Louisville firefighters have voted overwhelmingly to reject the city's latest contract proposal, according to their union. Ninety percent of those voting rejected the proposal, union president Paul Routon said. The two main issues were health insurance and money, he said.
Matt Kamer, a spokesman for Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson, said last night that the city would await formal notification of the voting results before discussing with the union what might come next. One option is mediation, Kamer said. "We believed we had come to an agreement with union leadership on a contract they would be able to sell to their members," Kamer said. "It's disappointing they were not able to do that. We've come to an agreement with every other union (and) we believe we negotiated in good faith" with the firefighters.
Firefighters almost unanimously rejected another contract proposal in January. That offer included no improvement in health-care benefits and no raise for the first year of a four-year contract. The offer voted on Friday and yesterday by firefighters did include additional benefits, Routon said. Among the improvements was a stipulation that the city would provide all protective gear. Firefighters now buy such items as gloves and protective hoods out of their uniform allowance. The contract also improved the longevity pay scale, Routon said. The latest offer still had no change in health-care benefits and no raise in the first year of the contract. A 2 percent raise would have been given in each of the following years of the contract. Firefighters have been working under a contract extension since July 1 as they negotiated with the city. One of the biggest issues for firefighters is their health-care plan, which they had hoped to improve so it would match what's offered to police. Police have access to two health plans with lower premiums and co-payments. Those health plans are not available to any other city employees. What is offered to firefighters matches what every other city department has available. Contract negotiations have come while firefighters await an announcement about how Abramson plans to overhaul and modernize the fire department. Firefighters have opposed some suggestions made in a study released last fall that recommended reducing the number of firehouses to 17 from 22 and eliminating four companies. The study also recommended adding some equipment and building new facilities for some fire companies. Abramson is expected to announce his modernization plan next month when he proposes next year's budget. Routon said he didn't think the negative vote was influenced by the modernization plan.