Firefighters prevail in contract arbitration

An arbitrator has ruled overwhelmingly for the Kalispell firefighters union in a contract dispute — a decision that may cost the city of Kalispell several hundred thousand dollars or force layoffs.

The Feb. 22 binding decision by Arbitrator James Lundberg essentially gave the firefighters everything they asked for, particularly wage increases.

Lundberg ruled in the firefighters’ favor on all 14 contested points in the contract negotiations.

Kalispell City Manager Jane Howington said Monday the decisions “will have significant financial impacts to the city.” During her comments at the close of a City Council meeting, Howington said she will develop some cost-containment measures in response to the decision.

On Tuesday, Howington said a letter was drafted to let firefighters know about the possibility of layoffs.

“There will be some changes in the provision of services,” she said.

Privatizing the city’s ambulance service — currently run by the Kalispell Fire Department — is one option.

“We basically have to find a new model to do emergency services, including fire and ambulance,” Howington said.

The two parties agreed to pursue arbitration last August when they were $400,000 apart, she said.

Karl Englund, attorney for the union, said he was happy with the arbitrator’s decision, but was also unhappy with the ruling “because the parties should be able to work this out on their own.”

Attorney Rich Hickel, who represented the city, said 30 firefighters would be affected.

The arbitration ruling results in retroactive pay for firefighters dating back to July 1. This likely will be paid through lump-sum checks. Hickel said the city and union still are working on finalizing the contract language and he estimated the contract would be finished within a month.

Union Secretary F. Ray Ruffatto said the firefighters received a letter from the city about possible layoffs yesterday. “It might be a little disappointing,” he said, adding it was tough to make a comment without knowing any specifics.

The International Association of Fire Fighters Local 547 three-year contract proposal made some progress in bringing the base wage rate closer to the statewide average in lower-paying classifications.

Higher-paid firefighters lost longevity pay in 2005, but those firefighters kept their then-existing longevity pay. The union wanted to reinstate longevity at 23 cents per hour per year of service. 

The union pay proposal that was accepted by the arbitrator included the following pay scales (current pay is in parentheses): probationary $16.20 ($14.50 currently); firefighter I $18 ($17.40); firefighter II $18.54 ($17.88 to $18.58); engineer (new position) $18.90; lieutenant $19.80 ($20.69); and captain $21.60 ($22.85).

These hourly rates do not include the longevity increases.

The city had proposed some wage increases but no longevity pay. The city’s offer was: probationary $14.50; firefighter I, $17.75; firefighter II, $19; engineer, $19.95; lieutenant, $21.75; and captain, $23.95.

The union called for a 2.4 percent increase in fiscal year 2013. The city offered no raises in 2012 or 2013.

The pay still is below the average of other comparable cities in Montana. Kalispell is the seventh largest city in the state and as such was included with Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Bozeman, Butte and Helena.

The union’s wage proposal was designed to deal with retention, to make wages comparable to other Montana cities, and to be within the city’s budget.

Both parties agreed that retention was a significant issue.

Elimination of longevity in 2005 coincided with the beginning of the retention problem, Lundberg said. The city claimed that retention had been addressed by hiring Dan Diehl as chief.

“With respect to Chief Diehl, the data show that retention issues were not solved when he took over in March 2008,” Lundberg said. “Since then the department has lost at least nine employees.”

Lundberg noted that since 2005, Kalispell Fire Department experienced significant reductions in personnel and a wage freeze while similar cutbacks and reductions were not experienced by the Kalispell Police Department. Hourly wages within the police department are significantly higher than those paid to firefighters and wages for police officers have increased annually despite budgetary problems, Lundberg said.

He said it was significant that the city’s ending money balance grew by $400,000 from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2010, and the vacancy savings from the fire department during the same period was approximately $380,000.

“The city has been improving its financial position and it is reasonable to expect that the slight improvement in financial position will result in some slight improvement in the wages of the fire department where very deep cuts have been made to meet budgetary problems,” he said.

“Since Kalispell is the smallest first-class city in the state of Montana and consequently has fewer resources to draw upon when determining employee wages, a strong argument can be made in support of a wage package that pays somewhat less than the larger cities in the comparison group. The wage proposals made by both parties fall below the average hourly wages paid within the comparison group and place Kalispell firefighters in the lowest wage rank within the comparison group.”

The union also won on the calculation of overtime, which was not spelled out in the old contract.

The city paid according to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The union requested that overtime be paid based on both federal and state law. Lundberg said there appeared to be little, if any, net difference between the overtime proposals.

The city wanted to reduce firefighters’ clothing allowance by a total of five items to reduce costs, although it didn’t specify how much. The union countered that the uniforms would be washed more often and wear out quicker. The city didn’t meet its burden of proof, Lundberg said.

The city presented data and forecasts from the University of Montana economist Paul Polzin, local appraiser Jim Kelley and Kalispell Planning Director Tom Jentz, indicating that the city’s economic situation is not expected to improve for up to six more years.

Howington and Finance Director Amy Robertson noted the city pays the full premium of $505 per month for a single employee’s health insurance, $721 for a parent with children, and $1,100 for family coverage.

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