By Jenn Klein
The Chico Enterprise-Record (California)
CHICO, Calif. — City leaders expect to rescind layoff notices to five firefighters Wednesday after the fire union’s agreement to give up raises for the next two years becomes official.
The Chico City Council is set to ratify a contract Tuesday for the fire union, in which the union will give up the 4 percent raises it received this year and is scheduled to receive next January. That concession is expected to save the city some $800,000 over the next two years.
“It does meet our budget deficit reduction request and so, subject to council approval, we would then rescind that layoff notice,” City Manager Dave Burkland said.
A cut in what the city pays in health and dental insurance coverage is expected to save the city $66,000 annually. The union’s agreement to lower wages for new firefighters by 5 percent will save $4,141 for each one.
With the fire union’s agreement, all eight of the city’s employee groups have now accepted wage and health insurance concessions sought by the city to balance its budget.
“I’m just absolutely thrilled and so proud of the city employees and proud of the Fire Department for stepping forward,” Burkland said.
The fire union publicly announced last November it would go a step beyond the 1 percent raise caps sought by the city for all its employee groups and would give up raises for the next two years and drop wages for starting firefighters in order to protect staffing.
The number of the firefighters on each of the three shifts dropped from 22 to 21 in June 2008, and a second drop to 20 was planned this coming June.
The union wanted to stop that, and sought language in the new contact that the concessions were to go toward staffing.
But the city felt staffing assurances could lead to financial problems down the road.
Burkland said the contract, signed by the fire union last Wednesday, achieves a compromise through a clarification. The new contract states that the extra 1 percent will be “redirected to augment the Fire Department budget.”
Burkland said it will be up to Fire Chief Jim Beery to determine how that savings will be used.
“Certainly, he’s very interested in maintaining the highest level of staffing, but I think the main thing is it doesn’t dictate exactly how it has to be used,” Burkland said.
Fire union president Steve Harrison said that is what the union had wanted all along and is pleased with the language.
However, he said the city’s decision to handle both raises and health benefits as a package deal delayed the process beyond the deadline for layoffs, created mistrust and led to the request to include language on staffing.
“We’re happy, but we’re still a little upset about the way the city handled itself, but we’ll get past it,” Harrison said.
Harrison said the salaries of those in the 66-member union went back to December levels Sunday. The two-year contract runs to February 2010.
The layoffs were scheduled to take effect Feb. 9. Harrison said the union membership gave permission for a quick ratification of the contract because of the impending layoffs. He said being in that position “was kind of a disrespect” to the union.
“We wish the process could have gone differently, but that’s in the past and we’re ready to move behind it and have everyone in the city focus on their jobs instead of all this,” Harrison said. “It’s very distracting.”
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