Bonus for Elite Units
UFA Gets 8% Hike, $35G Starting Pay

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

The Uniformed Firefighters' Association announced a tentative contract deal with the city March 2 that would give union members raises totaling 8.16 percent over two years and increase first-year salaries by $4,200, to $35,000.

STEPHEN J. CASSIDY: Secures long-sought gains.

It would raise maximum salary to $68,475 as of Aug. 1, up from the current $63,309. The agreement would be retroactive to last Aug. 1 and would run until July 31, 2008.

Rookie Pay Hikes Offset

The raise in starting pay - which was $25,100 in the Fire Academy but then rose to $32,700 after 13 weeks for total first-year pay of $30,800, was funded in part by what UFA President Stephen J. Cassidy called "minor glitches" for new hires, mainly a cut in paid holidays from 12 to six for each of the first five years on the job and the loss of most city annuity payments over that period.

The UFA also agreed to support legislation that would create a new 1B Medical Board to help speed the pension approval process, city negotiators said. Moving firefighters from active duty to pension pay in an expedited fashion could save the city millions, according to officials.

The tentative pact is subject to ratification by the UFA's approximately 8,900 members. If approved, the deal would likely set the pattern for this round of bargaining between the city and other uniformed unions.

The Bloomberg administration clearly hoped the deal would jump-start wage talks with the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which are currently bound for arbitration.

PBA President Patrick J. Lynch noted, however, that the Fire Department does not have the NYPD's recruitment problems and Firefighter salaries aren't lagging significantly behind those in neighboring jurisdictions.

Mayor Bloomberg announced the agreement at a late-night press conference, flanked by Mr. Cassidy, Fire Department officials and Labor Commissioner James F. Hanley.

Calling it an example of a "union coming to the table and making a good-faith effort to reach an agreement," the Mayor said he was pleased to be able to raise salary for "an especially important area, the pay for rookie Firefighters."

The deal would give Firefighters a 4-percent salary increase retroactive to last Aug. 1, and a 4-percent compounded increase effective this Aug. 1.

Key Fringe-Benefit Gains

Longevity differentials of $1,000 more at all steps and the extra pay for special assignments swell the average value of the deal to about 10 percent, the Mayor said.

At the end of this contract, Firefighters' maximum salary would be $68,475. In addition, the UFA bargained a 12-percent differential for Firefighters detailed to "special assignments" as part of Hazardous Material and Rescue Companies. Specialized pay is something the union has pursued "since the 1970s," said Mr. Cassidy. Under the tentative deal, approximately 440 firefighters with special training would be eligible for extra earnings, and the UFA will look to widen that pool in future dealings, the union leader said. He noted that the differential was a "freebie" that had required no giveback from the union.

The deal would also increase the longevity schedule by $1,000 at each step effective July 1, 2007. As of Sept. 1, the differential for Chauffeur or Tillerman duties will jump by 3 percent.

The city has promised to increase its contributions to the Welfare Fund by $80 per year for each retired member, effective July 31, 2008.

Future Hires' Givebacks

But the city, under the tentative deal, would not be required to make annuity contributions for five years for employees hired after April 1. The $1,150 additional annuity contribution remitted by the city on behalf of employees for the first 18 months on the job would also be dropped.

Additionally, the nightshift differential for employees hired after April 1 would be reduced by 50 percent for the first five years' service, and they would have six fewer annual paid holidays during that period.

Mr. Cassidy said there were several additional sweeteners in the pact. The city gave the union back a benefit it used to have 10 years ago: a line-of-duty prescription drug card to cover medication costs. Mr. Cassidy said the benefit is more important than ever for members, since many of them are suffering from what are believed to be 9/11-related lung problems. While the city had resisted granting a new card to the UFA for years, citing the ever-increasing cost of drugs, the two sides were able to agree on the benefit this time "at the same cost that it was 10 years ago," Mr. Cassidy said.

Moonlighting Latitude

The tentative deal would also remove the Extra Department Employment rules that require firefighters to seek FDNY permission anytime they want to take on a second job. The FDNY has to approve the second job and can impose restrictions, such as limiting the number of hours a firefighter can work a week. In the past, Mr. Cassidy said, the EDE has been used "as a hammer" by the FDNY against Firefighters who were out of favor.

Under this deal, he said, firefighters would only have to seek FDNY approval if they were considering a second job that might be a conflict of interest - selling bunker gear, for example - or volunteering for their hometown fire department.

"The city hasn't wanted to relinquish that for more than 30 years, but for us it was a must that it got done this time," said Mr. Cassidy.

Wins Reopener Right

He also succeeded in bargaining a reopener clause that covers the last round of contract negations and the current one and seems pegged to the PBA's unresolved talks. If any uniformed union were to negotiate a deal with the city that gave its members raises higher than the 3 and 3.15 percent Mr. Cassidy bargained in the last round, or got the same raises but with fewer givebacks, the UFA could immediately reopen negotiations for those years. The same holds true for any uniformed agreements reached in this round.

"That was a necessity in my opinion, and we got it. The city was giving us language in this deal that I believe they would not have under any other circumstances," Mr. Cassidy said. "But they wanted to make this deal."

He noted that firefighters hired after the last contract agreement and those headed into the Fire Academy in March were getting the best of both worlds: their starting salary would match the $35,000 in the tentative deal, but they wouldn't be required to give up paid holidays or annuity contributions.