Posts Tagged Minimum Manning issue

Oak Lawn Fire Department news

Jan 14

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

The Oak Lawn Leaf has learned that the Village of Oak Lawn has offered the firefighter/paramedics a buyout of $5.3 million dollars in exchange for the union dropping the minimum manning provision from its contract. The $5.3 million dollars would apparently be split among the current firefighters and paramedics although details of how that money would be divided was not provided to the Oak Lawn Leaf by our sources, who asked that they not be identified.

Minimum manning has been a controversial sticking point between the union’s membership and the village manager who has pursued litigation in an attempt to rude the number of employees in the department.

The village board recently changed attorneys for negotiating the next labor contract with the firefighters in perhaps a sign that the village was considering an alternative strategy to the one that has been unsuccessful for almost a decade.

The village, which currently pays approximately two million dollars to the firefighters in overtime every year, would recoup the money through the elimination of overtime. The union has previously contended that the village’s failure to hire enough firefighters and paramedics has made the overtime necessary.

In January of 2017, only months before the mayoral election, Arbitrator Steven M. Bierig, issued a 195 page decision that found in favor of the union on minimum manning and six other issues, while finding in favor of the village on two issues and allowing the court to determine the final issue regarding out of state residency.

Despite the village arguing during the arbitration hearing that the minimum manning number was in excess of what is necessary to protect the village, the arbitrator applied three factors from case law to uphold the number. He said the minimum manning number has worked as intended. He noted that it was uncontested that the village has been fighting fires with 21 employees on a shift. The village argued that the number should be reduced to 19 members per shift and that the number was imminently reasonable. The village presented an expert witness who testified that the they could function with three rather than four per engine. The firefighter’s union countered the argument noting that the system of having 21 employees has worked well for the village’s safety.

The union contended evidence shows that by implementing the plan that the village requested would be counter intuitive. According to the union’s argument, “It would actually impede the ability of the village to effectively respond to fires.” The union also presented an expert witness who testified that four employees on an engine is far preferable to three in terms of fighting fires.

As an example, the union noted that with four on an engine, one company can arrive at a fire and immediately begin to fight it. “If the village’s proposal was implemented, it would require two pieces of equipment in order to begin to fight a fire, which is not the most efficient approach to fire fighting. By having to rely more heavily on mutual aid, it places the citizens of the village in a vulnerable position in which, at times, it must rely upon the willingness of a neighboring community to assist. This is not feasible and should be rejected.”

The village’s argument that the change in minimum manning was a minor change was discarded by the arbitrator finding that the proposal to reduce the minimum manning number was a major modification.

The arbitrator referred to previous arbitration disputes between the parties and noted that Arbitrator Benn was confronted with the same issue in the prior case between these parties. Bierig wrote, “In rejecting the same issue, he held: The village seeks a sea change to the manning system – specifically, the ability to reduce minimum manning from four to three employees on an engine, i.e., a 25% reduction – when the system has been in place for 20 years and was formulated with the mutual intent ” … for purposes of efficient response to emergency situations and for reasons of employee safety… ” with a mandate that if those agreed upon levels are not met, ” … employees shall be hired back pursuant to Section 6.4. ‘Overtime Distribution’” as expressed in Section 7.9(a) of the Firefighter Agreement [emphasis added]. The village does not seek this sea change because the manning system is operationally broken. Rather, the village seeks this sea change because the manning system is costly. That is not a basis for an interest arbitrator to change such a safety provision as important as minimum manning. Where one party (here, the Union) seeks to maintain the status quo and there is no demonstration by the party seeking the change (here, the village) that the system is broken, that kind of change must come through the bargaining process.”

thanks Dan

Tags: Arbitrator backs union on minimum manning in Oak Lawn, firefighters battle politicians over minimum manning, Minimum Manning issue, Oak Lawn FIre Department, settlement offered to Firefighters

Oak Lawn Fire Department news

Aug 25

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, Fire Service News | Comments off

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Oak Lawn is hailing a recent Illinois Appellate Court decision in its longstanding litigation over staffing with the village’s firefighters union as a significant victory for taxpayers.

