Two major conflicts and a lack of negotiations for a contract between Athens City and its firefighters has forced the groups to present the case to a conciliator nearly one year after negotiations for the contract began.
Negotiators from the city, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Ohio Council 8 and Local 3351 will present their positions Oct. 20 to a conciliator, who will make a binding decision about the three-year contract. The city and the firefighters will split the $1,100 cost of hiring the conciliator.
The groups last met to negotiate in mid-February, during which firefighters and the city failed to reach agreements about longevity pay and the duration of the workweek.
The city is proposing to eliminate longevity pay -additional money for employees who work at the department for more than five years -for any new employees. The move would result in $400 savings, but that savings would not be realized for about seven years, said Charles James, Local 3351 president.
A secretary for the city's negotiator, Law Director Garry Hunter, said he declined to comment because no progress can be made in the situation.
The union maintains a stance that the cut in longevity pay would single out new firefighters. Firefighters are firefighters
and there's not different classes of people here James said.
The fire department has cut two firefighters in the past three years, making it unlikely that the city would hire new firefighters.
I don't know why we're arguing about this he said, adding that he thinks the city is using the longevity pay conflict as leverage to persuade the union to accept a proposal for a shorter workweek.
What they're doing is just a threat
he said.
In the current schedule, firefighters work 48 hours each week with no overtime and two days off between 24-hour shifts, he said. The city is proposing to change the schedule to a 40-hour workweek with paid overtime.
Because the city would be paying overtime, it would see no total savings and likely would not have the staff to maintain the schedule, James said.
In previous negotiations, firefighters tentatively had accepted the city's proposals for a smaller annual wage increase rate and dramatically increased insurance costs, which might lead to some officers taking pay cuts, he said.
The AFSCME expressed further concern that the city could save a larger amount of money by cutting transportation privileges for some city employees. It is appalling that City Council continues its stance on this issue for $400 savings somewhere in the distant future
while the city continues to provide city employees with high-cost vehicles to drive to all corners of the county
the union wrote in a news release.
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Kantele Franko
