http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-reps6feb07,0,1359014.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Doug Dalena
Staff Writer
February 7, 2006
STAMFORD -- The Board of Representative unanimously approved a four-year contract for the majority of the city's firefighters last night.
The contract, which covers the 235 firefighters of Stamford Fire & Rescue, provides annual raises of 3 percent, adds eight firefighters and gradually increases employees' share of health care costs from 7.5 percent this year to 11 percent in 2008.
The board's vote, which came without discussion, drew applause and a chorus of "thank yous" from 50 firefighters who filled the seats and lined the walls of the board's legislative chambers at Government Center to hear the results.
The eight new firefighters will allow the department to increase minimum staffing of its three ladder trucks to four firefighters each. One ladder truck, stationed downtown, has four already, but the two on the West Side and in the South End have three. The ladder trucks perform building entry, rescues and other specialized tasks.
Having four firefighters to a truck will meet standards of the National Fire Protection Association, an industry group, and allow firefighters on the ladder trucks to split into teams of two to perform separate tasks, said Brendan Keatley, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 786.
"It's a labor-intensive effort to get somebody out of a building," Keatley said.
The Board of Finance had recommended against approving the contract, with some members expressing concern about the $1 million annual cost of the additional manpower. Mayor Dannel Malloy and the Board of Representatives' Personnel Committee rejected that recommendation and approved the contract.
The $1 million per year was a worst-case scenario, said city Rep. Mary Fedeli, R-17, chairwoman of the Personnel Committee, which unanimously recommended approval.
Adding eight firefighters last year cost $600,000, she said, including salary, benefits and overtime.
"In the end, the committee thought the additional men in the busiest districts was important," she said. "It comes at a cost."
The new contract includes annual stipends of $500 for firefighters' emergency medical technician certification. The stipend would rise to $750 in 2008.
The firefighters' union had rejected an earlier contract agreement in October.
Keatley said the city's agreement to several changes in the new agreement won the union over. The changes included adding the extra firefighters and withdrawing a new provision for a mandatory retirement age.
The new contract is projected to cost an additional $9.7 million in its four-year term, from July 2005 to July 2009. The cost includes $276,000 in savings from the firefighter' increased health-care contribution and increased co-payments for prescription drugs. The additional cost for the previous agreement was estimated at $5 million.
Copyright © 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.