City fire contract moves ahead

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The proposed contract between Omaha and its firefighters union is now in the City Council's hands after the city's five-member personnel board unanimously approved the tentative agreement Thursday.

The council will formally take up the deal for the first time Tuesday. A public hearing is planned for July 26, and a vote on the proposal is scheduled for Aug. 9.

“It's the next step in the process,” said Steve LeClair, head of the firefighters union.

If approved, the contract would bring to an end the protracted negotiations between Omaha's government and a powerful city union.

Because the personnel board endorsed the agreement, the votes of four City Council members will be required for it to pass.

The contract's success is not guaranteed. If wrangling over the city's police union contract is any indication, the council vote on the fire agreement will be contentious.

The council rejected the first version of the police contract before ultimately approving a revised agreement in August 2010.

“There's some things in the deal that I think you could say are significant milestones in the givebacks,” Councilman Chris Jerram said of the proposed fire agreement. “There's (also) some stuff that's not in there that you have to think about.”

Councilmen Ben Gray and Garry Gernandt have already voiced support for the proposed four-year deal. Others on the council said they are awaiting input from the upcoming public hearing before making their decisions.

“It's not an easy decision by any means,” said Council President Thomas Mulligan. “No doubt there's some good things in this new contract, but is that the right decision for the city of Omaha? Well, that's what me and my six colleagues have to decide.”

City officials publicly praised the agreement Thursday, saying it would end pension spiking and set Omaha's troubled police and fire pension fund on a path to solvency. The fund's long-term shortfall is currently projected at $573 million.

Ethel Hill Williams, the personnel board's vice chairwoman, said the proposed agreement was likely the best deal the city could get.

“I think we've saved ourselves some money,” she said.

The firefighters contract includes wage freezes for 2010 and the first half of 2011, and pay increases for the last half of this year. Pay for next year and in 2013 will be based on wages in comparable cities.

Steve Kerrigan, the city's acting labor relations director, said the city assumes pay raises will likely be granted.

Representatives of the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector, a group of business people that has criticized Mayor Jim Suttle and the city's labor contracts, spoke against the contract.

The deal is too expensive for taxpayers, leaders of the group said, and doesn't make enough changes to the city's pension formula.

LeClair, the firefighters union president, said the agreement contains “serious concessions” by firefighters. He said the pension changes are “very hard to stomach” for union members.

Nonetheless, he said, “nobody wants to see this system crash.”

Omaha has negotiated with the firefighters union since 2007, under then-Mayor Mike Fahey. Suttle has worked on the deal since taking office two years ago. Dissatisfaction with union contracts was a key issue cited by recall supporters in a failed attempt to oust Suttle from office this year.

The firefighters union membership also must vote on the contract, though LeClair said the organization hadn't yet scheduled a vote.

Councilwoman Jean Stothert said she will ask the council to delay a vote on the proposed contract if the fire union membership hasn't cast ballots by the date of the scheduled council vote.

Under city code, union members have to approve a labor agreement before the council votes on it.

World-Herald staff writer Maggie O'Brien contributed to this report.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1068, johnny.perez@owh.com

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