Last week, Local 230, the union that represents the City’s firefighters, reached a preliminary agreement with the City to reduce their total compensation by ten percent over the next two years. Over the weekend, most of the union’s firefighters had an opportunity to vote on whether to agree to the deal, and 95% of the union members who participated voted to approve the deal. Although there are a few details to be worked out, I expect that the City Council will approve the deal shortly.
In addition to the reduced compensation, Local 230 are also making major concessions by agreeing to increase their contributions to their health care plan, by reducing the number of firefighters on trucks from five to four, and by fully pre-funding their retiree health care benefits. Local 230 is also discussing the possibility of modifying the current sick leave policy. These concessions alone can save the City millions of dollars.
In addition, Local 230 has agreed to discuss a two-tier retirement system for newly-hired firefighters. This may be a good time to explain the “two-tier” issue since the topic has come up frequently over the last two years. “Two-tier” essentially means that any new employees that are hired after a two-tiered system is put in place will receive a lesser retirement plan than the current employees. It is important to keep in mind that a two-tier system would not impact the current budget deficit, because it usually only applies to newly-hired personnel, and at the moment it does not appear very likely that there will many new hires made by any City department in the near future. However, with respect to the deal with Local 230, not only are the firefighters open to a two-tier system, but they are also willing to discuss a proposed “opt-in” provision that would allow current firefighters to opt-in to the second tier that would normally only apply to newly-hired firefighters.
Personally, I am very pleased that the firefighters, who risk their lives on a daily basis to protect us, have made this sacrifice for the greater good of the City. During this recent fiscal crisis, most of our city’s unions have voluntarily offered significant concessions in an effort to do their part to reduce the deficit, and they deserve great praise for their selflessness.
