DIVISION UPDATE:
Argonne firefighters
agree to terms on their first contract
(September 2009)
After a contentious negotiation which lasted nearly two and a half years, we have agreed to terms on a first contract in which SEIU Local 73 is our representative. At the August 15, 2009 meeting, the membership agreed to the terms the laboratory offered on August 13, 2009 in our fourth session of mediation.
Wages:
We were able to reach a comprehensive agreement for wages during the term of this contract where our members at the top rate of pay received an increase of slightly better than 23% from January 2007 through August 2011. This amounts to slightly better than 4.6% annually, when considering that we were granted certification in January 2007, and went a long way towards closing the gap in pay between our Argonne Firefighters and their neighboring departments as well as putting our Argonne Firefighters in line with the wages of the Fermi lab Firefighters.
Calculation of Overtime:
We were able to maintain the current means of calculating overtime for the length of this agreement. The employer was seeking to significantly modify the calculation which would have had a significant effect on the value of holiday, vacation and sick leave benefits. These members do not qualify for overtime calculations as our municipal firefighters do, so this was, along with wages, a major hurdle during the negotiation.
Special thanks go out to the members who participated in this lengthy process; Bill Sweetie, Rick Kara, Mel Brown, Cecil Pinder and Rick Swartz along with invaluable counsel from Joel D’Alba from Asher Gittler Greenfield and D’Alba Limited.
Elsewhere in our division:
BURBANK FIREFIGHTERS:
We were able to agree to a resolution to the issues the chapter raised during the testing process for the Engineer rank. Multiple grievances were filed when our members identified various violations by the employer when they were giving the tests. The settlement assures that our members’ rights are preserved and that a member will be promoted to the higher rank in September 2009.
MAYWOOD FIREFIGHTERS:
The union is pursuing both a grievance and unfair labor practice charge which both contest the means by which the Village eliminated a superior rank this year which they had just created in 2008. The elimination of the rank would limit promotional opportunities of the firefighters who are on the current eligibility list for promotion to Lieutenant.
PENSION COOPERATIVE:
SEIU Local 73 part of a Round Table Discussion for Illinois Public Pension Funds/
Local 73 is participating with numerous other agencies, including the Illinois Public Pension Fund Association, the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois, the Illinois Professional Firefighters Association, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Metropolitan Alliance of Police to adopt strategies to maintain benefits for our members who are eligible for the “Downstate Firefighters Pension” along with other statewide pensions.
As these conversations develop and should the need arise for membership involvement, we will keep you informed as to what we are doing and what is needed from members. Look to this website for updates. Also, pertinent information will be coming to each of your workplaces as those strategies are initiated.
Yours in solidarity,
Al Molinaro
Division Director
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