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* A controversial bill on behalf of firefighters passed overwhelmingly in the Senate today on a bipartisan rollcall. From the synopsis…
the case of fire fighter, and fire department or fire district paramedic matters, the arbitration decision shall be limited to wages, hours, and conditions of employment, including manning and also including residency requirements in municipalities with a population under 1,000,000. Effective immediately.
The “manning” aspect is the most controversial. It would mandate arbitration if contract negotiations failed to produce an agreement on staffing levels.
* Municipalities were steadfastly against it…
Mayor Larry Morrissey says his town has to pay more for firefighting than is necessary because contract language requires that it be negotiated. As a result, when Rockford faced a revenue squeeze during the recession, the town had to cut its police force and other services. […]
In some contract negotiations, the haggling comes down to exactly how many firefighters will be on each truck that is dispatched.
“Our fire chief always says it’s not how many firefighters are on a truck, it’s how many assemble at the scene,” said Oak Lawn Mayor Sandra Bury, who is fighting to bring minimum-manning levels to three per truck to save taxpayer money. “Please don’t tie our hands. It’s expensive.”
The Associated Firefighters of Illinois is one of the most effective lobbying organizations at the Statehouse. Legislators love them some firefighters, man.
The legislation now goes to the governor.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 12:55 pm
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Another case of legislators bowing to the unions. Public sector unions are driving costs thru the roof at all levels of government with demands few, if any, can get in the private sector.
Comment by Apocalypse Now Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 1:21 pm
I don’t think the Municipal League did themselves any favors with their Chicken Little routine on this bill. They should have recognized what they were up against and tried to work out a deal. Maybe limit the arbitrators scope to manning on a fire truck and not the total number of personnel in the department???
Digging your heals in against a politically skilled and popular costituency group usually results in you getting steamrolled.
Comment by G.D. Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 1:27 pm
“….including manning….” change all legislation to substitute
staffing for the antiquated term manning.
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 1:28 pm
How many mayors or city managers help with campaigns to the extent the firefighters do??
Comment by Anon Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 1:37 pm
How many bankrupt communities have minimum manning?
By my count, all of them. Scary.
Comment by Anon Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 1:46 pm
Please pay attention… This bill does not mandate staffing levels, it only says that it can be negotiated. Hardly a “give away” to the unions.
Comment by Try-4-Truth Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 1:49 pm
Anon at 1:46, please list the “bankrupt” communities you speak of….or is this more of the Chicken Little routine?
Comment by G.D. Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 1:49 pm
The firefighters and State Police get pretty much whatever they want.
Seems to be true everywhere. Remember Scott Walker who abolished collective bargaining. Well he made an exception for firemen and cops.
They are the demi-gods of public employment while everyone else is scum.
Comment by Federalist Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 1:52 pm
–The Associated Firefighters of Illinois is one of the most effective lobbying organizations at the Statehouse. Legislators love them some firefighters, man.–
Yes they do, which is a large reason why our municipalities are broke. Legislators love them because they don’t have to pay the price for bills they pass.
Comment by Ahoy! Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 2:11 pm
To clarify — Staffing levels can already be negotiated, but both sides have to agree to it in the end. HB 5485 changes the law to include “manning” on the list of items that can be decided by arbitrators (along with wages, hours, and residency). That means unions don’t have to “negotiate” the issue at all to get it in front of an arbitrator - they just demand it and hold out.
Comment by Sarge Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 2:18 pm
The horrible thing that could happen is the closure of stations. If you have 3 stations running 3 ff’s per engine and an arbitrator grants 4 as the minimum, you could see station closures so that a city runs 2 engines of 4 out of 2 stations for 8 ff’s rather than a total of 9 out of 3.
Everyone wants maximum for public safety, but when it comes to funding it, everyone balks at their property taxes steadily increasing.
Comment by Shemp Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 2:18 pm
Sarge, the failure to negotiate is a clear-cut unfair labor practice. As I see it, the only change in this bill is that arbitrators have clear jurisdiction over minimum manning issues if the parties reach impasse. This resolves years of legal wrangling over whether this was required or not.
