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Published April 23rd, 2014
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At Long Last, a Labor Agreement
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| By Nick Marnell |
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No corks popped out of champagne bottles. No confetti fell from the ceiling. No party banners unfurled at the April 16 district meeting after the ratification of the tentative agreement between the Moraga-Orinda Fire District and the United Professional Firefighters of Contra Costa County.
In fact, the mood was downright funereal.
Local 1230 officials and a smattering of the rank and file sat silently in the back of the room as Moraga resident and past MOFD director Dick Olsen assailed the proposed labor agreement. "I am absolutely astonished," said Olsen, the only member of the public to speak out. "This is one of the most one-sided documents that I have ever seen." He noted that the contract terms included a potential increase in firefighter pay of over 12 percent (see sidebar) along with a reduction in district service of 21 percent, as the number of on duty firefighters has recently decreased from 19 to 17. "The sacrifice should be shared equally between the union and the public," he said.
Director Alex Evans agreed that there will be service cutbacks, and he also acknowledged that the contract was not perfect, but he stressed that the district had to make the deal in order to continue as a sustainable entity. Along that same line, fire chief Stephen Healy later said that in order to produce an agreement, the district agreed to the revenue sharing compromise: The district needed an early wage reduction to help stabilize the general fund, and "asking the union to agree to pay cuts - with no guarantee of restoration or future wage increases - when they hadn't had a raise since 2008 and their health care rates capped since 2010, was never going to lead to an agreement," said the chief.
A big concern for director Steve Anderson was the automatic nature of the wage increases. Anderson noted that not long ago, the district was close to becoming insolvent; should tough times reoccur, the district will be forced to pay the wage increases promised in the agreement. "We could be in a position where we will have no choice but to lay off people," said Anderson. He cast the sole dissenting vote, as the motion to approve the tentative agreement passed 3-1, with director Fred Weil absent.
By a two-thirds majority, the union ratified the agreement earlier in April.
"I lose sleep that we agreed to this contract," said Vince Wells, Local 1230 president, after the meeting. Sounding similar in tone to Evans, he continued. "We didn't agree because we think it's best; we agreed to it because it would settle a labor dispute."
He explained that the union had no idea what contract terms the district may have imposed had meditation not succeeded. "If MOFD had imposed the 9.5 percent pay cut, that could have continued forever," said Wells.
So the union proposed the incremental increases and the revenue sharing idea. "If things get better, we will finally be able to at least recoup some of our losses from years ago," added Mark DeWeese, MOFD's union representative.
Board president John Wyro called the agreement a turning point in the history of the district, and he added that the district will benefit from a significant decrease in its unfunded pension liability as a result of the new labor contract.
In keeping with the non-celebratory tone of the meeting, free cookies provided by the district were barely touched.
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Summary of the Tentative Agreement between MOFD and Local 1230
Term: through June 30, 2018
Salary:
Year One (July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015) - 3.5 percent decrease
Year Two - 1 percent increase
Year Three - 4 percent increase PLUS up to 3 percent more based upon district property tax increases
Year Four - 4 percent increase PLUS up to 3 percent more based upon district property tax increase
An additional 1 percent increase effective June 1, 2018
Health Care: district obligation capped at 2010 premium amounts, which is the district's current contribution
Retiree Health Care: current level for current employees, and a lower tier for future employees
Staffing Model: the ability for the district to hire up to 12 non-safety paramedics at a much lower pay scale to replace firefighter-paramedic vacancies
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA