Yesterday at the afternoon Council meeting we dealt with the
unknowns of Civil Service in consideration of the FY18 budget. It is budget time and we have to deal with
this creature before the beginning of the fiscal year on October 1st. The first thing that was accomplished was the
termination of meet and confer. A letter
will be sent today advising the APFF that meet and confer, the vehicle used by
Arlington Unions to negotiate with City management, has been terminated for the
Firefighters Union. The reason is that
Meet and Confer is not required in Part 143 of the Local Government Code,
therefore it is not a requirement of the City to provide it. Meet and Confer will be continued with the
police union.
It has always been the position of Council, that if Civil
Service was approved by the voters, the increase in cost would come from the
Fire Department Budget. The City has allotted
a budget of $49 million for FY18, for the Fire Department.
Contained in that budget is the purchase of two fire engines costing $1
million. We have allowed the first
engine to be purchased and held the purchase of the other until later in the
year to see if there are any unexpected expenditures connected with Civil
Service. The City Manager has identified
a cost for the implementation of Civil Service for the first year to be
$807,000. As stated this additional cost
will come from the Fire Department’s budget, namely the pockets of the
firefighters themselves. A listing of
benefits that have been removed are as follows:
- Meet and Confer
1. Withdraw & Remove Previous Concessions - Vacation
1. Start with 180 balance on October 30, 2017 - Sick Leave
1. Amend policy affecting covered Fire Fighters to align with 143. - Cost of Civil Service ($807,000)
1. EMT-1 ($396,000)
2. Holiday Pay ($160,000)
3. Education Incentive 30/60/90 ($59,700)
4. Sick Leave Sell Back ($87,500)
5. FLSA ($90,000) *still under consideration*
6. Swing Pay ($12,500)
Since FSLA overtime would unfairly affect other employees,
it remained untouched leaving an additional $90,000 to be cut elsewhere. I also stated that I didn’t want our military
reservists to be touched by the advent of Civil Service. A lie was sent to our citizens from the Union
stating that military reservists were having to use vacation to serve their
country each year. The truth is that
reservists are allocated 150 hrs. in Part 143.
The City currently allocates 180 hrs. each year, and I wanted to insure
that the higher of the two was maintained instead of the lower Part 143 requirement. Those serving our country should not have to
bear the brunt of Unionism.
Lastly, we told the firefighters that benefits would be cut,
and that they would not be able to enjoy the benefits that were given to them
at the City level when seeking protection at the State level. This is the truth of that statement. The only individual that stated, ”your
benefits won’t be touched,” was the Union President. Now that same Union President has already
threatened to sue us over two items. The
first is the advent of the Deputy Chiefs becoming salaried employees and the
second is the Apparatus Operator list. Bring it!
Litigation is very expensive and we knew that the Union would try to sue
the City at every opportunity. That is
why we have held the $807,000 from benefits and the $500,000 for the fire truck
in abeyance. The fire union has asked
the citizens for civil service and the citizens have given it to them. It is now time for the Council to implement
the wishes of the voters.
