Photo credit: Brian Bastinelli, BrianBastinelli.com.
The Harrisburg chapter of the International Association of Firefighters has agreed to a new labor agreement, Mayor Eric Papenfuse announced on Tuesday. The agreement, which the union approved by a 38 to 15 vote, includes reductions in scheduled salary increases, an increase in employee health care contributions and salary cuts for new hires. It also represents the final concession from the city’s labor unions required as part of the state-appointed receiver’s recovery plan.
“I think the important thing to note here today is that a tremendous number of sacrifices are being made by the members of the firefighters’ union in an effort to allow this city to move forward,” Papenfuse said. In meetings with the firefighters, he said, he had tried to convey that, without contract modifications, “the budget would not be balanced and the city would stay mired in the financial difficulties that had gotten us first into Act 47 and then into receivership.”
The mayor’s proposed budget for 2014 already included the expected savings under the new agreement, projected to be around $1.6 million, or around $20,000 for each of the 79 bargaining-unit positions in the fire department. This figure is somewhat misleading, however, as the direct effect on an individual firefighter depends on his or her time of hire, family size and consumption of health care.
Some of the savings are achieved through the elimination of scheduled pay raises, previously set under a contract extension signed by former Mayor Stephen Reed. The raises, which had been set at 3 percent per year beginning in 2013, will be zeroed out in 2013 and 2014 and replaced with a 1-percent raise in 2015.
A sizeable portion of the projected savings—around $485,000 per year, according to Susan B. Friedman, a lawyer for the receiver—will come from a change in firefighters’ health care plans. Formerly, the majority of firefighters contributed nothing to the cost of coverage beyond their co-pays. Under the new agreement, their health care plans will now include partial contributions from each paycheck, at a rate of $40 for individuals and $90 for family care, as well as deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums and a change in co-payments for prescriptions.
The largest chunk of the savings, around $520,000, is expected to come from a reduction in numbers manning each shift, from 16 to 14 firefighters.
On Tuesday, Mayor Papenfuse attributed the union vote, in part, to a pair of “behind-closed-doors meetings” he held with firefighters in January, during which he tried to restore trust between the city and its public safety personnel. “We met right where they sleep, right inside their quarters,” he said. “I extended a hand of partnership, of trust, and I am pleased to say I was met with a hand from the other side.”
Glenn Sattizahn, the local union president, also acknowledged the mayor’s role in bringing the new agreement to a vote. “The turning point, I would venture to say, was after the meetings with the mayor,” Sattizahn said. “He’s quite persuasive.”
But, Sattizahn added, continued pressure from the receiver’s office, which could eventually compel the firefighters to comply through the courts, also played a role. “There wasn’t really a whole lot of compromise,” he said. “We were, for the most part, forced into this.”
