NEWBURYPORT — The City Council voted 9-2 last night to ratify a contract between the city and its firefighters, effectively ending contentious collective bargaining negotiations that sparked an uncharacteristically public debate over issues like overtime, vacation pay and minimum manning provisions.
With the exception of councilors Tom Jones and Bob Cronin, who cast the opposing votes, the council agreed to grant Mayor Donna Holaday's transfer request for the Fire Department.
The request included $8,141 to fund a 2 percent cost of living increase for firefighters retroactive to April 1, and $25,000 to replenish the department's overtime budget through the end of the fiscal year June 30.
The council's backing means issues that brought about the temporary closure of the West End fire station last month due to overtime shortfalls and changes to minimum manning will be put to rest until July 1, 2013, when the new contract expires.
The vote was welcome news for Holaday, who said she was satisfied with what the city was able to do to gain control over the amount of overtime firefighters can accrue over the course of the next contract.
"You have to start somewhere," she said. "We're hoping to save a minimum of $40,000 to $45,000 in overtime, and it's a start."
The new contract, which was ratified by union members before last night's vote, places restrictions on the number of firefighters who can be out on vacation at any given time. The new language allows only one firefighter per day to be out on vacation for nine months of the year, and allows two to be out for the remaining 12-week period, which can be set at the discretion of the department and will most likely occur during the summer months. The former contract that expired in 2010 held no such restrictions on vacations.
Holaday said that change represented a concession on both the city's side, which wanted to allow only an eight-week period with two staff on vacation, and the union's side, which wanted to implement a 26-week period during which two staff could be out.
There were no changes made in the new contract to the minimum manning per piece provision that holds a minimum of seven staff must be on duty to man the city's two pumper trucks and ladder truck. If the staffing should slip to six, someone will be brought on to bring levels up to seven and paid from the overtime budget.
Though the mayor had hoped to address the minimum manning provision in the negotiations, she said last night the hard-fought battle was worth it in the end, just to impact the vacation provision.
"It was worth it," she said. "Because it's really important for management to have control of scheduled time off."
But not everyone saw the savings as enough and hoped the city could have dug deeper into the contract where overtime and benefits are concerned.
"I will never vote to ratify another union agreement that gives six weeks of vacation, or two weeks of sick time or personal time because we don't know how to manage a city with the union contracts we have," said Jones, who urged councilors to vote against the transfer and effectively send the mayor back to the table to negotiate further cuts with the union. "We have an opportunity, and in fact, an obligation to make a decision on whether or not we're pleased with the negotiation."
Others pressed the city's Director of Policy and Programming Andrew Flanagan on the particulars of the contract, then ultimately decided to vote in the interest of maintaining public safety.
"To me, at this point, I applaud the mayor for taking a real strong stand here," Councilor Ed Cameron said. "That was not an easy way to go about this. But at this point, to me it's about safety."
Cameron said he agreed with Jones that excessive overtime is a "symptom of a larger management problem and a larger resource problem." But he cited staffing patterns over the years that have trimmed the workforce and made for tight scheduling.
"I think the $200,000 figure is going to be roughly where we're at," he said, citing statistics that show Newburyport near or lower than the average in overtime spending in proportion to salaries being paid. He also cited the particular nature of the job that separates firefighting from other professions.
"Ed Cameron calls in sick, and nobody is going to fill in for me," he said. "Here it's different, and to me it's about keeping the West End station open."
Councilor Brian Derrivan, who represents the ward where the West End station is located, voiced similar sentiments.
Firefighters had originally requested a $65,000 transfer to cover overtime costs. According to Flanagan, the $25,000 figure represents an average expenditure for the month of June, when most employees are using up accrued vacation days they either take by the end of the fiscal year or risk losing. Holaday said she hoped the Fire Department would make a good-faith effort to use the money wisely.
"I'd like to see a savings in this $25,000," Holaday said. "I'd like to see them manage it through the month of June, even if it's a couple thousand dollars."
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