News: Vallejo firefighters get raise - city's fiscal crisis continues

Vallejo firefighters ratify labor pact

VALLEJO -- Vallejo's fire union has unanimously ratified a hotly debated four-month labor agreement aimed at keeping Vallejo out of bankruptcy court and finding a long-term solution to the city's fiscal crisis.

Forty-six of the 78 members of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1186 approved the labor agreement in secret ballots cast Tuesday and Wednesday, said fire union president Kurt Henke.

"It was unanimous," Henke said. "If people weren't in favor of it they would have shown up to vote no," he said. Some could not cast ballots because they were on duty, he said.

Secret ballots cast by the Vallejo Police Officers Association members will be tallied this weekend, said public safety union attorney Alan Davis.

Following a marathon hearing on the city's fiscal crisis, the City Council OK'd the public safety labor agreements plus a fiscal emergency plan early Tuesday morning.

The labor agreements and the emergency cuts erase a $6 million shortfall, but leave nothing in reserves. City staff says the plan is risky, and the budget could easily fall into the red.

Under the labor agreements, police and fire employees get 2 percent of a 8.5 percent raise, but forego a 1.5 percent raise due this fiscal year.

The plan also calls for the closure of two fire stations. At 8 a.m. today, Station 22 at Fifth and Chester streets, and Station 27 at Columbus and Ascot parkways will close due to reduced staffing levels, from 28 to 22 employees.

The station closures would have been needed, anyway, due to large number of fire retirements last month, plus the city's ongoing hiring freeze, Henke said.

Though police union members still must ratify, city and public safety unions have scheduled a labor negotiation session Tuesday in San Francisco with veteran Palo Alto negotiator John Kagel.

Kagel will work both parties on a plan to balance the general fund through 2012. One-year union contract extensions to June 30, 2011 are contingent on an agreement by April 22.

Besides endorsing the labor deal, the 13 retiring fire union members also signed off on a separate agreement to defer half of the multi-million leave buyout packages, said fire union vice president Jon Riley. Retiring fire employees will get half their leave buyout packages now, and the other by the end of the year.

A total of 30 employees, including 21 fire and police personnel, have retired since the fiscal situation worsened last month..

If a longterm plan is not reached by April 22 the city would have 72 days to file a bankruptcy petition before running out of cash, city officials said.

Union labor attorney Davis and city labor attorney Morin Jacob picked Kagel to conduct the crucial upcoming labor negotiations. The city expects to spend $20,000 on the process, and the unions an equal amount.

Mayor Osby Davis, who was directly involved in the most recent labor talks, said he will not assume a big role in the upcoming sessions.

"I don't intend to be involved in the process," Davis said. "We need to allow our staff to do what they need to do." He added that the city may hire a few consultants to help with the negotiations.

Mayor Davis said Kagel is "good, fair and tough."

Kagel is past president of the National Academy of Arbitrators, said he has worked with both union lawyer Davis and Jacob in past labor issues.

Kagel, 68, has done mediation, arbitration and collective bargaining for many public and private organizations in the last 40 years.

He mediated a labor dispute between the city and the Gilroy Fire Department, and also between nurses and the University of California Medical Center, Kagel said.

Kagel said he will act as a neutral third party in the upcoming sessions. On Tuesday, he will get a briefing on the city's financial condition and labor agreements and set up a schedule.

"It's a voluntary process in which either side can work or walk away. It's not binding," Kagel said. "It's up to the parties to agree. My own job is to try to get them together, but I won't favor either side going in."

Source: mercurynews