By a vote of 24 to 13, the rank-and-file members of Palm Beach Fire-Rescue voted to stay in their union, unlike the town's police officers who voted in September to leave theirs.
Thirty-seven out of 44 firefighter/paramedic/EMTs and driver engineers in the non-supervisory unit cast ballots over a two-day period. The ballots were tallied after voting ended at 9 a.m. Wednesday. In the end, the majority decided to stick with IAFF 2928 Professional Firefighters/Paramedics of Palm Beach County, the union that has represented them since 2001.
The supervisory unit of fire-rescue pulled out of the union last month without a vote after the union did not contest the move.
Firefighter/paramedic Michael Messner, the lead petitioner for the firefighters, said he had no idea which way the vote would go and figured there was a 50-50 chance of it going either way.
"There were guys on the fence that could swing either way and they decided to stay with the union," Messner said. "I just think some of the guys didn't feel like they wanted the change. Our supervisors were petitioning to get out of the union and I was contacted to ask around to see how many wanted to get out of the union and I did. We had 18 people who wanted to get out of the union and, obviously, some of those people changed their mind and wanted to stay with the union. I guess people were kind of scared to change.
"Now we know where we stand," Messner said. "We all have to unite and proceed and, hopefully, the best comes out of this for us."
Desmond Fields, an elections specialist with Florida's Public Employee Relations Commission, cut open the ballot box just after 9 a.m. Fields counted and recounted the ballots, which were cast on slips of paper.
Chuck Lupo, executive vice president of IAFF Local 2928, was in attendance when the votes were counted.
"We are extremely pleased that the members of the town of Palm Beach have voted overwhelmingly to remain with IAFF Local 2928," Lupo said in a written statement. "It shows the members have the confidence in us to represent them and to restore harmony between labor and management. We will be working extremely hard to improve their working conditions and restore lost benefits. We are looking forward to working with the town of Palm Beach and we are committed to the employees of Palm Beach Fire-Rescue."
"That's the beauty of America," Town Council President David Rosow said Wednesday afternoon. "That's their decision. They have the right to be in the union or not be in the union, and that's their decision."
Also reacting to the vote, Town Manager Peter Elwell said, "We respect the firefighters' decision and look forward to receiving the union's proposal for the next round of collective bargaining."