Comment by Jake From Elwood Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 2:31 pm
Manning levels are already subject to contract negotiation — that is what the municipalities are really objecting to.
This bill is about mediation when contract negotiations fail. Of course the key elements subject to contract negotiation should also be subject to potential mediation, without some overwhelming reason to make an exception to that general rule.
Comment by walker Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 2:33 pm
With better building codes & technology, need for firefighting declined.
But need for paramedics increased.
With passage of ACA there’s supposed to be less need for ER visits & primary care by paramedic.
We don’t exactly know what staffing levels we need. Municipalities need to be smart about writing contracts.
The optimal staffing levels may change as ACA takes effect.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 3:16 pm
Everyone is close to explaining what the bill does, but not quite there. Manning is currently a permissive subject of negotiation. Some court and administrative decisions have weighed in, on a case-by-case basis, on whether it is a mandatory subject of bargaining. As to Jake’s argument that refusal to negotiate is an unfair labor practice, that is only true if the topic involves a mandatory subject of bargaining.
Regarding Walker’s comment, this isn’t really about mediation either. Though mediation is a remedy when parties are unable to reach agreement, contracts covering units of firefighters are subject to arbitration proceedings. The difference is key–mediation is not a binding proceeding; during arbitration, however, each side submits its last, best offer and an arbitrator issues an award detailing what term shall prevail for each topic of bargaining. Subject to some additional provisions, this award becomes the parties’ collective bargaining agreement. The arbitrator’s award, however, is constrained to mandatory subjects of bargaining. Because the status of manning has been unclear, the issue of whether the arbitration award may include a provision on manning has been hotly debated.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 3:23 pm
And of course, at 3:23 above, I should have said not that manning is a permissive subject, but that it is not clear whether it is mandatory or permissive.
As an additional caveat, my comments paint a complicated aspect of labor negotiations in very broad strokes in an attempt to provide context for the bill.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 3:36 pm
Maybe this will cause some Mayors and Managers to call their neighbors and start sharing some of their bunks, commercial refrigerators and big red trucks. Not to mention people.
Comment by A guy... Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 3:38 pm
This legislation is “stunningly bad.” Municipal officials advocate for taxpayers. The firefighters advocate for themselves. You can judge for yourself who is advocating for the better public policy.
Comment by Cowboy Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 3:46 pm
===”Maybe this will cause some Mayors and Managers to call their neighbors and start sharing some of their bunks, commercial refrigerators and big red trucks. Not to mention people. “===
Collective bargaining is making this nearly impossible too. Consolidating means less promotional opportunities as you reduce the top positions. IAFF doesn’t want fewer promotional opportunities for their membership.
States such as Michigan have had success cross-training police officers to act as firefighters so they can assist the regular FT firefighters and put more people on the scene, but the IAFF already made sure that could never happen here under Illinois law.
Comment by Shemp Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 3:51 pm
Cowboy-
“Municipal officials advocate for taxpayers”? Really? When did this start?
Comment by Scott Eisenhauer is a Failure Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 4:00 pm
The need for arbitration is driven primarily from the no strike clauses in some public safety service agreements. Take out the no strike clause. let them strike. These departments all have assistance agreements
Comment by Madison Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 4:00 pm
Fire Departments = Frats for 20 somethings to 50.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 4:05 pm
If the firefighters didn’t stand to benefit from this legislation, they wouldn’t be advocating for it. Mayors have no personal financial benefit to be realized from their position here, firefighters do.
Comment by Cowboy Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 4:16 pm
Fire Departments = Frats for 20 somethings to 50.
Another outrageous and ridiculous statement from a simple mind.
Comment by Union Leader Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 5:26 pm
Firefighters also pay taxes, and I am guessing most of them live in the municipality in which they work.
Comment by Cheryl44 Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 5:30 pm
“Fire Departments = Frats for 20 something’s to 50″
Must be a cop…
Comment by Anon Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 7:51 pm
This may be the final straw for municipalities. Privatization of Fire Services may be the inevitable result.
Comment by One of the 35 Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 9:37 pm
The AFFI actually has a consolidation committee and in many cases around Chicagoland, consolidation is being explored. But don’t let the facts interfere with your narrow and uninformed opinion.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 10:50 pm