Excerpts from the Chicagotribune.com:
It will probably be Labor Day before Wilmette’s union-represented firefighters and village officials learn how an arbitrator has ruled in a contract dispute between the two parties. Until that time, the 33 unionized department employees comprising the majority of Wilmette’s 44 sworn firefighters will continue working without a new contract, as they have since Dec. 31, 2013.
The main issue holding up negotiations, which began before the last three-year contract expired, is the village’s desire to institute a two-tier wage system for firefighter-paramedics. Patrick Harrington, a representative of the firefighters, confirmed April 23 that contract talks had gone to an arbitrator for a ruling, and that the two-tier salary proposal was one of the issues. Harrington said both sides had agreed not to comment publicly on the negotiations beyond that.
Non-union village employees hired after Wilmette instituted a new, lower pay scale in January 2011 are paid less than those hired before that time. The move to a dual wage system was part of cost-cutting measures implemented in the 2011 budget. The village’s union-represented police accepted a similar two-tier system in 2013.
To view Wilmette’s police and fire contracts, visit http://www.wilmette.com and click on the village manager’s office menu.
thanks Dan