On Aug. 12, the appellate court upheld a 2015 Illinois Labor Relations Board’s ruling that found Oak Lawn not liable for $3.2 million in back pay and accrued interest the union argued firefighters were owed because of the village’s alleged failure to comply with minimum staffing provisions in the contract.

The ruling marks the fourth time in the past 18 months the village has prevailed in its case with the firefighters union over minimum staffing, village officials said.

While the union is legally entitled to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to take up the case, it does not appear likely to do so.

Oak Lawn Fire Department Lt. Vince Griffin, who heads the union, said Friday that he doesn’t believe the union will challenge the appellate court’s decision.

Griffin also said it was absolutely possible that in the wake of its most recent legal setback, the union would drop a separate appeal of a grievance arbitrator’s decision about the same staffing issue. If that occurs, it would effectively mark the end of the years-long legal battle over minimum manning grievances that the village and its firefighters have been waging since 2008.

In that year, the firefighters union filed a grievance against Oak Lawn after the village, as a belt-tightening measure, began staffing engines with three people, rather than four, as is stipulated in the contract. A grievance arbitrator sided with the union and ordered the village to maintain a minimum manning level of 21 people per shift and provide $286,000 in back pay for the nine-plus months the it had reduced staffing below that number, village officials said.

As a result, the village returned minimum staffing to 21 per shift and, after losing an appeal of the arbitrator’s decision, paid out the allotted sum.

The union later filed a compliance petition, arguing that the village had not complied with the minimum staffing provisions in the contract, and should actually be staffing 22 people per shift. The Illinois Labor Relations Board initially found in favor of the union and last year awarded it more than $3 million in back pay and accrued interest, but that decision was later reversed on appeal.

This month’s appellate court decision was an affirmation of that reversal, and solidifies the minimum manning status quo at 21 per shift.

While the grievance aspect of the longstanding feud may have reached its conclusion, the battle over minimum manning requirements continues to impede contract negotiations between the village and its firefighters. Oak Lawn has argued, thus far unsuccessfully, that minimum staffing levels at the fire department should be a management prerogative not subject to collective bargaining.

The village contends that it should be able to set minimum staffing levels at 19 firefighters per shift, down two from the 21-per-shift staffing minimum that an independent arbitrator in 2008 ruled the village must abide by, Oak Lawn officials said.

“It’s our contention that that is an inherent right in Illinois and that the decision on how to staff, and what level to staff, and how to deploy, is a right of management, the governing body,” said Deetjen. He, along with Fire Chief George Sheets, Mayor Sandra Bury and all but one member of the village board, argue that the fire department can operate safely and effectively with fewer members working per shift, and in so doing, save the village in overtime costs.

With neither side willing to budge on the minimum staffing issue, recent labor contracts have been adjudicated through an arbitration process.

In 2014, the first time the parties’ collective bargaining dispute went to an interest arbitrator, the arbitrator decided to leave staffing stipulations contained in the contract as is, maintaining the 21-per-shift status quo. When that contract expired at the end of 2014, the village brought the issue back to arbitration, where in the coming months a new arbitrator will rule on it.

If Oak Lawn prevails in the arbitration — a decision isn’t expected until November — it stands to save an additional $937,000 in overtime costs annually going forward, officials said.

Tags: Appellate court sides with village on overtime complaint against firefighters, firefighters battle politicians over minimum manning, Minimum Manning issue, Oak Lawn FIre Department, Oak Lawn Fire Department Lt. Vince Griffin, Oak Lawn wins ruling against back pay for firefighters

Oak Lawn Fire Department news

Jul 24

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 4 Comments

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Interest arbitration proceedings between the village of Oak Lawn and its firefighters union concluded this week, setting the stage for an independent arbitrator to rule on the parties’ longstanding collective bargaining dispute over minimum staffing levels.

