By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer

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“It’s fair for the city, and it’s fair for the Fire Department.”
Kelly Matzen, councilor at large
Council approves firefighter pact
City and union hope to heal controversy

AUBURN – The city’s firefighters have a new contract.

City councilors unanimously approved the agreement Monday night, ending a yearlong controversy that led firefighters to Auburn Hall. Now, both sides hope to begin rebuilding trust.

“That’s still a sticky issue,” said Mike Scott, president of the Auburn Firefighters Association Local 797. “It will take time.”

The new agreement gives firefighters a sought-after raise, tightens the rules for layoffs and changes the rules for reopening a contract.

“It’s fair for the city, and it’s fair for the Fire Department,” Councilor Kelly Matzen said, praising the department’s response time and professionalism.

Fellow Councilor Donna Rowell also supported the measure, but she was cautious in her praise for the deal.

In early 2004, City Manager Patricia Finnigan reopened the past agreement, taking away a promised raise. An arbitrator upheld Finnigan’s decision. Meanwhile, firefighters picketed.

And Rowell joined them.

“I guess I have a hard time with this,” she said.

Finnigan, Scott and others worked out the agreement in six daylong meetings with a mediator that began in November. Besides Finnigan and Scott, the city-named Quality Council included city administrators, Fire Department managers and union members.

“There were times when these people were at a dead end, but they refused to stop talking,” Fire Chief Wayne Werts said.

Finnigan also praised the determination of the members.

“We walked a mile in each other’s shoes,” she said. Part of that work was helping firefighters understand the city’s budget pressures. They learned about the city’s revenue, its expenses and its plans, she said.

“The budget has to be balanced at the end of the day,” Finnigan said.

On Jan. 19, union members approved the new contract in a 36-8 vote.

Firefighters had been working without a contract since last July.

The new contract would restore a 3 percent group raise and a 3 percent individual hike, based upon individual performance. The firefighter’s share of health care rose, mirroring the rest of the city’s employees, and rules for layoffs were made stricter.

Unless a catastrophic layoff happens, calling for the dismissal of 50 percent or more of firefighters, seniority will govern who will leave the department on a last-in, first-out basis.

Currently, the department employs 61 firefighters. The contract eliminates no jobs.

To Finnigan, it’s a deal that was agreed upon fairly quickly. Firefighters have gone without a contract since June 30, 2004, less than seven months.

“In the big scheme of things, this is a short turnaround,” Finnigan said.