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StumbleNorth Las Vegas OKs deal to avoid firefighter layoffs
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 | 9:11 p.m.
Richard Cherchio
Anita Wood
The North Las Vegas City Council approved a compromise Wednesday that will prevent firefighter layoffs during the next fiscal year.
Earlier this year, North Las Vegas announced that it would likely have to lay off 16 firefighters unless changes were made to current contracts. The city had to cut $1.9 from the fire department’s budget for next fiscal year because of the economic downturn.
The city looked into a number of options, including taking over some of the ambulance business of AMR/MedicWest, a private company, to help pay the city firefighters.
In the end, the city and the firefighters union came to a compromise, including reducing the number of firefighters on each engine from five to four, which is standard throughout the rest of the valley.
The change should save the city about $1.1 million next year, said Joyce Lira, human resources director for the city.
The firefighters also agreed to forgo any wage increases, and new firefighters and paramedics will start at 5 percent less than the existing entry-level pay. Stand-by pay will also be lowered from $4 per hour to $2 per hour, she said.
In exchange, the city agreed not to sign with any private companies that could perform the duties of the fire department and agreed not to lay off any members.
Mayor Pro Tem William Robinson and Councilman Robert Eliason voted against the deal.
Mayor Shari Buck, Councilman Richard Cherchio and Councilwoman Anita Wood voted in favor.
After the meeting, Eliason and Robinson declined to comment about their votes.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Wood thanked the union for its willingness to compromise with the city.
“I know that it has been a very difficult process,” Wood said. “I know there was a lot of animosity going back and forth.”
Cherchio said the union had its priorities straight: Keeping the most people employed while making concessions. He said he understands concessions don’t come easily.
“It’s very difficult to give something back,” he said. “We all understand. We all have families.”
Discussion: comments so far…
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NEVER VOTE FOR THESE CLOWNS AGAIN!!!
Mayor Shari Buck, Councilman Richard Cherchio and Councilwoman Anita Wood voted in favor.
VOTE FOR THESE RESPONSIBLE FOLKS AGAIN!!!
Mayor Pro Tem William Robinson and Councilman Robert Eliason voted against the deal.
Nothing like informed commentary. Mr. Robinson is term limited and cannot run for city council any more. He could run for Mayor again, but I think we all know how that would work out.
I would like to know why the firefighters are taking a pay cut instead of the people that are making the decision. They all attack the unions. How often do you here of non-union workers taking a cut in pay? If the city really wanted to save money, it would enforce pay cuts on all of the officials making over 150,000 a year and stop pressuring the lower income families. Losing 2 dollars an hour won't dent his/her lifestyle like it will the firefighters.
Birdiedreamin is right....
Best thing to do in this economy is to lay more people off........
That way they can stop paying on their mortgage.....
Stop paying on their car......
Add to the growing list of those filling for unemployment benefits......
Plus getting rid of firefighters and closing fire stations is always a great idea.......
Who needs fire stations anyways.......
Who cares if it takes a few more minutes for firefighters to get to your house in a emergency.......
He is a genius, as his multiple post have proven.......
He truly "gets it".......
G00D, THE CITY IS SAFER AND NO ONE WILL FORECLOSE ON MORE HOMES. MAYBE I SHOULD MOVE TO NLV. THEY KNOW WHATS IMPORTANT. THANK YOU.
Good job on the misprint RJ/Sun. North Las VEgas Fire has NEVER had 5 guys on a fire engine. The article should have stated that they gave up 1 guy on the 2 truck companies that they have. % guys on the truck company is standard for all the departments in the valley and is the most accepted configuration to be effective by most fire departments in the nation.
Sorry for the typo that 3rd line, should have read that 5 guys on the truck company is the normal standard
FF are OVERPAID.. Put them on a 8 hour day ...40 hour week... Like the Casino workers have a 3 shift day ... and SAVE the TAXPAYER MILLIONS of DOLLARS ....if the ff can't live on 40 hours a week...there are a lot of people looking for a job ....
