NORWALK -- City firefighters have tentatively agreed on a contract with Mayor Richard Moccia, less than two months after he took office and called an agreement a priority.
The last fire contract expired in 2002, and negotiations for a new deal had become a source of public feuding under Moccia's predecessor, Alex Knopp.
The 132-member fire union is expected to vote Feb. 1 and 2 on the proposed contract, which would then require approval from the Common Council's Personnel Committee, followed by the full council.
"I'm happy to say that we've reached this stage," Moccia said yesterday at a Board of Fire Commissioners meeting.
The tentative fire contract is the second in about six months. After an impasse landed the matter in arbitration, bargaining teams reached a tentative four-year deal in June. Arbitration resumed after union members rejected the proposal in September.
After voting down the tentative pact, firefighters picketed Knopp and campaigned aggressively for Moccia. Both political parties credited the union's influence with helping Moccia unseat Knopp in November.
At yesterday's fire commission meeting, Chief Denis McCarthy said he believes firefighters appreciated Moccia's "hands-on approach" to getting both sides to the bargaining table and achieving a resolution. The situation was "headed for a train wreck," said McCarthy, who thanked Moccia for helping to avert a "probable disaster."
The contract rejected in September would have provided a 12 percent retroactive pay raise and required firefighters to pay some of their health-care costs.
The latest agreement -- reached Friday, in the second negotiating session in five days -- contains the same wage stipulations as the first tentative contract, union spokesman Capt. Ed Prescott said yesterday.
Besides that detail, neither the union nor Moccia would release specifics about the new agreement.
Fire Inspector Kenneth Hall, who is president of the union, said he wants to explain the contract to his membership instead of having them learn about details through the media.
After the first tentative pact was rejected, both sides said a key sticking point was firefighters' request for a pension plan similar to the one police received in their 2003 contract.
The police department's Deferred Retirement Option Plan allows officers, ages 48 and older with at least 20 years of experience, to defer pension payments for up to five years into a tax-free retirement account while receiving a regular salary.
The department originally projected 18 officers would take advantage of the plan, but 34 have signed up. Police Chief Harry Rilling last week said there could be 23 more in the coming year but he expects participation to greatly decline in future years.
The police department's DROP program was initially billed as being cost-neutral. But city Finance Director Thomas Hamilton last month said DROP is not cost-neutral, calling it a "terribly expensive" plan that must be altered or scrapped.
Before the announcement of the latest tentative fire contract, Moccia indicated firefighters may be offered some sort of revenue-neutral DROP plan. Prescott had estimated if the plan were offered, four to 10 firefighters would enroll before July, when the current unsettled contract expires.
Common Council member Douglas Hempstead, who leads the legislative body's Republican minority, said he has not seen the details of the contract offer but expects a revenue-neutral DROP plan. "The DROP plan, if there is one, will get more scrutiny than any other contract in a long, long time," Hempstead said. "I'm sure we'll see a lot of documents that back the decision to give one."
Hempstead said he also wants to see the "worst-case scenario" for the city's finances should the plan be offered and more firefighters than expected take it.
Despite the fire union's endorsement of Moccia, Hempstead said he does not feel obligated to approve the mayor's offer.
"I feel obligated to make sure everything concerning the fire department gets the same scrutiny I give everything else," Hempstead said. "I also represent the citizens of Norwalk who have to pay for it. I have to make sure it's a responsible contract."
He noted there is plenty riding on this contract because, particularly if it contains a DROP plan, it can be viewed as a template for negotiations on the next fire and police contracts, which must begin in the coming months.
"I think it's certainly going to be somewhat of a tell all of what the next few contracts are going to look for," Hempstead.
Council President Michael Coffey, a Democrat, said it will be the council's "fiduciary obligation" to thoroughly scrutinize any DROP plan offering.
"Look, we all have the utmost respect for our police and fire departments, but we also have an obligation and responsibility to the residents of the city," Coffey said. "We're in a fiscally tight year. We don't have all this extra money sitting in the bank accounts. It needs to be looked at and analyzed by both the (council's) Personnel and Finance committees."
At a meeting last week, council members pressured Moccia to release an analysis of the police DROP plan being used in fire contract negotiations.
Moccia declined, saying the document was part of labor negotiations and could not be released until talks were completed.
Some council members, including Democrat Matthew Miklave, said any documentation prepared by city staff -- though not necessarily public -- should be available to the council.
Corporation Counsel Peter Nolin yesterday said he has tentatively ruled council members cannot have immediate access to DROP plan information prepared for Moccia's labor talks with firefighters.
Nolin yesterday said he is forwarding information on the DROP plan prepared in 2003 for police union negotiations but is preparing an opinion supporting Moccia's stance on withholding the firefighters' DROP information.
"While there's no precedent, the mayor has a legitimate point that it's part of negotiations, and that's an executive, not a legislative, function," Nolin said.
He said once the fire union ratifies the draft contract and it is forwarded to the council, members would receive all the information they need to decide whether to approve it.
"But until the union says 'we're done' we're still in negotiations," Nolin said.
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