| | Published October 5th, 2016
| MOFD Board Restores Firefighter Medical Benefits
| | | By Nick Marnell | | |
The Moraga-Orinda Fire District moved to bring firefighter compensation in line with neighboring districts Sept. 21 by approving an increase in employer-paid health care premiums, which had been capped at 2010 levels. The motion passed 4-0, with director Brad Barber absent.
The premium increases range from approximately $100 a month for a single employee up to $300 for an employee with a family. The hikes, which will cost the district $229,000, kick in Jan. 1 and run through the end of the labor contact in June 2018.
The action comes at the behest of Fire Chief Stephen Healy, who told the board that the current firefighters' contract, which included a first year pay cut and was signed reluctantly by the union in 2014, had lowered morale and frustrated his ability to retain and recruit firefighters. After the new contract took force, MOFD lost firefighters to Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Alameda county fire agencies. The district recently filled its last openings and will send two probationary firefighters to a training academy in mid-October.
Once the employer-paid premium increases take effect, district medical benefits will more closely align with those of neighboring fire agencies, but salaries will still lag behind. According to published documents, MOFD firefighter-paramedics at the highest grade earn a salary of $99,348 a year, not including overtime or benefits. The same position at the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District pays $104,845; the Alameda County Fire Department, $110,040; and the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District, $112,572.
Increasing the employee medical benefit was not the board's first attempt to mollify the firefighters' union. In December, with its financial picture having improved, the district agreed to a 2.5 percent wage increase for the firefighters seven months earlier than outlined in the original contract. But the union complained that the original pay cut was unnecessary and that the increase still left the firefighters with the same pay they made in 2008.
Board president Steve Anderson not only voted against the 2.5 percent increase last year, he also voted against the original contract because he objected to the automatic pay increases it provided. This time around Anderson changed his approach. "I know that they took a hit, and this gives the firefighters some recognition for the sacrifice they made," Anderson said later. He stressed that the premium increase will not impact the district long-term, and that it will have no effect on future labor negotiations.
"It's a step in the right direction toward bringing our salary and benefit package on par with similar fire districts in our job market," said Mark DeWeese, MOFD Local 1230 representative.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA