Gilroy
– No one said the binding arbitration process to resolve an
ongoing contract dispute between the city and firefighters was
going to be a speedy one.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – No one said the binding arbitration process to resolve an ongoing contract dispute between the city and firefighters was going to be a speedy one.
With no arbitration panel finalized, summer could be nearly over before the first hearing is held.
Nine months after the start of negotiations and four months after reaching impasse, the city and Firefighters Local 2805 have yet to select the independent arbitrator who will ultimately decide each contract issue, although the attorneys for each group have received a second list of possible arbitrators from the state. The first list did not include people with sufficient public safety experience, representatives from both sides said.
“We’ll choose the arbitrator we think has the most experience and will be best to handle this case,” said Ken Heredia, the arbitration panel representative for the fire union. He said he expects the arbitrator will be selected in the next couple of weeks.
But he expects that the hearings to come will ultimately bring the union and the city closer to a middle ground before a final decision is made.
“Although it’s arbitration, it’s certainly not arbitrary,” Heredia said. “There are legal standards that have to be adopted and followed. When the arbitrator makes his decisions, he makes them based on standards in the city charter which, frankly, we should be negotiating to.”
The city charter specifies that the arbitrator will consider the city’s ability to pay for union demands, as well as other factors traditionally used during bargaining.
The 36-member fire union is asking for a retirement package that would allow firefighters to retire at age 50 with 90 percent of their salary. Called “3 at 50,” the program already obtained by the police union provides three percent of the highest year’s salary for every year worked.
Firefighters have also asked for wage increases that could amount to 9 percent by 2007, more discretionary vacation, paid time off for union-related business, fully-paid health care premiums, and a post-retirement cash bonus for fulfilling certain career milestones.
Heredia said the union will try to show the city can, and should, pay for the demands. The money is there, but city officials either do not want to spend it or want to spend it somewhere else, he said.
“That’s correct,” said LeeAnn McPhillips, the city’s human resources director. “It’s the council’s decision to prioritize how the city’s budget is spent, and they have to make decisions at the council level how the money is allocated and what the money is spent on.”
Other factors that could be considered will be determined by the third arbitrator. Comparisons to other cities and fire departments are often considered in negotiations, Heredia said, but the union compares the Gilroy Fire Department to other agencies in Santa Clara County, while the city compares to agencies including San Jose, Santa Cruz, and Watsonville.
Hollister’s City Council, meanwhile, delayed voting Tuesday on awarding police the “3 at 50” retirement program that was negotiated in 2002 and slated to take effect July 1. Police there currently receive 2 percent of their highest salary for every year served upon retiring at 50, as Gilroy firefighters do. Hollister councilmembers said the city cannot afford what will amount to $1.7 million per year for police and firefighter benefits.
In Gilroy’s case, Heredia noted, the arbitrator who is chosen will not award something the city cannot afford.
Once hearings are scheduled – a few days’ worth are expected – the arbitrator will not simply hear both sides and choose one. Following the presentation of evidence, the arbitrator may indicate whether one or both sides should move away from their original position when they submit their final offers on each issue. For example, the arbitrator could ask firefighters to come down from their request for a 9 percent pay raise by 2007, but also ask the city to improve on its offer of no pay raise.
“I’m hopeful we can strike an agreement” at the conclusion of arbitration, Heredia said. “There’s no way we can have an agreement close to what the city council said. I think once we’ve spent the time and the money and the resources to present our case, I can’t think of something that would make us back off.”
An agreement outside of binding arbitration may be reached even up to 10 days after the final settlement is delivered to both parties.
Firefighters Local 2805 has argued for a retirement and benefits package it says is equal to that of Gilroy police, who in 2001 negotiated for 3 at 50. Since the program took effect, the city’s public safety retirement budget, which includes both firefighters and police, has spiked from nearly $900,000 in 2001 to more than $3.2 million for the next fiscal year.
City officials say they cannot afford the union’s demands that they estimate would amount to a 25-percent increase in total compensation over three years.
The city will pay $560,000 in overtime this fiscal year, which bumps earning for 10 firefighters to more than $100,000 annually, not counting benefits.