Millions of taxpayer dollars hang on the arbitrator’s decision, which isn’t expected until November, but became a heated topic of debate among village trustees after one penned a rebuke of the mayor’s decision to continue her costly legal campaign against Oak Lawn’s Fire Department.

At issue currently is the village’s contention that it should be able to set minimum staffing levels at 19 firefighters per shift, down two from the 21-per-shift staffing minimum that an independent arbitrator in 2008 ruled the village must abide by, Oak Lawn officials said.

The dispute dates back to 2008, when the firefighters union filed a grievance against Oak Lawn after the village, as a belt-tightening measure, began staffing engines with three people, rather than four, as is stipulated in the contract.

A grievance arbitrator sided with the union and ordered the village to maintain a minimum manning level of 21 people per shift and provide $286,000 in back pay for the nine-plus months the village had reduced staffing below that number, village officials said.

As a result, the village returned minimum staffing to 21 per shift and, after losing an appeal of the arbitrator’s decision, paid out the allotted sum.

The union later filed a compliance petition, arguing that the village had not complied with the minimum staffing provisions in the contract. The Illinois Labor Relations Board initially found in favor of the union and last year awarded them more than $3 million in back pay and accrued interest, but that decision was later reversed on appeal.

Oak Lawn has argued separately, and thus far unsuccessfully, that minimum staffing levels at the fire department should be a management prerogative that is not subject to collective bargaining. As a result, both sides have repeatedly come to loggerheads when negotiating labor contracts in recent years.

“It’s our contention that that is an inherent right in Illinois and that the decision on how to staff and what level to staff and how to deploy is a right of management, the governing body,” said village manager Larry Deetjen, who along with Fire Chief George Sheets, Mayor Sandra Bury and all but one member of the board, argue that the fire department can operate safely and effectively with fewer members working per shift and in so doing, save the village a significant amount in overtime costs.

The collective bargaining dispute first went to an interest arbitrator in 2014, who decided to leave staffing stipulations contained in the contract as is. When that contract expired at the end of 2014, the village brought the issue back to arbitration, where a new arbitrator will rule on it in the coming months.

In an editorial printed last month in multiple local publications, Trustee Bob Streit, the board’s lone consistent opposition voice, questioned Bury’s decision to continue expending taxpayer funds in the village’s years-long legal battle with the fire department over minimum staffing, while simultaneously supporting the recent settlement of a lawsuit filed by a former village employee to save taxpayers money by avoiding the expense of prolonged litigation.

“For more than three years you and the village manager instructed village attorneys to disregard court rulings and pursue … this legal battle with no concern for taxpayers in this instance,” wrote Streit, claiming that the village had spent more than $1 million in legal fees on the case.

“Actions speak louder than words, Mayor Bury, and your actions clearly communicate that you’re one of those politicians who say one thing and do another,” the letter continues. “You have completely ‘un-friended’ the taxpayers of Oak Lawn, and you owe each of us an explanation.”

Bury, who Wednesday issued a unified letter from the rest of the board in response to Streit’s allegations, said her explanation for fighting the litigation was simple. The economic stakes are simply too high not to continue the village’s legal fight with the fire department.

She said the $1 million figure Streit cited for legal fees expended was incorrect, and asserted the village actually had spent a combined $514,769 on all fire department legal matters since she took office in May 2013.

That taxpayer money, Bury said, had been put to good use.

She credits the village’s willingness to fight a 2015 Illinois Labor Relations Board ruling for saving Oak Lawn millions of dollars.

The board’s initial ruling, which ordered the village to pay firefighters $3.2 million for years of back pay and accrued interest, was reversed on appeal last summer. The firefighters union is now appealing that reversal before the Illinois Appellate Court.

Oak Lawn officials said the village stands to save an additional $937,000 in overtime costs annually going forward if it prevails in its current arbitration with the department over minimum staffing requirements.

She accused Streit, who initially supported fighting the firefighters union on the staffing issue, of playing politics.

Streit defended his $1 million figure, stating that the legal fees came up during finance committee meetings held during the budget process last year.

