Sep. 14—HAVERHILL — The deadlocked firefighter contract negotiations that began last year will now go into mediation in an attempt to reach a resolution.
The talks broke down during a negotiation session in May after Haverhill Firefighters Local 1011 declared an impasse and terminated the session.
The union subsequently filed a petition with the state's Joint Labor Management Committee, a division of the Department of Labor Relations, to help resolve the dispute.
Both sides are scheduled to meet with a three-member JLMC panel on Sept. 20 at City Hall. The panel will consist of a labor representative from an outside firefighters union, a management representative such as an active or retired mayor or town manager, and a neutral arbitrator who would typically make the decision in these cases, city officials said.
Haverhill Solicitor William Cox, who is representing the city in negotiations with Local 1011, said the union's last two-year contract provided firefighters with a 1.75% pay increase in the first year and 1.75% in the second and expired June 30, 2021. It remains in effect until a new agreement is reached, he said.
Timothy Carroll, president of Local 1011, said his members saw no pay raises in fiscal 2022 or 2023 and none so far this fiscal year.
"We're one of the lowest-paid fire departments in the state and it wasn't that way 20 years ago," he said. "We have to close the gap in pay. We put in a lot of hours, our health care has gone up, and inflation has an effect.
"We just want to get back into the middle of the pack again," Carroll added. "At the end of the day, the mayor and Bill Cox have a job to do and I respect that, but I just want a fair contract and I don't feel we've been offered that."
Carroll said his union declared an impasse at the negotiation session May 17 because the city reduced its offer.
"We are paid 30% less than police and we want some sort of parity," Carroll said. "We were looking to close the gap and they (the city) came back with a lower offer than initially proposed so we walked out. We went to the Joint Labor Management Committee and we'll now have a mediated meeting."
Cox said the city remains hopeful that an agreement can be reached after the meeting with mediators.
"Before they terminated negotiations in May, they put millions of dollars in new requests on the table," Cox said of the firefighters union. "Within hours of terminating negotiations, they filed with the state's JLMC, saying we were at an impasse."
Carroll said the additional demands his union made during the May 17 negotiation session were the result of learning that police would receive what he said is a new contract offering a higher hourly wage than firefighters were being offered.
"We asked for more money based on that," Carroll said. "Police are paid more hourly and work less hours. We work eight 24-hour shifts per month and the only extra money we see is in overtime. And for that we're working anywhere from 48 to 100 hours a week."
Cox said it is difficult to compare the police and firefighter contracts for a host of reasons and that annual earnings are a better measure of how people are paid.
Carroll said his union is simply asking for a fair wage.
"It's time for this mayor or the next mayor to do right by employees by providing them with honest and fair wage increases," Carroll said. "We're not asking for much. Give us what they gave teachers, which was 4%, 3% and 3%. Whatever we do it has to be for three years."
The negotiations have exasperated Mayor James Fiorentini, who said he has reached agreements with every single municipal union except the firefighters.
"I recently gave a small pay raise to City Hall employees that their union did not even request," Fiorentini said. "I would like nothing better than to reach a fair agreement with the firefighters, too. Unfortunately, they have made it reasonably clear they have no intention of reaching any agreement with my administration and they are holding out for what they believe will be a better deal from the next mayor.
"The next mayor needs to be fair, treat everyone with dignity and respect, but they can never give in to unreasonable union demands," Fiorentini added.
Cox said the city is willing to resume contract talks at any time.
"It's interesting that we've been able to reach an agreement with every union other than firefighters," Cox said. "It's my sense they are not interested in reaching an agreement at this time as they feel they will do better with a new mayor."
Fiorentini announced he would retire at the end of the year and not seek reelection after leading the city for 20 years.
Cox said aside from the impasse, the city is looking to simplify the 58-page firefighters contract, including what he said are numerous amendments that are difficult to understand.
"They refuse to sign an integrated contract so that there is a single document to read to know what the agreement is between them and the city," Cox said. "By law, you are supposed to have a single document so all parties can see what the provisions of the contract are rather than 58 pages of multiple agreements."
Carroll said there is language in the contract with which both sides disagree.
"We've made attempts to resolve it but the city at every turn has balked at it," he said. "If you integrate the contract it will still be over 40 pages."
Cox said it's the other way around and that the union has been resistant to an integrated contract.
Carroll insists his union wants to streamline its contract with the city "without giving up the farm."
"I would like an integrated contract but this administration does not want to work in good faith with the Fire Department," he said. "I can't wait until January not to have to deal with this administration of Bill Cox and the mayor. But if the city came to us today with an offer, I'd bring it back to our members but the city has chosen not to do that."
Cox said the city has asked the union for an integrated contract multiple times over the years, which he said at times the union has agreed to but did not follow through.
"The union has advised they disagree with the interpretation of one section in a 2004 side agreement and has refused to sign an integrated agreement, which we worked with them on, prepared and sent to them some years ago. We have offered to include language which acknowledges and reserves both parties' interpretations of that section, however, the union has not changed its position," Cox said.
___
(c)2023 The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.)
Visit The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.) at www.eagletribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
