SOUTHINGTON, CT — A heated issue in January, namely the lack of a Southington firefighters contract, was quietly resolved over the summer.
The situation ended after a July arbitration ruling and a town council vote in August, with the deal addressing the biggest issue of contention — staffing for heavy apparatus vehicles.
The Southington Town Council Aug. 12 unanimously approved the new firefighter contract for the Southington Fire Department’s paid firefighters with I.A.F.F Local 233.
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According to the new deal, the contract is from 2021 to 2025, meaning much of the new terms are retroactive to the 2021-22 fiscal year when SFD union members last worked under a deal.
Southington Town Manager Alex Ricciardone briefly updated the council Aug. 12 on the contract, which governs the employment terms of the town’s paid firefighters in the hybrid department (which includes some volunteers as well).
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Ricciardone said an arbitration ruling on the deal was issued on July 5 and union officials were to sign off on the contract shortly after the council vote.
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“We do want to express our thanks to the firefighters at this time. I know it’s not been easy but we appreciate all they do and all of their hard work,” Ricciardone told council members.
The council easily approved the pact and had nothing but kudos to firefighters, adding they hoped to avoid another long, drawn-out contract situation for the next pact.
“I know it took us a while to get here and I hope that the next time doesn’t take this long,” said Councilman Jack Perry.
Southington Town Council Chairman Paul Chaplinsky Jr. agreed.
“Union contracts sometimes go smooth and sometimes they don’t,” Chaplinsky said. ” I don’t think that when they don’t go smoothly it’s a reflection of the people. I think it’s a reflection of the contract that’s in front of them. I think they’re putting their best foot forward to try and do what they think is right and I think that’s the case here.”
“We’re looking to go forward, only,” Chaplinsky said.
Union members were vocal back in January, with one council meeting packed and the public comments full of folks urging a resolution to the contract dispute.
At the time, staffing was a major issue of concern.
Last January, Ed Crandall, president of IAFF Local 2033, said the union was requesting a mandatory on-duty, minimum staffing level of one officer and two firefighters on all apparatus at all times.
But if a firefighter is sick or on leave/vacation, the town allowed for that ratio to be one officer and one firefighter, which Crandall said was a “cost-saving measure” on the part of the town.
The union was asking the new contract to mandate the one-and-two ratio at all times.
According to the contract, heavy apparatus should be staffed with one officer and two firefighters if a firefighter is out of commission for more than one shift.
In the event a firefighter calls out and misses just one shift, it is up to the chief to “backfill” that shift.
“If one of those three individuals assigned to headquarters calls out for an absence of more than one shift, the chief will backfill the position at headquarters 100 percent of the time,” reads the new pact.
“In the event, that one of those individuals assigned to headquarters calls out for an absence of one shift or less, the chief will have discretion whether to backfill the position at headquarters.”
Ricciardone said the panel sided with the town and the safety of firefighters and the public would not be jeopardized.
“The panel has no reason to believe that the chief will not exercise his discretion, keeping in mind the health and safety of the firefighters under his command,” he wrote.
Union officials in January argued that not “backfilling” the assignments placed the public in jeopardy, as insufficient staff would be available to operate heavy apparatus.
They feared the allowed flexibility would require those shifts to remain open in an attempt to save on overtime costs.
The contract also creates a new pay scale, retroactive to 2021-22 that has the lowest salary going to a Step 1 (lowest experience) firefighter earning $67,542 a year with the highest pay going to the deputy chief in 2024-25 at $112,387.
Steady increases in pay ($2,000 to $3,000 more a year each year) are also written into the deal for all union members.
The chief is not a member of the union and is a member of town management.
Ricciardone said Monday that the deal came out of the arbitration ruling and both sides, ultimately, could not come to an agreed-to pact.
“The contract is a combination of what the parties had agreed on prior to the arbitration ruling and the issues that were decided by the arbitration award from the State of Connecticut,” he wrote to Patch.
For the minutes of the Aug. 12 Southington Town Council meeting, click on this link.
For the full, four-year contract approved by the firefighters and the Town of Southington, click on this link.
For the July 5 state arbitration ruling, click on this link.
From Jan. 23: ‘Town Gambling With ‘Our Lives:’ Southington FD To Council’
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