Firefighters union  agrees to no  raises

Says members want to do their part to help out in tough economic times.

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By Samantha Sommer, Staff Writer 11:43 PM Tuesday, October 13, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — City commissioners approved a contract with firefighters Tuesday, Oct. 13, that calls for no raises.

The two-year contract with Local 333 of the International Association of Firefighters goes into effect Nov. 1.

The contract is essentially the same as the one that expires at the end of October, city Personnel Director Jeff Rodgers said. It covers about 125 firefighters.

Firefighters eligible for step raises will still receive those increases and they will continue to pay 10 percent of their health-care premiums.

Nonunion employees and AFSCME members also won’t receive across-the-board raises this year.

“This is just a reflection of the economy and the state of the economy locally,” Rodgers said.

Local 333 President Jeff Powell agreed, saying members know a lot of people don’t have jobs.

“We’re lucky to have our jobs,” he said. “We want to do our part and help the city out.”

Mayor Warren Copeland thanked the union members for agreeing to no raises.

“The city is facing significant budget pressure and this bargaining unit has been willing to cooperate,” he said.

In other business, commissioners also discussed folding two advisory boards into one.

The Community Advisory Review Board makes recommendations about Community Development Block Grant dollars. The Community Housing Advisory Board does the same for Emergency Shelter Grant and HOME dollars.

One board could review all the grants, said Jackie Sudhoff, housing program coordinator.

“The regulations are very similar to each other and we can combine boards and act more efficiently,” she said.

The CDBG review board has been less active in recent years. It previously made recommendations about which community organizations should receive grants from the city, but those dollars aren’t distributed anymore as the federal funds have been cut back.

Commissioners likely will have legislation before them by the end of the year to combine the boards.

The new board, if approved, likely will be called the Community Grant Advisory Board and consist of 11 members.

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Firemen-24 hrs on, 72 hrs off, sleep, eat & TV when at work, wait for a call. Police-8 hrs a day, constantly on patrol & taking calls, watching everything while at work. Most firemen have 2nd jobs they work on their 72hrs off why should they care about a raise as long as they have health care with the city. Firemen $55K + 2nd jobs income. Police $53K no 2nd job. The city settles with the Firemen 1st knowing that a arbitrator will not give another union more than the other. Firefighter Sorry guys

Resident
3:37 AM, 10/15/2009

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Sounds to me like the fire union guys sold out all the members. Why not at least push for a 1% raise and let a fact finder or arbitrator decide what should happen. Hope the police union is watching this.

change you can believe in
2:17 PM, 10/14/2009

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Why doesn't the city just take it's entire payroll budget and divide it by the number of persons it employees and then pay everyone equally ? Doesn't that sound fair ? Maybe the manager who makes $107,000 per year won't be hit as hard by inflation as a blue collar $38,000 per year public works guy who works just as hard. It's easy to say you should be glad you have a job when insurance prices go up along with utilites and taxes. They are actually taking a pay decrease via inflation.

change we can believe in
2:15 PM, 10/14/2009

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As long as no other city workers get raises, then I think it is fair. This includes the Mayor & City Manager too.

flipper
1:36 PM, 10/14/2009

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I realize that 'no raise' is always a sad thing to hear, but let's be realistic, folks. Yes, they have a hard, sometimes dangersous job. But they make decent money. They aren't hurting. If they feel they can live with it, we can, too.

Lipshitz
10:55 AM, 10/14/2009

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