St. Louis Firefighters Take Pension Battle to City Hall

ST. LOUIS -- Fire Captain Ken Mitchell pulled his pickup truck up to City Hall this morning, a giant red billboard in tow.

"After a Career Saving Lives Mayor Slay Wants to Take Our Life Savings," said the banner's headline, next to a photo of a firefighter carrying an injured child out of what looks to have been a burning house.

Then, for more than three hours, Mitchell, first vice president of the local firefighter's union, stayed there, feeding the meters when necessary.

It is not the first union advertisement attacking Mayor Francis Slay's firefighter pension overhaul plan. The International Association of Fire Fighters has mounted billboards over Highway 55, sent flyers door-to-door, built a website, and even paid for a 30-second spot on local television channels.

But Friday, Slay's last fire pension bill comes up for final passage at the Board of Aldermen.

So Mitchell brought the fight to Slay's doorstep today.

"The man's trying to take away our pension," Mitchell said. "We don't get Social Security. The pension's all we have. And all we ask for is the pension we were told we were going to have when we started our career at the fire department."

Jeff Rainford, Slay's chief of staff, did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Slay's press secretary, Kara Bowlin, did, however, quipping: "St. Louis isn't unfamiliar with deceptive travelling billboards. Before this, we had the Stripper Mobile circulating City Hall."

But Slay and his staff have said in the past that they are confident the aldermen are largely behind the mayor's plan.

Indeed, the bill should pass tomorrow. Two other related bills have already. And this final bill, in early votes, has received plenty of support.

Still, even if it passes, it's likely just a middle-point in the saga. The fire pension system's trustees have already filed suit against the bills, and a judge, at least initially, blocked Slay's move to stop them.

The case is ongoing.

Copyright 2012 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

McClatchy-Tribune News Service