtime that is not built into their salary, to determine a firefighter’s retirement pay.
The contract for the firefighters expired Sept. 30.
Fort Worth Police Officers’ Association President Rick Van Houten and former President Steve Hall are suing based on changes in pension benefits for general and police employees approved by the City Council in 2012.
The lawsuit accuses the city of contract impairment, violation of due process, unlawful taking of property and violating the U.S. and Texas constitutions in reducing pension benefits for future service. The council reduced the multiplier used in calculating benefits, raised the number of years for retirement pay and eliminated overtime in calculations.
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