Posts Tagged Carpentersville IAFF Local 4790
The Daily Herald has a followup article about the dispute between the Carpentersville firefighter’s union and the village management.
Carpentersville and the union that represents its 32 full-time firefighters are in the midst of resolving issues that came up after both sides signed off on a three-year contract, officials confirmed Tuesday.
At the same time, village officials reiterated that the recent staffing changes they implemented within the fire department do not jeopardize residents’ safety.
“I’m totally confident in the ability of our safety people to protect the village of Carpentersville,” Village President Ed Ritter said Tuesday night at the end of a board meeting. “Our training, our efficiency, our improved equipment all make me very confident. I would not put the citizens at risk just to save a dollar.”
Authorities declined to get into the details of what issues are being discussed, but Village Manager J. Mark Rooney indicated that the village’s change to fire department staffing was one of them. “We are in active conversations with the union to possibly come to some resolutions of some of the issues that they’ve had with our staffing model,” Rooney said.
Rick Nieves, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Carpentersville Local 4790, declined to detail what the parties are attempting to hash out.
“We are collaboratively making efforts to find solutions that are mutually beneficial,” Nieves said. Nieves has previously said he’s concerned as few as eight firefighters may be staffing the village’s three fire stations, down from the previous minimum of 11 or 12.
As well, Station No. 1 is the only one that can respond to an emergency with both an ambulance and a fire engine, while the other two stations will send one or the other. Previously, each of the village’s three stations could dispatch both an engine and an ambulance.
As a result, Carpentersville will likely rely more on the East Dundee, West Dundee and Rutland Dundee fire protection districts to make up for the difference in the staffing and apparatus changes, Nieves said.
“The fire department needs to have five (firefighters) in each station,” Scholl said. “The board’s new staffing model means that greater than 50 percent of all ambulance requests on the east side of the village — one in two — have a response time greater than four minutes and brain death starts occurring after four minutes without oxygen.”
Since the staffing changes took place Oct. 19, Carpentersville responded to 224 calls and the average response time was four minutes and six seconds, Public Safety Director Al Popp said.
“They have been continuing to do an extraordinary job,” Popp said of the firefighters.
Officials have said the full-time firefighters are upset over the loss of overtime opportunities.
They also said the changes allow them to staff according to daily demands and save $300,000 in overtime expenses.
thanks Dan
The Daily Herald has an article about differences between the Carpentersville IAFF Local 4790 and the village on the subject of staffing:
To hear Carpentersville full-time firefighters tell it, cost-saving moves by the village lead to slower response times that will jeopardize residents’ safety. And they’ve launched a public awareness campaign, mostly through social media, to warn the public of what they view as understaffing of the village’s three fire stations.
The village administration, however, says the firefighters union has “buyer’s remorse” about its new contract and really is lamenting the anticipated loss of overtime. The campaign is nothing more than a scare tactic, village leaders say, adding that day-to-day operations of the village are not the union’s purview.
“Management is in charge of the village, not the union,” Village Manager J. Mark Rooney said.
Minimum manning
The village and the union agreed to a three-year contract last month that did not require a minimum number of firefighters per shift to staff the three fire stations.
“We are assessing it day to day to day to make sure we get the maximum amount of resources across the village,” said Al Popp, Carpentersville’s director of public safety.
But Lt. Rick Nieves, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Carpentersville Local 4790, said he’s concerned as few as eight firefighters may be staffing the stations, down from the previous minimum of 11 or 12. The union represents the village’s 32 full-time firefighters.
Moreover, he said, Station No. 1 is the only one that can respond to an emergency with both an ambulance and a fire engine, while the other two stations will send one or the other. Previously, each of the village’s three stations could dispatch both an engine and an ambulance.
As a result, Carpentersville will likely rely more on the East Dundee, West Dundee and Rutland Dundee fire protection districts to make up for the difference in the staffing and apparatus changes, Nieves said.
“Here’s the problem: We run 3,500 calls a year, and so when you have that amount of calls, you only have so many people who are able to respond,” Nieves said. “There’s no doubt the times are going to go up.”
However, officials acknowledge the department has yet to reach an eight-person staffing minimum since the change went into effect Oct. 19. The minimum since then has been 10 total firefighters on duty and 11 on average, Nieves said. He added he was under the impression the village would maintain the 12-person minimum.
“But once we were advised differently, obviously now there is a problem,” he said.
The union has filed a grievance against the village on a separate issue, saying the contract was violated when three part-time firefighters were used to staff the fire engines.
In the meantime, the union has lobbied the public about its issues by posting on itsFacebook and Twitter pages and meeting with a homeowners association and influential local businessman Tom Roeser.
‘Get with the program’
Rooney says the village is within its rights to staff a fire engine with three part-timers, a move he said saves money and keeps equipment in service. On average, a part-time firefighter makes about $15.55 an hour, while a full-time firefighter makes an average $30.04 an hour regular time and $45.06 per hour when on overtime, Rooney said.
