Firefighters offer new plan for scheduling

Kelly Days and Kelly Work Back Days were at the center of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 547’s request to re-enter collective bargaining with the city of Kalispell on Thursday.

The request is an effort to avert the layoff of seven firefighters following an arbitrator’s decision that the city says would cost $690,000 over three years.

Specifically, the firefighters’ proposal would eliminate Kelly Work Back Days and require that each firefighter take one unpaid Kelly Day for each of 13 28-day pay periods annually. These Kelly Days would be “hard scheduled” into the contract if the proposal is accepted. Currently, if a firefighter works another’s Kelly Day, that is considered a Kelly Work Back Day, resulting in an unbudgeted obligation for the city.

Under the department’s current schedule, firefighters work a rotating schedule that results in them working nine shifts in two out of every three pay periods. The third pay period results in them working 10 shifts. Only firefighters on the 10-shift per month platoon get a Kelly Day, and it’s not mandatory that they take the day off.

As a result of the new offer, the firefighters union said it is giving up most, if not all, of the raises they won in a recent arbitrator’s decision. That decision resulted in 22 of the 30 firefighters getting a $6,000 yearly raise and a 2.4-percent raise scheduled for Fiscal Year 2013.

Walsh said the firefighters want to keep the 2.4-percent raise, but are willing to look at addressing it later. City Attorney Charlie Harball said the city would like to take out the 2.4-percent raise for now and ultimately address it later.

The firefighters union did not provide hard numbers for its proposal, but union negotiator Ricky J. Walsh said the firefighters would cut their work week from 51.58 hours to 50.77 hours, a difference of .81 hours a week.

The city is budgeting 54.25 hours per firefighter in the current contract, based on 2,834 hours a year. That represents the total number of hours firefighters could possibly work each year.

After Thursday’s meeting, Fire Chief Dan Diehl said the voluntary Kelly Days in the current contract are a problem. He said they are unmanageable, financially and practically from a scheduling standpoint.

Diehl said Tuesday that the city’s north fire station behind Costco would not be closed. At an April 7 press conference, firefighters union secretary F. Ray Ruffatto had said the city’s north fire station might be closed if the layoffs went into effect.

“We’re pleased with how this is going,” Ruffatto said Thursday. He noted that the city and firefighters union were never able to agree on how many hours the firefighters work each week, but acknowledged that the firefighters’ earning potential decreases in the proposal.

“We said all along we are committed to doing our part to averting these layoffs,” Ruffatto said. “I can’t tell you everybody’s going to be ecstatic. If you ask 30 firefighters, you’ll get 30 different answers on what they’re gaining and losing.”

Ruffatto is confident the two parties will end up with a mutually agreeable outcome.

Reporter Caleb Soptelean may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at csoptelean@dailyinterlake.com.