Streit acknowledged that while the most recent court rulings have favored the village, he expects those will be reversed on appeal, and that Oak Lawn will be on the hook for the more than $3 million that Bury asserts she’s saved taxpayers.

He said he initially went along with Deetjen’s recommendation to defend the village against the union’s grievance, but changed his mind after multiple legal setbacks.

“I respect the opinion of the court,” said Streit, who also said he believes the village should long ago have worked out a negotiated settlement with the union rather than fight a protracted legal battle. “When the court ruled in favor of the firefighters, it was time to stop fighting, for sure.”

Rather than reduce staffing levels, Streit contends that the village needs to hire more firefighters and called the 30 percent reduction in fire department personnel over the last 20 years “an assault on public safety.”

Village officials responded that hiring additional firefighters was neither necessary from a safety standpoint nor fiscally responsible.

According to an analysis performed by Oak Lawn’s finance director, the gross lifetime cost of hiring a firefighter at age 22 who goes on to work for 30 years, retires and lives another 30 years post-retirement is approximately $7.5 million. For that reason, it’s actually more cost-effective to pay firefighters nearly $3 million in overtime annually than hire more workers, officials said.

Bury, in her rebuttal to Streit, wrote that she just wants Oak Lawn’s fire department minimum staffing levels to align with those of the communities where the majority of its firefighters live.

“This Administration’s position is simple,” she wrote. “If it is safe and effective for those fire departments, then it can be safe and effective for Oak Lawn.”

thanks Dan

Tags: Arbitrator backs union on minimum manning in Oak Lawn, firefighters battle politicians over minimum manning, Minimum Manning issue, Oak Lawn FIre Department

Oak Lawn management continues to fight the fire firefighter’s union

Mar 6

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 4 Comments

Excerpts from the Oak Lawn Leaf:

The Oak Lawn Village Board voted 4-1 to hire Ben Gehrt, an attorney with a reputation of vigorously advocating for management in disputes with unions, to appeal the $3.2 million dollar arbitration award recently entered against the village in favor of the firefighters.

Gehrt, a partner with the law firm of Clark Baird Smith LLP, has represented governmental bodies in several disputes with labor. He represented the City of Rockford in a case against the Illinois Association of Firefighters and was able to reduce minimum manning staffing levels.

Minimum manning has been an issue of contention between Village Manager Larry Deetjen and the union members even though the labor contract between the parties states that minimum manning is set at 21 union members.

In the last legislative session, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law that states that minimum manning is a subject for collective bargaining. Oak Lawn, however, was already subject to minimum manning provisions in a contract it signed. Nonetheless, under Deetjen, the village decided to reinterpret the minimum manning provision.

In January of 2008, the Village of Oak Lawn shut down a squad unit when there were insufficient firefighters at work, [deciding] to shut down the unit rather than to pay overtime to firefighters that would have been called into work.

A few months later, the village board, at the recommendation of the village manager and the Finance Committee Chairman Tom Phelan, voted to eliminate six firefighter positions despite opposition from the union.

The union filed various successful actions against the village and the village responded, again at Deetjen’s suggestion, to not fill vacant positions when union members retired. At that time, Deetjen, without any public discussion with the Board of Trustees, began counting the battalion chief as one of the 21 members mandated by the minimum manning ruling.

Alex Olejniczak is the only trustee remaining on the village board that supported Deetjen’s actions in 2008 and still supports those efforts against the firefighters’ union. At a recent meeting he even questioned whether anyone receiving political contributions from the union or its members should be able to vote on the issue.

Former Mayor Dave Heilmann, Trustees Robert Streit and Carol Quinlan have long since stopped supporting Deetjen’s recommendations regarding the firefighters. Streit has continuously urged the current board to stop the litigation with the firefighters noting recently that the manager is 0 for 7 in the disputes.

“(Deetjen) has lost at the labor board, at arbitration, in the Appellate Court, in the Supreme Court, in a second arbitration hearing, in a compliance hearing and in Circuit Court”, said Streit. He said that the constant fighting with the union is counter productive and … has cost the village over $3.2 million dollars.