A provision in the full-timers’ contract pulls units out of service if there aren’t enough personnel to meet the minimum manning requirements. It also says an engine company “shall be staffed with a minimum of three firefighters.” It defines “firefighters” as full-time firefighters.
But Rooney said he is using the same wording outlined in the contract for the 29 part-time firefighters, which lets them ride the firetrucks, too.
“I’m avoiding service cuts by using part-timers more effectively,” Rooney said.
The three-year contract costs the village $572,000 and includes 2 percent annual pay raises for the full-time firefighters, Rooney said. Lieutenants receive a 7.14 percent pay increase the first year and a 2 percent raise the second and third years, he said.
The real crux of the union’s discontent, Rooney said, was his move to cut their overtime. Carpentersville is expected to spend about $100,000 on the fire department’s overtime costs this year, and documents show the village budgeted $60,000 for the fire department’s overtime for next year. The current contract is projected to save about $300,000 in overtime costs throughout its three-year term, Rooney said.
In the past, the village hired back a full-time firefighter if a full- or part-timer called in sick and a part-timer couldn’t pick up the shift. With firefighters working 24-hour shifts, it costs $1,080 a day per employee in overtime, Rooney said. The new contract gives officials the flexibility to make staffing changes depending on any given day’s demands, Rooney said.
“They resent at the negotiating table when I tell them that they have to recognize they exist as employees to service and serve the resident taxpayers of the village.” Rooney said of the full-time firefighters. “They view the village exists to pay them salary and benefits and pensions. They’ve had it their way for a number of years. They have to get with the program.”
Village President Ed Ritter backs Rooney and said slashing overtime costs across every department is one of the board’s main objectives.
But Nieves said overtime pay has nothing to do with the union’s beef against the village.
“The community,” he said, “has a right to know about the service cuts that they’re going to be completing.”
thanks Dan
From the IAFF Local 4790 web site:
Manpower Cuts Threaten Carpentersville Residents’ Safety
Added Average Response Time Likely Will Cause Loss of Life
The Carpentersville Village Board’s recent decision to cut fire department services represents a significant threat to emergency response, public safety studies show.
Village officials have told Carpentersville firefighters they intend to reduce manpower by up to 4 positions each shift, which will directly threaten emergency response capability. The daily staffing level of the Carpentersville Fire Department will drop to far less than that provided by neighboring municipalities.
“This is an extremely disturbing development, one that is not only unnecessary but which is a serious threat to the residents of Carpentersville,” said Lt. Richard Nieves, president of Carpentersville Local 4790 of the International Association of Firefighters. “Since 2008 our staffing has declined from 13 firefighter/paramedics available down to 8 on any given day.
“The maximum number of firefighters available when the department is at full strength may be 12, but that level occurs only 50 days per year. Compare our staffing levels to a municipality like Streamwood, which staffs 15 firefighters each day at full strength, and never drops below 10. Streamwood is a fair comparison because their department response demand is nearly equal to Carpentersville’s. “They are providing more fire and EMS protection with 3.1 million less dollars than Carpentersville.”
“Bottom line is this: there is no doubt that response time will lengthen in Carpentersville, which means lives and property will be gravely affected. This is a potentially disastrous decision by the political people who run the affairs of our village.”
In its 2010-2013 contract, 33 Carpentersville firefighters took minimal raises to keep manning levels secure and conceded salary and benefits up to $465,000 over the life of their contract so the village could maintain professional standard service levels.
During that same time period the village added staffing in upper level management within the village that included substantial pay increases.
“Our members have struggled to establish a daily minimum with an eye toward maintaining the public’s safety, but the city refused to accept our efforts,” Nieves said. “Instead, the political powers called for a reduction in manpower.
“They have said they want to maintain their right to shut down the use of a fire engine. Now they appear to be determined to execute that right at the expense of public safety.
“We offered them an alternative that would have reduced their expenses but they have refused our offer. Our proposal would have maintained the previous staffing levels of 12 on-duty firefighters every day, 365 days a year.”
Nieves said a result of the village’s cuts would take an engine out of service at least 53 times per year. The affected station will be manned with only two firefighters. Station 2, located on the east side of the village, will run as a “jump company” leaving the station without the ability to respond when a second call is dispatched. This represents a service reduction of nearly 50 percent.
“Our average response time is now less than 4 minutes, this will increase significantly. Studies show brain death begins to occur within 3-4 minutes when someone stops breathing, and fires in today’s homes burn hotter and faster, doubling in size every minute.
“On average we respond to 3500 calls annually, any increase in times will have a negative impact on the community. Insurance ratings will jump from the current ISO level of 3. This increase will negate any savings village officials say they are passing on to the homeowners.
“Sadly, this is nothing more than a shell game. The village board may or may not believe they are reducing costs responsibly but, in fact, they are simply shifting the costs.
“Worse, lives and property will be put at risk as the politicians move the money from one shell to another.”
thanks Dan
