Pay, health care key issues; 99 percent reject contract
By Jessie Halladay
Louisville Fire & Rescue firefighters almost unanimously rejected the city's contract offer yesterday, despite having worked without a contract for six months.
"They offered us basically nothing," said Jon Lucas, who works on Engine 7 at Sixth and York streets.
The offer included no improvements in health-care benefits and no raise in the first year of a four-year contract, Lucas said. It did include changes for dispatch-center workers, including a switch from 24-hour shifts to 10-hour shifts.
Union members voted on the offer over the past two days. Ninety-nine percent of the 467 members who voted rejected the offer, said Paul Routon, president of the firefighters union.
Matt Kamer, a spokesman for Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson, said the city put forth a fair offer but will try to resume talks with the union.
"We're hopeful that we'll reach an agreement," Kamer said.
The firefighters' contract expired July 1. They have been working under an extension that will expire Jan. 31.
Kamer said the city would negotiate for another extension to continue talks.
Routon said the union would like a federal mediator to get involved because the sides have been working to come up with a contract for the past year.
Firefighters had hoped to improve their insurance benefits so that they would be more in line with those that police officers receive, Routon said.Police have access to two health plans with lower premiums and co-payments. Those plans are not available to other city employees.
Kamer said the insurance offered to the firefighters matches what is available in contracts with every other city department, except the police.
Firefighters would have received 2 percent raises in each of the final three years of the rejected contract, but the lack of a raise in the first year was a problem for some firefighters.
Capt. Todd Young, who works on Grade Lane on Engine 1, said that with the price of gasoline, heating and even milk going up, it would be harder to support his wife and two children without a raise.
"Money is tighter. There's no question," Young said. "We just feel a little slighted."
Routon said the union's rejection of the offer has nothing to do with its concerns over proposals to shut down or relocate some firehouses and eliminate four fire companies.
The union has been meeting with community groups and trying to rally sentiment against the changes, which were suggested in a study conducted by Abramson's administration.
The mayor is expected to make an announcement this spring about how he plans to overhaul the department.
Although the contract and the reorganization are separate issues, Routon said, the union vote might lead city officials to see that "these guys aren't real happy."