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Firefighters to get Pepper Pike proposal
Firefighters to get Pepper Pike proposal
By SALI McSHERRY
Negotiations with Pepper Pike firefighters are in process, Mayor Bruce H. Akers said Monday.
City Council had some questions and input and the city attorney was completing the proposal for the firefighters' review. The city has not yet sat at the table with firefighters, Mr. Akers said.
Pepper Pike firefighters have been members since the 1970s of the Northern Ohio Firefighters Association, but they haven't exercised their union rights until now, according to Lt. John Frazier. Numbering about 10, firefighters want to exercise those rights because they are concerned that benefits will drastically change, he said.
The State Employment Relations Board certified in late September the two new unions of city employees, one for the service and clerical staff and one for six dispatchers, both represented by the American Federation of Government Employees, Mr. Akers said.
The plan is to negotiate with each of the three unions, one at a time, and hopefully finish the process by the end of the year, he said. Pepper Pike needs to complete the negotiations so officials will know the impact to the 2012 budget, he said. Also, the city doesn't want it to appear that it is dragging its feet on this process, he said.
City workers begin paying more for health benefits in July and council has been considering changes in the number of sick and vacation days and longevity pay. Council also is thinking about hiring an outside company to compare salaries and benefits of employees with those working in other municipalities.
Due to budget constraints, including a decrease in estate taxes, as well as rising costs, such as medical benefits, council reduced pay for employees by 10 to 15 percent a year ago. The city also required workers to take furlough days over the course of several months but restored lost pay to most of them earlier this year. Council restored 5 percent to service employees.
The city's police department has long been unionized. In its 2010 contract, following a fact-finder's recommendations, officers received no change in salary. The city then laid off five officers and since then, one position has been restored, police said.
Almost all of the union-eligible employees, which numbered about 20, signed union cards in July. Terry Reed, of AFGE, said the union typically moves forward with plans if at least 65 percent of the employees want to unionize.
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