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UFA Deal: 2 4% Hikes Plus 3.5% 'Reopener' Keeps Pace With Cops; Top Salary $76,488 If Pact Is Approved; 'Longevity' Tied to Future Hikes A tentative Uniformed Firefighters Association contract reached Oct. 14 provides two 4-percent raises plus an additional 3.5-percent increase negotiated under a re-opener clause from a previous pact, allowing Firefighters at maximum salary to maintain pay parity with cops.
Doesn't Match Cops' Entry Pay To manage that, however, the union had to accept a lesser starting salary than is provided under the PBA deal. While starting salary for Police Officers will reach $41,975 next Aug. 1, it will improve to just $39,370 for Firefighters on that date. That discrepancy makes up for differences between the givebacks the UFA agreed to under a March 2007 contract deal and the larger ones the PBA was forced to accept under arbitration awards in 2005 and this past May and a negotiated contract in August that required cops handling Detective duties to work additional tours. "They gave up time; [cops] are working more shifts than we are," UFA President Steve Cassidy said during an Oct. 16 phone interview, noting that in addition to those working Detective assignments, rookie cops must work seven additional tours in each of their first five years of service. In his previous contract, he gave up holiday pay for new Firefighters on six days for each of their first five years on the job. He noted that this cost them money but did not add to their work schedules. That was a better tradeoff for the new Firefighters, Mr. Cassidy said, when it came to quality of work-life, and it also benefited more-senior union members, since an increase in tours for the rookies would have reduced the available overtime work. Measure Parity by 'Max' Expressing the common view among uniformed union leaders and city officials alike, he said, "We believe that parity is always measured as basic maximum salary," and so there is no concern about starting salary trailing that for Police Officers. "We're very happy with the contract," said Mr. Cassidy, a few hours after the UFA's battalion delegates voted 50-0, with one abstention, to send its terms on to the union's full delegate body. Under the somewhat tangled tentative deal, the 3.5-percent hike provided through the re-opener clause would take effect retroactive to July 31, 2006, predating two 4-percent raises that were negotiated in March 2007 and became effective Aug. 1, 2006 and Aug. 1, 2007. The two new 4-percent hikes, assuming last week's pact is ratified, would be payable effective Aug. 1, 2008 and next Aug. 1. As is the case for Police Officers, the tentative deal would automatically increase Firefighter longevity payments by the same percentage that wages rise beginning with the pact's final day, July 31, 2010. There would also be a $253 increase in longevity payments on each step of the experience scale at that point. Smaller Hike, Lesser Giveback That basic longevity increase falls well short of the $1,543 the PBA got for its members in two payments, but the UFA did not have to make any concessions on scheduling of the magnitude the PBA accepted by having members working as "white-shield Detectives" work the same duty schedules as regular Detectives. It agreed to a much-smaller change under which "off the line" Firefighters, who are not assigned to firehouses and are based primarily at FDNY headquarters, will forego their regular day off if it falls on a weekday during a holiday week. Concessions the UFA had to make as part of the re-opener deal concerning holiday pay and annuity funds were immediately canceled out by the union's use of money provided in the basic two-year contract. There will also be an increase in annuity funding for Firefighters using a portion of that 1.59 percent in "discretionary" money incorporated in the basic contract. Recruitment Not An Issue In sharp contrast with its dealings with the PBA, where the city was more determined than the union to raise starting salary, entry pay was a lesser concern in the Bloomberg administration's talks with the UFA because, unlike the NYPD, the Fire Department has not experienced problems recruiting Firefighters. If the deal is ratified, by next August it will give Mr. Cassidy's members the same $76,488 top pay that senior Police Officers will receive at that time. "Although the city could never afford to pay Firefighters what they truly deserve, this is another step in the right direction," he said in an Oct. 15 statement. Glenn Corbett, an Associate Professor of Fire Science at John Jay College, said later that day that actually Firefighters "are near the top" nationally when it comes to salary, although the cost of living here is higher than in most jurisdictions. Re-Opener Insistence Vindicated The tentative pact confirmed the value of the re-opener clause Mr. Cassidy pressured the Bloomberg administration to give him when he became the first uniformed union leader to reach contract terms for the past round of bargaining 19 months ago. That was the price he insisted upon for making a deal while the PBA was in the midst of an arbitration process. It reflected his concern that the police union might persuade a third party to award it more-favorable terms. City officials subsequently agreed to similar re-openers with other uniformed unions, though they clearly hoped that those clauses could influence the PBA arbitration panel to keep its award consistent with the negotiated settlements to avoid a domino effect that would mean major increases in the city's bargaining tab. Five months ago, however, PBA panel chair Susan T. Mackenzie granted raises of 4.5 and 5 percent for the same period in which Mr. Cassidy had negotiated increases of 3 and 3.15 percent. The difference between the two pay packages, once compounding was figured in, was 3.5 percent, leaving the UFA leader and his uniformed colleagues to pursue that amount after invoking their re-opener clauses. 'Insurance' Paid Off Mr. Cassidy noted that several leaders of other uniformed unions criticized him for leaving a bargaining coalition to make his own deal 19 months ago, but that all of them would benefit from his insisting on the re-opener clause that eventually became standard for that negotiating round. He was among those who believed at the time that it might turn out to be an insurance policy that wouldn't have to be cashed in, but one that eased his mind about the seemingly remote possibility that the PBA arbitration award would disrupt the pattern established by his deal. "I never thought that was going to happen," he said of the break in parity that came five months ago, "but when it did we were prepared." Union delegates are expected to decide by Nov. 16 whether to submit the pact to the 9,000-member rank and file for a final ratification vote that Mr. Cassidy said figured to be concluded by Dec. 11. "We think it's going to pass very easily," he said. How Firefighter Pay Would Rise The following charts show how pay for Firefighters would increase if a tentative Uniformed Firefighters Association contract is ratified by the membership.
There is no re-opener pay increase listed in the chart for Firefighters hired after Jan. 17, 2006 because that increase, although it is retroactive only to July 31, 2006, covered raises that took effect on or before Aug. 1, 2005. Also covered under the deal are Fire Marshals, for whom starting salary would go to $55,370 and maximum pay would hit $85,667 effective next Aug. 1 under the deal, and Wipers, for whom base pay would increase to $79,275 on that date. Firefighter hired prior to January 17, 2006
Firefighter hired on/after January 17, 2006
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