SJFD: San Jose Fire Union refuses to save Laid-Off 49 Firefighters for 8.91%

San Jose firefighters shoot down city's request for pay cuts


By John Woolfolk
jwoolfolk@mercurynews.com


San Jose firefighters who argued recent layoffs have left them so short-handed they arrived late to a burning home this week had a chance to bring those 49 jobs back. But city officials said it would cost them 8.91 percent of their pay and benefits.

And the response from firefighters Friday was loud and clear: No thanks.

"It was unfair," said Randy Sekany, president of the San Jose firefighters' union. "We know they do have money. The priorities are wrong. They chose to keep other city services open in lieu of keeping fire services."

The union vote, with 88 percent opposing concessions, followed a day in which firefighters scrambling to douse a rash of fires arrived at a burning home two minutes later than their goal of reaching the scene in eight minutes. No one was hurt, but several pets died and the home was totaled.

City officials said it's unclear whether layoffs affected response to that home and are preparing an analysis for next week.

But Mayor Chuck Reed said firefighters, whose pay and benefit costs have doubled over the past decade, could have avoided the layoffs by joining other workers in sacrificing to ease the city's budget woes.

"I'm disappointed the firefighters don't want to rally around and help bring back the firefighters that have been laid off," Reed said. "Every department had to take cuts. Our community did not want to close our libraries and community centers in order to avoid making cuts in our fire department." San Jose is among a number of cities, from San Diego to Baltimore, slashing once-sacred fire services as revenues falter amid a sour economy.

The city faces its 10th straight operating deficit next year, even after pay cuts and hundreds of layoffs helped close a record $118.5 million gap in the current budget.

Firefighters, whose last contract expired more than a year ago, now head in November toward a second consecutive arbitration with the city over pay and benefits.

Reed has criticized that process for police and firefighters, arguing it has saddled the city with unaffordable costs. He has asked voters in November to approve a ballot measure limiting arbitration awards, which police and firefighters say provide fairness for public safety workers who cannot strike.

Relations between firefighters and the city have grown so caustic that a civil grand jury last year assailed the union's leaders for needless hostility toward management. Sekany disputed that.

City leaders this year asked all employees to give up 10 percent of their compensation to help close the deficit. Six city unions agreed, as did the City Council and executive management.

Police accepted a 3.82-percent cut that saved $8 million and 70 officers' jobs but still left 92 vacant jobs unfilled.

The firefighters are among a handful of unions that refused cuts. Sekany said firefighters offered to take the same pay cut as police and agreed to reduced pensions for new hires.

But city officials said the firefighters' offer fell $6 million short. They said that because the 647-member fire department is about half the size of the police force, officers could deliver more savings with smaller concessions.

The city's requested concession from the fire union would save $10.6 million and bring back the 49 laid-off firefighters but still leave 29 jobs vacant.

Sekany said his union's members don't buy the city's numbers. Firefighters have blasted city leaders for spending millions of dollars on land for a ballpark and a downtown development pushed by a former mayor. They argue the city has misspent millions more on less-urgent needs including fleet vehicle replacements.

City officials say money for the ballpark and downtown development comes from redevelopment funds that can't be spent on firefighter salaries and other operating expenses. And they say suspending vehicle replacement and other expenses won't solve chronic deficits driven by employee costs.

City leaders argued the requested concessions were modest for firefighters, who enjoy six-figure salaries and a pension that allows them to retire as early as 50 with up to 90 percent of their pay. A regular firefighter with six or more years on the job earns at least $110,079 a year.

Actual firefighter paychecks in 2009 totaled as much as $189,021 with overtime and other cash compensation factored in. Pay for top-ranked battalion chiefs approached $300,000.

Firefighters say their compensation is similar to what other nearby cities offer, while adding that their department has the lowest staffing per capita of any major city in the country. They claim the recent layoffs will increase overtime costs by $7,000 a day.

City officials say the layoffs aren't expected to increase overtime costs.

Source: Mercury News - Link