In 2011 the union filed an enforcement petition arguing that the Kravit decision setting the minimum manning at 21 was being violated by the village. On February 5, 2015, the compliance order was entered agreeing with the village and awarding back pay with interest. The total owed now to firefighters is $3.2 million dollars and interest continues to accrue at about $500,000 a year.

When Streit asked for a total amount of legal fees spent on the seven years of litigation with the firefighters, he was told that it is less than the $3.2 million dollars in the award. “Nobody else on the board seemed to care that we are spending millions on this litigation”, said Streit.

Mayor Sandra Bury and the current board majority have been previously criticized for “union busting” when they voted to privatize the 911 Dispatch Center and fire 20 union village employees.

thanks Dan

Also see this previous post

Tags: Ben Gehrt, Minimum Manning issue, Oak Lawn FIre Department, Oak Lawn firefighters file grievance, Oak Lawn Village Manager Larry Deetjen, village fights with the firefighter's union

Oak Lawn firefighters file grievance

Jul 31

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 2 Comments

An article from the Oak Lawn Leaf:

The Oak Lawn Firefighters have filed a grievance against the Village of Oak Lawn pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement between the parties claiming that the Village of Oak Lawn has failed to maintain minimum manning requirements as required by the contract and recommended for safety of the public and firefighters.

According to sources within the Village of Oak Lawn, the Village has already responded to the grievance claiming that it has not violated the contract.

However, according to an Arbitrator’s ruling issued on July 7th of this year, the administration’s efforts to reduce the number of firefighters on an engine from four to three was once again denied. The arbitrator’s ruling was the result of Interest Arbitration initiated by both parties.

The collective bargaining agreement includes a “minimum manning clause”, in which both the village and the firefighters agreed that for the purposes of “efficient response to emergency situations and for reasons of employee safety, sufficient personnel and apparatus need to be maintained in state of readiness.” The provision mandates that the Village of Oak Lawn maintain four firefighters on an engine, two paramedics on an Advanced Life Support Ambulance and two EMTs on a Basic Life Support Ambulance.

Under Village Manager Larry Deetjen’s recommendation and the Village Board’s support, the village has allowed the firefighter employees to be reduced from 100 to 72 over the years. The Village has also waged and lost multiple battles over the issue.

The firefighters have supported keeping the “minimum manning contract language” the same while the village agreed with the daily shift of 21 employees, it sought to add language stating that would have allowed the village to staff only three firefighters to an engine if staffing fell below 21 daily employees, “for any reason”. The language was rejected by the union, which has battled over the issue of minimum manning and had to file an unfair labor practice. The Illinois Labor Relations Board ruled against the village and that decision was upheld by the Illinois Appellate Court in 2011.

The relationship between firefighters and the administration has continued to deteriorate according to sources on both sides of the table. Most recently, Village Trustee Robert Streit (Dist. 3) asked the Mayor and his fellow Trustees to consider applying for a Safer Grant to fund new firefighter positions. The grant would pay as many as three years of salary and benefits for the firefighters.

At first, Mayor Sandra Bury and Trustee Alex Olejniczak (Dist. 2) claimed the village was working on the issue already and it was “in the process”. More recently, the Oak Lawn Leaf has learned that Deetjen approached the firefighters demanding that the firemen agree to eliminate the minimum manning clause in exchange for a promise by the village to apply for a Safer Grant for additional firefighters. That request was rejected.

The firemen have complained that the village is wasting millions of dollars in overtime pay as a result of its failure to hire new firefighters. Mayor Sandra Bury has countered arguing that the minimum manning provision agreed to through the collective bargaining process was devastating to the village.

Trustee Robert Streit (Dist. 3) has previously denounced Mayor Sandra Bury’s attacks on the firefighters noting that the village was told its position was wrong in 2011 and chose to continue to fight the issue, making it virtually impossible to negotiate any issues with the firefighters union. While Streit has claimed that he can’t support a position that the courts have consistently ruled against, other Trustees, such as Terry Vorderer and Mike Carberry have made comments supporting the fight over minimum manning despite the court rulings.

