No Ypsilanti firefighter layoffs for two years

By Dan DuChene
May. 11, 2010    ·    7:46 p.m.

Updated: May 12, 2010 - 2:38 a.m.

Instead of facing six layoffs in July, firefighters in the Ypsilanti Fire Department are anticipating a five percent wage decrease and higher contributions to health care.

The change is due to an agreement worked out between the firefighters' union, local 401, and city staff; it was unanimously approved by City Council during a budget session held Tuesday.

The three-year contract took 13 months to negotiate, meaning the contract's terms extend from 2009 until 2012. This fiscal year, the firefighters will have no increase in pay. In July, firefighters will see a 5 percent decrease in pay until June 30, 2012.

In addition to the wage reductions, firefighters also agreed to double their contributions to health care costs from wages. The contribution was increased to 2 percent from 1 percent. Firefighters will also have an increase in co-pay.

The city has guaranteed the department will face no layoffs for the length of the contract in response to the firefighters' concessions.

Ken Hobbs, president of the YFD firefighters' union, said he anticipates the wage concessions to save the city approximately $200,000. However, he said the amount is a moving target because it will impact overtime and holiday pay.

The city had hoped to save $440,000 through six layoffs in July. However, Fire Chief Jon Ichesco has said the YFD would then have to rely on mutual aid from surrounding departments to maintain staffing levels to attack structure fires internally.

City Councilmember Pete Murdock, D-Ward 3, called the contract a win-win scenario, as the city was still able to realize savings from the YFD and maintain its current staffing level.

“It was a lengthy process and at times it didn't seem like it was going to happen,” Murdock said. “I'm glad we could avoid the layoffs in this instance for at least a couple years.”

April McGrath, Ypsilanti administrative service director, said the city has initiated cuts before revenues dip below expenses and the city should be able to absorb the difference between the savings anticipated from layoffs, and the savings from the wage reduction can be made up for in other areas of the budget at City Council's discretion.

The firefighters voted on the contract through a three-day vote process that concluded Thursday. After their approval, City Council held a closed session for less than five minutes to consider the contract before the budget meeting scheduled Tuesday. After the meeting came back to order, the resolution was added to the agenda and approved.

Hobbs said he expects to spend an additional $1,000 every year on health care costs due to the new contract. However, he agreed with Murdock's “win-win” comment and said the loss in income is a better alternative to the layoffs.

“We were not just going to lose guys, we were going to lose our ability to fight fires,” Hobbs said.

In response to what Murdock said about the difficulty of getting the agreement negotiated, Hobbs said there were people at the table who thought laying off firefighters was a better scenario than maintaining staffing levels and reducing pay. He would not go into detail about who was against the agreement or what the reasoning behind the argument.

“That was an obstacle,” Hobbs said.

McGrath said the same deal was offered to the bargaining unit for Ypsilanti Police Department officers, but was turned down. She said the offer came after officers had approved a contract in January with five road patrol layoffs, but before City Council approved the contract in February.

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Editor's note: This story was updated with comments from Ypsilanti Administrative Service Director April McGrath after the City Council budget meeting Tuesday.