Fla. Fire Union Dislikes Pay Offer, but County Says it is Fair

July 10--Marion County government has offered pay increases for Marion County Fire Rescue staffers as part of contract negotiations with the firefighters' union.

County Human Resources Director Amanda Tart and other county staffers met earlier this week with the Marion County Professional Firefighters. The government is proposing a pay increase of $1 per hour for single-certified firefighters and EMTs, and $2 per hour for paramedics. Those raises translate into an annual increase of $3,000 for firefighters and EMTs and $6,000 for paramedics.

"We feel it's a fair offer to get employees up to where they need to be to be competitive with surrounding counties," Tart said.

For the past several years, Marion County Fire Rescue has continued to lose employees to surrounding counties that offer better pay. The department has 475 people, and officials estimate it is short about 60 employees.

"It's not a secret that we're losing people," Tart said. "We want to fix this while we can."

But union members say the government's offer is a quick-fix solution with no long-term outlook for employee retention and incremental pay increases.

"This contract shows no future for my people," Mike Felton, a member of the union's executive board, said during the meeting earlier this week. "A Band-Aid won't cut it."

Union spokesman Ryan O'Reilly, in an interview, said the offer is short-sighted because it does not include a long-term incremental pay structure -- something the union did not insist on during the recession but is now asking for. O'Reilly said the need for a long-term structure is being sought even at the expense of an immediate pay increase that the government is offering.

O'Reilly said the government's offer also does away with minimum staffing levels.

"That makes the job unsafe for us and hurts the citizens," he said.

Another oversight in the offer, he said, is the lack of provision for health screenings -- specifically, scans to detect cancer. Firefighters, largely because of the smoke they breathe in, are disproportionately afflicted by certain types of cancer, such as testicular and thyroid.

Tart said they are looking into providing annual ultrasounds, perhaps in another year, but that this issue is not the number one priority.

"Cancer doesn't wait for later," O'Reilly said, adding that several colleagues, both in Marion and other counties, have suffered from cancers that might have been preventable with the early detection that screening provides.

Several city and county governments throughout Florida, including Ocala and Citrus County, provide the scans, he added.

Tart said Marion County government first wants to resolve the wage battle, which has been ongoing.

"Year after year the big topic is wages," Tart said. "This year, we've been able to put together a proposal that is more than fair."

O'Reilly said union officials are consulting their attorneys about the offer.

The county administration is now looking at ways to potentially fund its offer, which totals $3.5 million. Tart said there are "several different (funding) options."

At Tuesday's County Commission meeting, the board passed a resolution adopting an amended methodology for determining fire assessment fees. The official hearing to determine fees will be held Sept. 15.

The board also approved a resolution that reclassifies the public safety county administrator position to the fire chief position, and changes qualifying criteria for the job.

Stuart McElhaney, the current chief, retires at the end of this month after more than two decades at the helm of a department he largely created.

According to O'Reilly, the board's approval of the changed criteria -- which essentially lowers the requirements -- is concerning.

"They approved it without any discussion at all, 25 days before one of the longest-standing fire chiefs in the state of Florida retires," he said. "They've categorically lowered the standards. No business would do this."

The union sent a letter to the board, ahead of Tuesday's meeting, outlining its concerns. Central to those is that, under the new qualifications, the fire chief would not be required to have worked as a certified firefighter for at least one year, nor have advanced educational background in firefighting or EMS.

About 85 percent of MCFR's call volume consists of EMS calls.

"You would not hire an engineer without an engineering degree. You would not go to a doctor who did not go to medical school," union President Jay Boardman wrote in the letter. "To allow this reduction in requirements for the job would be a great departure from the norm. This proposal would create the lowest standard in the region."

The union also is concerned that the fire chief will no longer have oversight of fleet maintenance, building safety, animal services and public safety communications.

The county predicts the reclassification of the fire chief's role will save the county nearly $25,000 annually.

Contact Kristine Crane at 352-867-4117 or kristine.crane@starbanner.com.

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