National City Council approves new contract with fire union

San Diego Union-Tribune (CA)

May 17-- May 17--NATIONAL CITY -- National City firefighters will receive a pair of pay raises and contribute more toward their pensions under a new two-year contract with the city.

The agreement, which took almost a year to negotiate, includes a retroactive 3 percent raise and another 3 percent raise in July. Firefighters who demonstrate competency in Spanish or Tagalog will receive a 6 percent bonus on top of their base salaries.

Union president Capt. James Stiles said the incentive for bilingual skills, as well as other job-related education incentives, are meant to encourage firefighters to "further develop their career skills."

The contract, which runs through June 2020, also includes a retroactive 1 percent increase to the amount firefighters contribute toward their pensions and an additional 2 percent increase in July, when their total contribution will climb to 12 percent.

Left out of the new contract was a compensation survey that Stiles said was intended to look at other fire departments in the county to ensure competitive salary and benefits to address what he characterized as retention issues.

"However, due to the financial challenges facing the city and the understanding of those challenges by the (union), both sides agreed to suspend that survey obligation for this two-year contract," Stiles said.

A new term in the contract calls on the union and city to set up a retirement health care trust fund at no cost to the city, which will process monthly contributions of $100 for each firefighter by way of payroll deductions.

Also included in the contract is an increase in the amount of sick and vacation time firefighters are allowed to accumulate. The maximum accrual ranges -- based on tenure and work schedules -- between 309 and 721 hours of vacation and between 857 and 1,200 hours of sick leave.

The contract spells out a process for firefighters to "donate" accrued sick and vacation time to a so-called bank, which will be available to use to conduct business on behalf of the union -- such as attending meetings and conferences. The time accrued in the bank is limited to 360 hours per fiscal year.

Under the contract, the city's monthly share toward health insurance is set between $457 and $1,029 for Kaiser plans and between $527 and $1,227 for all other plans, in addition to a monthly supplemental contribution, which will increase to $100 in July.

Firefighters who opt out of a medical insurance plan offered by the city and attest to alternative coverage will receive a monthly payment that will increase to $200 in July.

According to a staff report, the 2018-20 contract will cost the city about $374,000.

The National City Firefighters Association ratified the contract on April 2, bringing to an end negotiations that began last March.

The contract is one of three agreements negotiated between the city and its three labor groups within the past year.

The negotiations dragged on and cost more than anticipated. The city exceeded the amount it agreed to pay its outside labor negotiator, forcing the City Council to increase the contract price from $50,000 to $150,000 in February to cover the costs to finalize new contracts with the police and fire unions.

The City Council approved a new contract with the National City Municipal Employees' Association in November and with the National City Police Officer's Association last month.

The new contract with the fire union, approved 3-2, was opposed by Councilmen Jerry Cano and Ron Morrison, who said the contract marked yet another period of negotiations with the union that were dragged out. Morrison suggested the holdup was political, saying the discussions didn't get serious until after the November election.

"This is not good bargaining," he said.

Councilwoman Mona Rios, whose re-election bid was supported by firefighters, said the delays were due to reasons that were "out of the hands of the fire (union)." She blamed scheduling conflicts and a furlough for city employees in late December to early January.

Mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis, whose bid for mayor also was backed by firefighters, added: "We know that negotiations go back and forth.

"If you have an issue with the timeline," she told Morrison, "then we need to address it as a timeline issue."

Stiles said the "negotiations tackled difficult issues including health care cost, department retention problems, retirement contributions." He added that outside factors including scheduling conflicts and a series of protests in the summer over the death of a man who had been arrested by police caused additional delays.

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