The Philadelphia Daily News
PHILADELPHIA — Philly firefighters won 9 percent raises and escaped furlough days under a new four-year contract handed down by an arbitration panel yesterday. which Mayor Nutter promptly pledged to appeal for being too pricey.
“This award offers the city no flexibility to cope with these costs short of cutting services,” Nutter said, arguing that he needed the ability to furlough workers.
Bill Gault, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 22, said he thought it was a fair deal for his 2,200 members, who have been working under old terms since July 1, 2009.
“I’ve been dealing with this for 16 months,” Gault said. “It finally gets done, it’s not that great, it’s not that bad, it’s a standard regular award that everybody can live with.”
Yesterday’s award, the second contract resolved with the city’s four municipal unions, was similar to the arbitration award given to police last December. Both the police and fire unions cannot strike, so their contracts are resolved through arbitration.
Like police, the firefighters are getting raises and will shift to a new system of paying health-care bills and new hires will be given the option of a “hybrid” retirement plan that includes a 401(k).
But unlike police, the firefighters will not be allowed to move outside the city. And the city will not be able to impose up to 30 furlough days. Nutter argued that not getting the furlough powers impacted the city’s ability to manage.
Gault pointed out that Nutter has not yet furloughed police officers. Asked if he would in the future, Nutter said: “That’s a decision for the police commissioner to make.”
The police contract was projected to add $114 million over five years in raises alone, but Nutter dubbed it worth the money given the pension changes and the furlough powers.
Looking ahead, this arbitration award raises the question of how Nutter can reach cost-saving contracts with the nonuniform unions, which he has repeatedly stated as a goal, given that those workers would likely now view the fire deal as a template for their demands.
The fire contract provides wage increases over the next three years, totaling 9 percent. The raises and other benefit changes will cost the city $66 million over five years, said Finance Director Rob Dubow.
For health care, the firefighters will shift to a self-insured plan, meaning that the city will pay medical bills directly, instead of a per-member fee each month.
But Nutter administration officials said they wanted tougher measures to rein in the cost of fire health care, noting that they had pushed for a program that would put some of the burden on the union if firefighters exceed their estimated health-care costs. Dubow put the estimated increase to benefit costs over the life of the contract at $80 million.
Gault said that firefighters have more health problems.
“Fireman’s health care always costs more. We’re exposed to more,” he said.
And on pensions, fire got a similar deal to police - new hires would have the option of paying more to stay in the current pension program or going to a hybrid plan that combines a 401(k) with a lower-benefit pension.
That provision, and a restriction on vacation time for new hires, are the only pieces of the contract that Nutter isn’t appealing. The city has 30 days to file the appeal in Common Pleas Court.
Unlike police and fire, District Council 33, of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and District Council 47, which represent white-collar employees, participate in traditional negotiations with the city. Neither union has met with the city since last year. They have been working under their old terms since July 1.