|
Read News
|
Pocono News Section
Firefighters' Contract Causes Concern
Firefighters' Contract Causes Concern - Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 5:31PM EST
Reported by: Jeremy Deebel
Thursday, Sep 10, 2009 @ 05:31pm EST
Williamsport, Lycoming County-
In central Pennsylvania, city officials and fire union bosses are butting heads over a new contract.
Williamsport’s mayor doesn’t believe residents here can afford the new contract an arbitration panel recently awarded to the city’s firefighters.
Terms of the deal would cost the city roughly $300,000 more per year for fire protection.
Mayor Gabe Campana said, “Ultimately the people that are going to be footing the bill are the taxpayers, and they are taxed out.”
The binding agreement eliminates the old two-tier system that paid firefighters based on their experience.
It could mean raises of anywhere from $7,000 to $20,000 for 13 of the city’s 33 paid fire personnel.
The deal also guarantees the city will provide benefits for all firefighters’ families.
Aaron Holder, of Williamsport, said, “They don’t even know if they’re going to live through the whole day. Their life is just a chance. When they go to a fire, they don’t know if they’re going to come back or not. So I think they should get their money.”
The firefighters’ union says city hall has also gone back on a verbal agreement made by a previous administration.
That promise included hiring two new firefighters for every veteran who retired – a deal that would give the city 40 plus firefighters today.
Campana noted, “I’ve been mayor for 20 months. I was not part of that administration. So it’s my responsibility to take a look at numbers we can afford right now.”
Campana says he hopes to avoid a tax increase, but admits that is one option on the table.
And while the new contract is binding, we’re told there are ways it could be tweaked.
“I’m hoping that the union will meet with the administration again and see if we can make some revisions to this binding arbitration because it’s unsatisfactory,” Campana added.
We attempted to reach out to the firefighters’ union president for comment. He canceled a scheduled interview Thursday afternoon. | | |
|
|
|