Yakima City Council to vote on police, fire labor contracts [Yakima Herald-Republic (WA)]

YAKIMA, Wash. -- The City Council is set to vote Tuesday on union contracts for police officers and firefighters that will add more than $1.5 million to the budget across the life of the agreements.

But the city, as hoped, secured wage freezes for 2012 from both bargaining units. The officers also agreed to contribute more toward health insurance premiums, saving the city about $136,000 through 2013.

Cost of living increases, as well as a catch-up boost for police, go into effect for subsequent years for both firefighters and police. Police have a two-year contract, while firefighters have a three-year agreement.

Firefighters will return to minimum staffing that makes it easier to assure sufficient coverage for back-to-back fire calls.

Union leaders for the Yakima Police Patrolman's Association and the Yakima local of the International Association of Firefighters said they tried to recognize the economic realities for both the city and their members.

"I think it's a realistic approach to all considerations for the city and the employees. The price of gas hasn't gone down one cent," said Sgt. Gary Jones, YPPA president.

"We always try to work with our city and our community. We try to do what's best for all of us," said firefighter Jeremy Rodriguez, president of the IAFF local.

Interim city manager Michael Morales said he considered the contracts a fair outcome of the negotiations, which started last year. Morales opted to continue talks even though city manager Don Cooper left at the end of the year.

Negotiations had been on hold until Cooper came on board, and could have stalled when he resigned to return to Florida. Jones said he was grateful Morales continued, thus not dragging out the process.

Morales said the contracts provide certainty for the city as a new police chief comes on board. The new city manager to replace Cooper will also be working without an assistant, who had historically served as the city's chief negotiator.

While the contracts will cost more, Morales said they minimize the city's cost as much as possible under current collective bargaining laws. Either side can call for mediation and then arbitration, which leaves the parties largely at the mercy of the arbitrator.

Current staffing levels, as well as the council's recent decision to hire the 12 officers, also played into the decision-making process.

"You can only do so much by threatening layoffs when they can look at you and see how bare-bones your organization is," Morales said.

The council approved hiring a dozen police officers over a two- year period with money from a utility tax increase, but overtime for firefighters had been substantially reduced in the 2012 budget. That raised the possibility of more days when the department would not be able to respond to simultaneous house fires.

If the council approves the contracts, the unbudgeted money and firefighter overtime funding would be drawn from reserves.

The council already set aside about $500,000 in the 2012 budget to cover labor costs, and Morales said some of that money is expected to carry into 2013.

In addition, the city's reserve fund is above its council- decided minimum by about 4 percent, for a total of about $6 million, Morales said.

While some council members have expressed concern about the impact of wages on the budget, they are also grappling with making sure that the police and fire departments are adequately staffed.

Mark Morey can be reached at 509-577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.