Officials speak against fire department staffing bill

Opponents said the bill will take budgets out of the hands of municipal officials by forcing them to hire more firefighters than necessary

November 19, 2014 09:48 AM

Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — Nearly two dozen suburban leaders on Tuesday ramped up their opposition to a proposal in Springfield that would subject fire department staffing levels to collective bargaining and binding outside arbitration.

Representatives from Evanston, Oak Lawn, Glenview and Oak Brook were among those at a Willis Tower news conference where officials urged the state Senate not to approve the bill in the fall session. The bill is expected to be considered in a Senate committee Wednesday. The House approved the bill in April by a 63-44 vote.

Opponents said Tuesday the measure serves only to protect union jobs and take local budgets out of the hands of municipal officials by forcing them to hire more firefighters than necessary to keep their communities safe.

“Our fire chiefs, not outside arbitrators, are best qualified to determine the fire and life safety needs of our communities in concert with our elected officials,” said Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl.

Meanwhile, advocates of the measure say arbitrators already have jurisdiction on the minimum number of firefighters employed by departments outside of Chicago and that the current measure seeks to clarify existing law.

In addition, the proposal also could help towns from being sued by taking contract disputes directly to an arbitrator and theoretically saving taxpayers money in court, said sponsoring Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan.

“We’re not asking them to do anything that they’re not already doing except stop wasting taxpayer dollars,” Mayfield said in a phone interview.

The state’s firefighters union, the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois, also has supported the bill as a way to guarantee fire departments outside Chicago can bargain with municipalities to make sure enough firefighters are on duty.

An early version of the bill would have affected all Illinois cities and towns, but it was amended this spring to apply only to municipalities with populations of less than 1 million, which exempts Chicago.