”
An overwhelming majority
”
of firefighters voted to accept a city council-approved deal
that will close Sunrise Fire Station for an unknown number of days
each month but likely avoid layoffs, according to city officials
and Fire Local 2805 Representative Jim Buessing.
“An overwhelming majority” of firefighters voted to accept a city council-approved deal that will close Sunrise Fire Station for an unknown number of days each month but likely avoid layoffs, according to city officials and Fire Local 2805 Representative Jim Buessing.
Council members said the deal mirrors those they have concluded with Gilroy’s non-emergency unions and non-unionized department heads. The council gave preliminary approval for the deal 6-1 in closed session last week, with Councilman Craig Gartman voting no, but council members are restricted by legal gag orders to not talk about the agreement until they approve it in an open session meeting, which is scheduled for July 6. The fire union voted to accept the deal Monday night.
Agreements with Gilroy’s managers and other City Hall employees will save the city $1.6 million annually – beginning July 1 – over the next two years. The unions avoided layoffs through furloughs and raise postponements, and the savings brought next fiscal year’s deficit down to $3.6 million, according to city figures. It is unclear how much Local 2805’s proposal will further lower that deficit.
Representatives for the Gilroy Police Officers’ Association, the last union to reach a deal, spent Tuesday meeting with city officials.
“We’re in the final steps,” POA President Mitch Madruga said after the meeting Tuesday afternoon. “We were cleaning up some of the language, and I think we’ve come to an agreement.”
The POA’s proposal will save the city $1.1 million without any layoffs, and Madruga said he expected officers to vote on the final proposal next Tuesday before the council considers the matter July 6. The council has yet to vote on any police proposal in closed session – the first step before union members vote and then the council votes in open session.
Buessing declined to detail Local 2805’s agreement but said Monday night’s member meeting involved a “deep explanation of concessions” to the union’s 33 members. He would not give the specific vote break down, but said “an overwhelming majority” approved the deal.
This vote did not shock Councilman Perry Woodward.
“I’m not surprised they approved it. This is a good outcome,” Woodward said.
However, Woodward said he disliked having to close Sunrise Fire Station in north Gilroy – the least busy of the city’s three stations – an unspecified number of days each month.
“Allowing Sunrise to operate at less than full capacity is worrying to me, but if the firefighters and the chief think they can make it work, then I’m willing to give it a try,” Woodward said.
Gilroy Fire Department Chief Dale Foster and his battalion chiefs have already agreed – along with the city’s managerial brass and the bulk of its non-emergency employees – to take a 9-percent pay cut annually over the next two years through raise forfeitures and furloughs every other Friday starting July 1. Like Buessing, Foster has not commented on Local 2805’s agreement, but said firefighters understand they need to be a part of the cuts like other employees.
By nixing expensive projects and laying off 48 full-time employees Jan. 31, the city cut nearly $8 million from its original $40.7 million budget this fiscal year, which ends June 30. Included in those savings were the layoffs of six firefighter positions – four of which were filled – along with six paid-call firefighters and four support staff, Foster said. Also included were the planned June 30 retirements of Detective Frank Bozzo and Sgt. John Sheedy, which will save the city more than $360,000 a year if they are not replaced.
While no police officers lost their jobs in the January round of layoffs, the department lost 14 support positions, and two officers have since accepted jobs with the Watsonville Police Department amid uncertainties surrounding their positions, which will remain unfilled, Police Chief Denise Turner said. About 30 patrol officers belong to the 58-member union, which also includes detectives and administrative staff who do not patrol the streets.
To read the details of the previous agreements, click here.
Status of city-union negotiations
Gilroy Police Officers’ Association, 58 members
-Talks ongoing with union offering $1 million in undisclosed, non-personnel cuts
-Eight sworn officers’ jobs on the line
-Two positions to be left unfilled
-Union representatives eyeing city reserve fund
-Council has directed staff night to keep talking with union representatives
Fire Local 2805, 33 members
-Council and union approved agreement, details sealed until formal council approval expected July 6
-Proposal includes the occasional closing of Sunrise Fire Station
-Six firefighters’ jobs likely spared
Gilroy Manager’s Association, 23 members
-Union approved furloughs and temporary pay cuts to save $300,000
-Saved four positions
AFSCME, 103 members
-Union approved furloughs and temporary pay cuts to save $1.1 million
-Saved 13 positions
Gilroy non-unionized Employees, 7 members
-Includes city administrator and department heads
-Agreed to furloughs and temporary pay cuts to save $200,000
Source: City of Gilroy, unions and council members
