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New deal with firefighters stops a perk that inflated pay [The Orange County Register](Orange County Register (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 24--A new labor deal with the firefighters' union put the kibosh on a perk that let firefighters boost their pay with overtime hours, using vacation days instead of working overtime to inflate their pay. The agreement, approved by the Orange County Fire Authority's board of directors Thursday night, also caps the number of overtime shifts firefighters can work in a year, cutting the number of dollars spent by the county's largest fire agency on overtime costs. In all, OCFA stands to save $1.7 million in overtime costs, and some firefighters will no longer be able to boost their pay by tens of thousands of dollars that at times doubled their yearly salary. But the new labor agreement approved by OCFA's 25-member board of directors Thursday night did not win a unanimous vote, as some elected officials argued firefighters should also pay more toward their pensions to help pay down overall costs. The agreement was passed Thursday night without a public comment from the Fire Authority's board. After a three-hour closed-door session that involved the labor agreement, the board of directors approved the one-year agreement without further discussion. Councilman Brad Reese of Villa Park and County Supervisor Todd Spitzer cast the two dissenting votes. Spitzer said previously OCFA should follow the lead of the county, which reached an agreement with labor unions for employees to contribute 100 percent of the pension contribution. "OCFA must follow the lead," Spitzer told the Register in an earlier interview. OCFA managers said the agreement is a step in that direction. The agreement reached Thursday brings to an end seven months of labor negotiations between the Fire Authority and the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association, which represents more than 900 firefighters in the agency. Yet the contract that was approved Thursday will be in place for only a year, meaning negotiators will likely be back at the negotiating table by January for the next agreement. Labor officials said the short-term contract seemed to be the best option, considering the changes that have swept the fire agency. OCFA's fire chief resigned in June following a vote of no confidence from firefighters and a critical audit that found low morale and a sense of favoritism in the agency. In August, the Fire Authority hired Jeffrey R. Bowman, a former chief of the Anaheim and San Diego fire departments with 34 years of experience. But a search is currently underway to find a permanent replacement. "It just seemed to serve the purpose of the firefighters and the Orange County Fire Authority, based on the turmoil the organization has been going through," said Joe Kerr, spokesman for the firefighters' union. Fire officials have argued that using overtime pay to fill shifts caused by vacant positions was cheaper than actually filling those spots. However, elected officials have been looking to curb the cost of overtime for some time. Last year, the agency found that fire captains earned about $65,033 in overtime pay that year. Firefighters typically earned about $49,967 above their base pay. As part of the agreement, firefighters will also receive an additional paid holiday, 10 more hours of sick leave and a two percent pay raise to offset pension contributions. The Fire Authority, however, will continue to pay the majority of the employee's required contribution, which reached $6.4 million in 2012, on top of the employer's required contribution of about nearly $55 million. Contact the writer: 714-796-7949 or [email protected] ___ (c)2014 The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) Visit The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) at www.ocregister.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |