Illinois Mayor, Firefighters Resolve Staffing Issue

A deal between Mayor Mike Houston and Springfield's firefighter union will make another fire truck available and resolve a 10-month dispute over the fire department's minimum manning requirements.

Tony Burton, president of Local 37 of the International Association of Firefighters, said the agreement will increase staffing levels and the safety of city residents.

Under the agreement, which still requires city council approval, the daily minimum staffing level will be set at 49 firefighters. In return, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 37 will drop a claim for back pay that the city estimates could cost about $850,000.

The minimum number of firefighters required to be on duty was reduced from 49 to 46 last year under the brief administration of Mayor Frank Edwards, a former Springfield fire chief.

The union filed a grievance over the reduction, and the matter was sent to an arbitrator, who found the contract was inconsistent and encouraged both sides to settle the dispute themselves.

Houston to council: OK deal

Houston urged the city council to approve the contract amendment. Otherwise, he said, the arbitrator will make the decision, and those terms could be much more costly.

"Failure to ratify this extension of the contract ... is a gamble that should not be taken by the city," Houston said. "It is my hope that the city council will recognize the benefits of the extension and approve it, but at the very least, it needs to have a public discussion of the extension and vote on it."

Several aldermen, including Edwards, Ward 6 Ald. Cory Jobe, Ward 9 Ald. Steven Dove and Ward 10 Ald. Tim Griffin, declined to comment. Edwards and Jobe said any comments they make could be construed as unfair labor practice.

The proposal also calls for a two-year extension of the firefighters' existing contract through February 2015. The extension includes no wage increase for fiscal year 2014 and a 4 percent pay hike for FY2015. The 4 percent increase would cost the city $695,000, said Bill McCarty, the city's budget director.

Burton said the union membership approved the contract terms last month.

The union's goal has been to get a fire truck, which was shut down because of the decreased manning, operating again, he said.

Sick time standard

The agreement does provide that the city could still reduce the minimum manning standard to 46 depending on how much sick time firefighters take.

A newly created "sick time performance standard" would allow the city to reduce minimum manning by up to three firefighters when the number of sick-time hours used within any 30 day period reaches 1,344 hours, McCarty said.

Houston said the provision serves as an incentive for firefighters to limit their use of sick time, which in turn, reduces the need to hire back firefighters and pay them overtime.

Fire overtime costs totaled nearly $1.6 million last budget year. So far this fiscal year, which ends Feb. 29, the city has spent $575,000 on fire department overtime, Houston said.

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Department adds 21 firefighters

Twenty-one new firefighters joined the ranks of the Springfield Fire Department on Monday.

The 18 white men, one black man, one Hispanic man and one white woman bring the number of firefighters in the department to 219, said Fire Chief Ken Fustin.

"These 21 new members are the best and brightest that successfully passed all components of the entry process," Fustin said. "It also helps to further improve our number of minorities on the department."

Salaries and benefits for the new firefighters for the next 22 months will be paid with a nearly $2.5 million federal grant. Aldermen are expected to formally accept the grant at their meeting today.

Fustin said the new firefighters will be in training until mid-April.

After their training, they'll help reduce the department's overtime and rebuild its head count, he said.