City, union differ on contract cost
Kalispell Fire Department Lt. Jon Campbell, left, and Firefighter/Paramedic Joe Hansen, pause for a moment between drills on Wednesday afternoon at Station 62 on W. Reserve Loop. The firefighters ran training drills challenging each other to see who could correctly assemble and put on their personal protective equipment and self-contained breathing apparatus the fastest.
Firefighter/EMT Soren Koetter gets his gear on the fastest in one of the drills on Wednesday afternoon at Station 62 in Kalispell.
Firefighters had to run laps up and down the stairs if they got their gear on incorrectly or were the slowest in the group on Wednesday afternoon at Station 62 in Kalispell.
Although Kalispell’s firefighters union and city management met Wednesday, it’s up to the union to request contract renegotiations.
That’s the word from City Manager Jane Howington. She explained that since the city lost in contract arbitration, it has to go with what the arbitrator decided. Since the firefighters won, the responsibility lies with them to request any renegotiation.
Howington and other city officials met with four representatives of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 547 for an hour Wednesday at City Hall.
The meeting followed a suggestion by Mayor Tammi Fisher and council member Duane Larson that the city and firefighters renegotiate to avert layoffs as the city faces a $690,000 deficit because of the new contract.
Howington described Wednesday’s meeting as purely informational. Much of the discussion was over conflicting interpretations of the city’s budget and the firefighters’ contract.
Toward the end of the meeting, Howington told union representatives to talk to Adjutant City Attorney Rich Hickel to schedule a meeting in an attempt to understand the city’s numbers.
“If we can just understand their assessment of the impacts [of the contract], that will get us somewhere, and we can move on from there,” union Vice President Doug Schwartz said after the meeting. “There’s still confusion or disagreement on hours as it pertains to our contract.”
The City Council ratified the three-year contract last week after an arbitrator sided with the union on all 14 contested negotiating points.
The arbitrator mandated salary and longevity-pay increases for firefighters, including back pay. Firefighters should receive lump-sum back-pay checks on or around April 28, Howington said.
The $104,000 in back pay will leave the fire department fund with a negative balance of $15,000 for the 2011 fiscal year, she said.
According to Howington, the arbitrator’s decision will cost the city an extra $690,000 over the life of the contract. She has said the city is considering firefighter layoffs and outsourcing the ambulance service to balance the budget.
Schwartz said firefighters want to make sure the city doesn’t misapply numbers in order to lay off firefighters.
Howington said firefighters haven’t complained about how their paychecks are formulated, so their criticizing the city’s budget methodology leaves her stymied. She said the whole process “is tearing my heart out.”
Howington said notices that were sent to all city firefighters earlier this month are not layoff notices. She said they are “notices that there was going to be an impact” as a result of the arbitrator’s ruling.
Schwartz said the union supports a better proposal to track firefighters’ Kelly work-back days. Kelly days are days that firefighters are scheduled off after working 10 days. But they have the right to work that day or use it as a vacation or sick day.
The firefighters have a total of 75 Kelly days during the 2011 fiscal year, but the only limit for the next two years is 10 days per firefighter. A total of 27 firefighters can use Kelly days, Howington said, not counting the fire chief and his assistants.
Reporter Caleb Soptelean may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at csoptelean@dailyinterlake.com.