By Sean Collins Walsh
The Philadelphia Daily News
PHILADELPHIA — As the Nutter administration and firefighters union get ready to duke it out in state Commonwealth Court, a Philadelphia judge has ordered the city to make a lump-sum payment of $6.7 million to the union’s health-care fund, as well as increase its monthly contribution to the fund.
Local 22 of the International Association of Fire Fighters asked Common Pleas Judge Idee Fox to make the city implement an arbitration award that the Nutter administration is appealing to Commonwealth Court. Fox ruled yesterday that the city must step up its aid for the distressed health-care fund but did not touch the rest of the award, which also includes retroactive pay raises.
Mayor Nutter described the ruling as “a bit of a split decision” because Fox did not order the full award to be implemented.
“That’s the second time that that kind of relief has been pursued,” Nutter said of the firefighters’ attempts. “That did not happen . . . which I think points out the larger issue, which is clearly many unresolved issues that are quite significant.”
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