Fulton nixes fire union revisions 5-1

A resolution regarding a proposed revision to the existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the city of Fulton and the Local 2945 International Association of Firefighters was voted against 5-1 at last night's city council meeting.

City officials have met once or twice a month since November 2014 to discuss negotiations with the Fulton fire union.

"We've negotiated back and forth on a number of different issues with the fire union," Assistant Director Administration Jerry Sorte explained to the council. "These included seniority within the fire department, how the disciplinary system will be administered, scheduling, living and working conditions, training and the administration of employee leave."

Sorte said another topic discussed negotiations was the rate of pay, including amendments to the starting pay and an increase in wages for all fire department personnel.

"We feel that we negotiated the best contract we could for the city and for the fire union," Sorte said. "We spent a significant amount of time doing so."

Fire union representative Todd Gray addressed the council regarding the proposed contract, saying the changes to the MOU were to provide a better structure "to keep us at a market value for what firefighters do in a community our size."

"It (the contract) will help give us a better structure to know what this city expects out of us as a fire union and what we expect as a fire union from the city," Gray added.

Gray said the proposed update to the current MOU was "extremely beneficial" for both parties. He then discussed an ongoing issue with the seniority list in the fire department.

"Currently we've had four employees leave this year already with the possibility of two more leaving at the end of the year depending on how their interview process goes," Gray said." In the last three years, we have lost 10 employees."

Gray said one of the reasons can be attributed to firefighters' wages and the way they are treated.

"Over half of the department has three years or less of experience in the city of Fulton and fire service," he said. "So we feel that that is something that is benefiting the citizens of this community by having so many people rotating through this department. It is not providing the protection that we feel as a union that is in the best interests of the city."

Gray told council members that the fire union is not asking for more than any other department in the city, but instead, is wanting to meet the average range for the standard rate for a starting firefighter based on other communities similar in size to Fulton. He said that starting range is between $10 - $10.50 per hour, which means firefighters would earn 9 percent more than the current starting pay of $8.65 per hour.

"We looked at what experienced firefighters were making, what engineers were making, what captains were making and that's how we came up with that 9 percent to get us in that average range," Gray said.

He added that the wage increase would help retain retention of seniority in the fire department to reduce the turnover rate.

"When you have half of your fire department with less than three years of experience, that was unheard of the city in 1994 and 1995," Gray said. "The seniority at that point was probably 15 years. To go from a 15-year to a three-year seniority has got a lot of concern."

Another fire union representative, Merit McLeod, elaborated on Gray's statements.

"We have to basically start over every time we lose a fire fighter," McLeod said. "As far as them learning the location of hydrants, the location of streets, businesses, the geographical landmarks we use."

He said having a more experienced team would greatly help response times to reach citizens, and that begins with reducing the turnover rate by increasing wages. He said low wages have been the main reason for firefighters leaving Fulton.

However, council members fixated on the 9 percent pay increase for all fire department employees and some expressed uncertainty.

Fulton Director of Administration Bill Johnson said based on the request for the immediate across the board wage, he recommended against approving the contract.

Deputy Mayor Mary Rehklau was the only council member to vote in favor of passing the resolution.

"I don't believe our firefighters are making enough," she said. "At Wal-Mart employees can make $10 per hour to scan bar codes."

Councilwoman Lindsey Pace-Snook agreed with Rehklau.

"I want to see an increase but 9 percent scares me," Pace-Snook said.

After hearing from other council members, McLeod approached the council again to ask members to reconsider.

Johnson and councilman Steve Moore said the council needs to consider the 2016 budget and taxpayer city surveys as reference for a decision to be made.

In an earlier edition posted online, the tally for the vote at the city council meeting was misheard as 7-1. This information was in the headline and the body of the story. Merit McLeod's name was also miswritten, as the information was obtained from the sign-in from the city clerk after the meeting. The changes are reflected in the story.