RTM Approves Fairfield Firefighter Contract

[Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include additional stipulations of the approved contract.]

Close to 50 firefighters crowded into the Board of Education conference room Monday night for the Representative Town Meeting’s vote on the contract between the town and Fairfield Fire Union.

The contract, , was approved.

“It was fair in 2010 and it’s fair today,” Marc Patten, D-7, said.

Memorandum of Understanding

The RTM’s vote Monday followed the discovery of a (MOU) between former First Selectman Kenneth Flatto and the union, which would have limited arbitration to three topics: sick leave, wages, and pension.

According to state statute, the memorandum was supposed to be ratified or rejected by the RTM within a 44-day period following its signing, but it wasn’t; and so it went into binding effect without the body’s knowledge.

Labor relations attorney Patrick McHale, who was hired to represent the town in upcoming contract negotiations, had advised the town forego further arbitration as it had little to gain since most of the contract was now off the table for negotiations.

The contract is in its penultimate year anyway, and will expire in 2013. Going into arbitration could cost the town up to $80,000 to $100,000, McHale said.

Representative Kathryn Braun, R-8, was concerned that the MOU represented a lack of presence the RTM has in contract negotiations.

She said the RTM is like a “potted plant. If we choose to reject a contract, we stand no chance in arbitration.”

McHale countered Braun, citing there is no conclusive contract in place without RTM approval. The legislative body in any municipality must approve or reject any agreements that result in the commitment of funds, as a labor contract does, he said.

Pension Plans

Whether the union should move from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan was discussed before the vote took place Monday.

Braun said that if the town wants the unions to move toward contribution plans, like the 401a plan included in the contract for new hires, that the RTM should be able to “make our wishes known as early as possible.

“The world is on 401ks and we need to make that known that we want to head in that direction early in the process.”

Erik Kalapir, a firefighter, Fairfield resident, and vice president of the Fairfield Firefighters Association, pointed out that the contract was originally voted down in 2010 due to “a lack of financial reporting in regards to budgetary impacts of our retiree benefits.

It’s been nearly two years since that vote, he said, and still no cost-benefit analysis of switching from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan has been provided, he said.

Kalapir said that since the firefighter and police pension trust was formed, the employees have been contributing continuously to retirement security.

The current pension plan’s “cost structure and investment vehicles far surpass any available defined contribution plan,” he said. “Additionally, a defined benefit plan protects the town from having to pay costly disability insurance due to the hazardous nature of our job.”

Just because something is becoming common practice in private business, he said, doesn’t mean “that it is correct for government agencies to follow.”

Tom McCarthy, R-8, agreed that a cost analysis of defined benefit vs. defined contribution pension plans is necessary for future negotiations.

“Analysis needs to be done so we can speak with authority when we say we want to move to defined contribution plans.”

First Selectman Michael Tetreau said his new Chief of Staff Robert Mayer is already on it.

The Bottom Line

The contract approved carries the same agreements as it did in 2010. Come July 1, 2012, firefighters will receive a 2.75 percent wage increase because it’s the last year of a contract that began in 2010 with a 0 percent increase, followed by a 2 percent increase, and will culminate in the final increase.

The minimum manpower for any shift is 17 firefighters rather than the 16-firefighter minimum that preceded the contract. There are 12 sick days for all employees who have worked at least a year, which the town had slashed in the 2010 negotiations from the union’s proposed 30 sick days for firefighters who have worked more than 10 years and 20 days for those who have been on the force between five and 10 years.

Firefighters' co-pays for medical benefits also increases with the contract, as well as their health insurance premiums, for which firefighters will pay $36 a week.

The town may offer to firefighters hired after the start date of the contract to enroll in a 401k retirement plan, according to the contract. If offered such a plan, new hires have the option to enroll in either that plan or the existing pension plan.

Additionally, new hires will receive a reduced maximum pension benefit of 75 percent of their annual base salary, a reduction from 80 percent.

Representative Arthur Hug, R-4, said the fire union has been the first to work with the town on cost-cutting pension plans, the first to agree on payroll deductions, and the first union to go with HMOs.

“The firefighters negotiated a fair and reasonable contract,” he said. “The members of this local union ask only for what they originally asked and no more.”

The town will now move on to six other contracts awaiting negotiation and renewal.