UPDATED: Arbitrator rules in favor of Clinton firefighters

July 23--CLINTON -- An arbitrator has ruled in favor of Clinton Firefighters Union, Local 609.

According to an arbitration award filed Wednesday with the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board, arbitrator Sharon Gallagher ruled in favor of the Clinton Firefighters Union, Local 609, over collective bargaining wage and health insurance disputes.

Gallagher said the union voluntarily agreed to major changes in health plan designs, but that Clinton's wage increase proposal did not offset increased health costs enough.

Union firefighters will receive a 2-percent general wage increase in 2014-15, as well as lower in-network and out-of-network deductibles than what was contained in the city's proposal, and 3-percent capped single and family contributions. The city proposed a 1-percent general wage increase, which Gallagher found to be the lowest among comparable cities.

Under arbitration, when a ruling is made regarding collective bargaining, the two sides enter a one-year contract.

Gallagher ruled on three items of dispute. Using comporable data from Bettendorf, Burlington, Cedar Falls, Fort Dodge and others, she found the union had more favorable wage and insurance proposals while the city's maternity leave of absence provision was deemed more adequate.

Local 609 president Chris Melvin filed for arbitration after the union rejected Clinton's altered collective bargaining proposal in May. The union also filed a prohibited practice complaint. That issue has not been resolved.

The two parties met July 8. Gallagher had the following 15 days to rule on the disputed items.

Both sides presented evidence supporting their reasons for the disputes. Records show the union agreed to wage freezes during the previous two collective bargaining agreements in 2011-12 and 2013-14. All unions received a 2-percent raise in 2012-13.

The city cited several court rulings that hindered Clinton's ability to pay major wage increases. Most notably, in 2010, the city settled to pay a $4.5 millionMedicare fraud violation, followed by a $2.67 million settlement with Archer Daniels Midland in 2011.

City Administrator Jessica Kinser also stated the City Council lowered the tax levy by $260,000 this year. The increased wage raise will create $18,992 in additional expenses.

Gallagher said all of those factors were relevant, but "not weighty enough to be determinative in this case." While noting that this is the first year city firefighters will pay any part of their health insurance premiums, Gallagher wrote:

"One might say that in the current economic environment, this is long overdue. However, one could also just as easily observe that Clinton firefighters have traditionally been lowly paid vis-a-vis their comparables and logically this must have been done to offset their excellent insurance benefits."

Gallagher also pointed to the Clinton comparables. Starting wages for city firefighters were the lowest of 10 cities analyzed, and the city's new wage offer would again put Clinton firefighters at the bottom of the list.

"...Clinton is generally in the middle of the pack in all areas raised by the city," Gallagher wrote, citing population, household income, poverty and other factors. "But Clinton would be dead last in wages were the city's wage offer selected here. Even if this arbitrator awards the union's 2 (percent) wage increase, 10-year city firefighters will only move ahead of Mason City firefighters with 10 years' seniority by $491 per annum."

She added: "These amounts are significant in my view given the increases all Clinton firefighters will experience in insurance premium and deductible payments."

Clinton's legal and financial issues aside, Gallagher felt that the city could absorb a steeper wage increase.

"The union has been very sensitive and responsive to the city's concerns," Gallagher wrote.

On the insurance side, Gallagher found Clinton was on the high side with the other cities.

"It is significant that the city's plan has the highest monthly premiums of all the cities comparable," she wrote. "Also, I note that the city has offered no quid pro quo for these insurance charges. Instead, it offered a 1 (percent) wage increase, the lowest wage increase of all the comparables."

The average in-network deductibles for other cities were $467 (single) and $878 (family); out-of-pocket averages were $1,043 (single) and $2,073 (family). The union proposed higher deductibles than those averages, while each of the cities proposals were more than double the amounts.

"In these circumstances, the union should be lauded for its reasonable and responsive approach to the city's problems and to its acknowledgment of the clear comparable data which calls for employee premium contributions to be made and increased deductibles to be paid," Gallagher wrote.

Local 609 was the first of two arbitration filings against Clinton this year. This week, an arbitration hearing date was set for Aug. 26 between Clinton and Local 888 (representing AFSCME city employees).

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