Despite concerns about the budget the Mayor and Board Majority under Deetjen’s leadership are ready once again to expend tax dollars to defend their position.

thanks Dan

Tags: Minimum Manning issue, Oak Lawn FIre Department, Oak Lawn firefighters file grievance

Arbitrator backs union on minimum manning in Oak Lawn

Jul 15

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 4 Comments

An article in the Oaklawnleaf.com about an arbitrator’s decision on minimum manning in Oak Lawn:

On July 7, 2014, an interest arbitrator issued a 113 page opinion, which once again supports the firefighters’ union’s position regarding minimum manning and rejected the efforts of the village administration to reduce the number of firefighters on an engine from four to three.

According to the opinion, which was released to the Oak Lawn Leaf, the firefighters supported keeping the “minimum manning contract language” the same while the village agreed with the daily shift of 21 employees, it sought to add language stating that would have allowed the village to staff only three firefighters to an engine if staffing fell below 21 daily employees, “for any reason”.   Theoretically, the language would have allowed the village to layoff more firefighters and then unilaterally reduce the number of firefighters on each engine or in the ALS or BLS ambulance.

The language was rejected by the union, which has battled over the issue of minimum manning and had to file an unfair labor practice. The Illinois Labor Relations Board ruled against the village and that decision was upheld by the Illinois Appellate Court in 2011. Based on that ruling the parties were required to bargain over the issue of minimum manning and submit the matter to binding interest arbitration if they fail to reach an agreement.   The July 7th decision is the result of that process.

Village Manager Larry Deetjen, Mayor Sandra Bury and her board majority have long supported reducing the number of firefighters on engines and paramedics in ambulances.

In the interest arbitration decision, the arbitrator made a “bench ruling” on the minimum manning issue because the “Village’s showing fell so far short of the showing required to change the status quo…”.

The arbitrator noted that the contract between the parties contained a mutual acknowledgement that “minimum manning is about safety for the public and the employees” and noted that the village now wants to argue that the real issue is costs while ignoring the previous acknowledgement that minimum manning is necessary for safety.

In order to change the “status quo” of an agreement, the entity seeking the change must show that the system is broken. The village claimed that the system is to costly and therefore “broken” but the arbitrator rejected that opinion noting that the village’s own expert witness said that the use of four firefighters to an engine is not a hindrance. The arbitrator rejected the argument of the village noting that the change suggested by the village would have to come through the bargaining process.

Earlier this year, Trustee Robert Streit (Dist. 3) denounced Mayor Sandra Bury’s attacks on the firefighters and the minimum manning provision. He noted that the village was told its position was wrong in 2011 and chose to continue to fight the issue, making it virtually impossible to negotiate any issues with the firefighters union.

Bury has claimed that the minimum manning provision has been “devastating to our budget” arguing that the village spends two million dollars on fire department overtime because of the minimum manning standard. The Oak Lawn Firefighters Union has argued in the past that the overtime is related to the village’s decision to reduce the number of firemen and paramedics from over 100 to 72 thereby creating the overtime crisis.

Bury chose to tape the message urging the defeat of legislation in the Spring Session, claiming in her message that “minimum manning is forcing cuts in public works, telecommunications, the police department and administrative staff”. Streit said that the decision to videotape that message sends the wrong message to the public and the fire department. The General Assembly rejected Bury’s position and the bill.

Bury called minimum manning a “job killer” because other departments will lose jobs due to increased spending for the fire department. That same argument was put forth before the arbitrator who declined to remove the minimum manning issue noting that the village has to make whatever managerial decisions it chooses to make while maintaining “minimum manning”.

A review of the village’s budgets for the last ten years, however, indicates that the spending on the fire department has been historically between 20% and 26% of the total budget. This year’s budget has the figure estimated at 23% of the total budget.   In contrast, spending on legal services has tripled.