Waukegan reaches deal with firefighters union to increase staffing mandates, but not to level sought by union

Aug. 21--A four-year agreement reached with Waukegan's firefighters is "the same deal" that was reached prior to the April aldermanic election, the mayor said.

The unanimous approval Monday evening by City Council concludes the unusually public negotiations between the city and International Association of Fire Fighters Local 473 that had stretched about a year and a half.

About two-thirds of the union's membership also voted for the deal during a ratification vote about three weeks ago, union president Mark Kolar said.

The contract includes raises of 2.5% for both the 2018-19 budget year and this year followed by 3.25% the next two years; the city agreeing to pick up 90% of health and dental insurance premiums instead of 80%; and minimum daily staffing levels of 27, up from 23 but less than the 29 sought by the union.

The staffing increase means means that the city is now required to have enough personnel working on any given day to fully staff all but one of its fire stations. Previously, two stations would be operating as jump stations, meaning they had only enough crew members to operate either the ambulance or the fire engine, but not both.

The change "only solves half the problem" and is the "one major disappointment" from the negotiations, Kolar said.

The union's request had been backed publicly by the aldermen who represented the wards where the two stations that sometimes operated as jump stations are located.

Those stations are Station 2, off McGaw Road near O'Plaine Road in the 9th Ward, and Station 5, located off North Green Bay Road near West Yorkhouse Road in the 8th Ward.

The 8th and 9th wards are home to a lot of industrial facilities, big-box stores like Walmart and expensive homes, which make it all the more important for them to have the same level of fire station staffing as other parts of the city, Ald. Lynn Florian said.

Both Florian, 8th, and Ald. Ann Taylor, 9th, said they'll continue to advocate for the higher staffing levels and noted that if a casino does come to the 9th Ward as proposed by mayor, public safety staffing should be part of that conversation.

Kolar noted that despite the lower contractual level, the city has been living up to Mayor Sam Cunningham's promise to increase overtime spending so that all of the city's fire stations are fully manned. His concern is that without the contractual requirement, staffing levels may fall once again.

The union had pushed for higher staffing levels, arguing that as the department's call volume grows, the reliance on jump stations has led to longer response times, fewer personnel to handle labor- intensive calls and greater burnout among staff.

Cunningham had been opposed to increasing the contractually required staff levels to 29, citing financial concerns, but said he was fine with the 27 because "that was what the chief was doing anyways."

The department was averaging 27 personnel a day, which means there were days it was operating with fewer staff and days when it had more, said Karl Ottosen, the city's labor attorney. Meeting the 27 staffing minimum everyday is estimated to cost an additional $300,000 to $350,000 annually.

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