By Cortney Fielding
Pasadena Star-News (California)
Copyright 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Los Angeles Newspaper Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. — After more than a year-and-a-half of back-and-forth negotiations, firefighters have struck a contract deal with City Hall that both sides acknowledge won’t solve much of anything.
Union members in the South Pasadena Fire Department said they aren’t pleased with the one-year, 2.25-percent raise, but have decided to settle because months of negotiations were leading nowhere.
“Basically, we needed to put some money in our guys’ pockets,” said fire captain and South Pasadena Firefighters Association president Kris Saxon. The department has not seen an increase in two years.
The association and the city have been struggling to agree on a new contract since the previous one expired in July 2005.
Tensions began to flare in October of that year, when the city decided not to pursue contracting its fire services out to Pasadena or Los Angeles. The plan would have included significant boosts in salary for the firefighters, but city officials said residents were not comfortable with a takeover.
Last fall, union President Brett Hill resigned after more than 20 years in South Pasadena, citing frustrations over pay and treatment.
“I think there’s a huge morale issue. It’s not getting any better,” he said of the mood inside the department.
Many other firefighters have also left. According to internal department documents, 13 firefighters have resigned in South Pasadena since 2004, a high turnover rate for a city with one firehouse and only 22 employees in the department.
Statistics from exit interviews reveal eight firefighters moved on to other cities. Seven of those employees had been with the department less than a year.
“We just can’t compete,” Saxon said, referring to a department survey of firefighter salaries throughout the San Gabriel Valley, which shows South Pasadena pays about 26 percent below the average.
Of the 13 cities agreed upon with City Hall for comparison, South Pasadena’s salaries are the lowest, with an average of $4,599 a month. The highest paid firefighters, in El Monte, who are county employees, make on average $6,384 monthly, while the second lowest, in Alhambra, make $5,166.
The firefighters aren’t in a unique situation in the city. Police officers also have reached a contract impasse. The Public Service Employees Association grudgingly accepted a 2.25 percent increase in December.
“This package is ... very slim pickings,” said union President Yolanda Valdez.
South Pasadena doesn’t have blinders on with regard to pay issues, said City Manager Lilian Meyers.
Meyers said the city will complete a salary survey for all its employee groups by the end of March, then begin the process of correcting the inequities.
“Our goal is to establish equity along city positions,” she said. “We know that many of our salaries are likely out of whack, or at least below the median.”
But changes will come before the fire department’s next round of negotiations, she said. The union contract began retroactively in 2006 - and will run out in June. The two groups will be back at the negotiating table in April.
Despite the tense situation, Meyers said she was impressed with the firefighters’ attitude throughout the negotiations.
“They deserve to be commended for working with us,” she said. “We know everyone is not happy.”