City reacts to Clinton firefighters’ arbitration ruling

July 28--CLINTON -- Clinton City Administrator Jessica Kinser does not believe last week's arbitration ruling will result in personnel reductions. Meanwhile, Clinton firefighters union Local 609 is pleased with the ruling.

Arbitrator Sharon Gallagher's decision went public Wednesday, giving Local 609 preference for its wage and insurance collective bargaining proposals over the city's. The two sides were brought together on July 8 after Local 609 filed arbitration and a prohibited practice complaint with the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board in May. The union rejected the city's lower-raise-lower-coverage offer after it was altered during the April 22City Council meeting.

Days after the final ruling, union president Chris Melvin said the ruling was received well.

"Obviously we're happy with it," he said, but added a 2-percent wage increase combined with the new insurance payments will still result in a net loss for many firefighters.

Melvin said the union took lower raises in past collective bargaining to offset the city paying for health insurance. Now that the union is paying, the raise still puts Clinton firefighter wages "on the low end" of comparable cities.

"We're losing money," Melvin said. "We got a great health care plan because we were always the lowest paid (among comparable cities). Even with the 2-percent raise we're still at the bottom."

Union firefighters are receiving a 2-percent raise versus the city's 1-percent proposal. That will be counteracted by having to pay for health insurance for the first time, though premium payments will be lower since Gallagher also favored Local 609's insurance proposal.

Melvin criticized Clinton's insurance offer, stating it would have forced firefighters into higher payments than similar cities. The arbitration agreement, he said, puts Clinton more in line with the rest of the state.

"Their deductibles were just ridiculous," Melvin said. "They were the highest among comparables."

On the city's end, Kinser said she has not yet met with Clinton Fire Chief Mike Brown or Finance Director Anita Dalton to discuss the ruling. However, she indicated the city can absorb the $18,992 extra wage costs.

"On the surface, the specific cost to the city beyond our 1-percent proposal is $18,992," Kinser said. "With recent staffing changes, I believe this will not have to result in reductions but Chief Brown, Anita Dalton and I have not sat down...to confirm this.

"As far as the insurance, any plan design changes will likely have a positive impact to the city, which is the same for the insurance contribution, but of course the magnitude will be less than what the city proposed. I do not have a quantification on this however."

The ruling will result in a one-year agreement, though the city and the union originally had a two-year agreement on the table. After fiscal year 2014 ends in June 2015, both sides will return to negotiate another contract.

Both sides also disagreed on maternity duty policy. Gallagher favored the city's proposal, "status quo." The union's proposal, she found, was not dissimilar enough to its 2009 bargaining proposal to make policy alterations.

In addition to the ruling, Iowa PERB slated another city-related arbitration hearing with American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), union workers in the sewer, streets and public works department. Kinser could not say if an "unfavorable ruling" with AFSCME would threaten city finances.

"There's no easy way to answer that as we do not know what each union might take into arbitration as their wage offer," Kinser said.

The AFSCME arbitration hearing is scheduled for Aug. 26. Ruth Weatherly was appointed as arbitrator.

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