Why can't the city of Las Vegas be like it's surrounding cities and deal with their employees? Henderson gets it. North Las Vegas gets it. Our crazy mayor sits back slammin martinis "fire em all, and build me my city hall", while his midget slave, the mole, plays guess the number with the budget. Recall the mayor, and fire the city manager. If you can't build a good relationship with your unions Fatwell, then you're more harmful then good. Oscar...well that man has been recently diagnosed with alcohol-induced dementia.
I expected this from Buck. I thought Wood and Cherchio would hold strong. This does not fix anything. Kick can the down the road, why actually try and solve the problem.
"FF are OVERPAID.. Put them on a 8 hour day ...40 hour week... Like the Casino workers have a 3 shift day ... and SAVE the TAXPAYER MILLIONS of DOLLARS ....if the ff can't live on 40 hours a week...there are a lot of people looking for a job ...."
Hi usecommonsense,
I was wondering if you could show us all how placing firefighters on a 40 hour work week will save millions. Many more firefighters will need to be hired to accomplish this and more firrefighters = more money. So exactly how do we save millions? Can you enlighten us all since you seem to have it figured out?
I think the NLV firefighters gave up thier extra PERS contributions, you know, the 1.5 years of service for every year worked.
Oops! Silly me, thats what Betsy Fretwell gets in her contract - the city buys her an extra 6 MONTHS OF RETIREMENT CREDIT for every year she works. Below is a link to her contract (works now, but seems to change frequently. So much for "Public Information"). See Section 9, page 7.
http://www5.lasvegasnevada.gov/sirepub/c...
Cherchio said the union made concessions.....I must have missed it in the article. It doesn't sound to me like anything relevant was given up. It is time for real leadership.
They gave up their cost of living raise as well as their annual step increase. No raises across the board, period. Plus they gave up their raises last year too. Did you know that? Was it even reported? How many other unions in town have been willing to do that? Seems to me, the NLV firefighters have given up more than any other union in town, yet all they get in return is bashing.
Shouldn't big BirdieMan be getting on here and posting about how all firefighters are community destroyers right about now?
Don't argue with them guys. It's easy to sit on the bench and talk *&^). If they tried to do what you do, they would run screaming like little 3 year old girls.
@ usecommonsense-
I agree with DMFDRT, I would like to see the numbers you used to come up with that brilliant plan. Or are you a birdie follower and just talk out of an orifice that should not be making any noise.
---------------------
@HereWeGo,
In fact the city FF's gave up their COLA last year as well. Plus we just recently came to the table with a deal that would save the city twice as much as Metro, but ours was turned down.......After it was accepted of course....... Don't worry my friend, it is only a choice few that are bashing us, the majority of the citizens of this valley still believe in and appreciate what we do. I hear it everyday.
According to the North Las Vegas Assistant to the City Manager Michelle Bailey-Hedgepeth, what we have in the story is correct. Reducing the number of firefighters from 5 to 4 was a part of the tentative agreement with the union, and was an extension of a previous contract.
To Erin Dostal(staff) A little research goes along way in your line of work. If you would check the North Las Vegas Fire Website it outlines how each unit is staffed. Example from website: Located at 3001 Martin Luther King Boulevard, this station was formerly Station 53 and is now temporarily being used as Station 50. Built in 1970 it currently houses one engine company, Engine 50, a 2002 Pierce Quantum with a 1500 gallon per minute pump and a 750 gallon tank; and one rescue, Rescue 50 (2002) International which is a transport-capable rescue vehicle. The Engine is staffed by one captain, one engineer, and two firefighters. The Rescue is staffed by two firefighters one of which is a paramedic. All units are equipped to provide advanced life support (ALS) services.
Thanks,
If they never had 5 guys on a truck, then what exactly are they giving up?
And if it is correct, what is happening to the other guy if not being laid off?
I am not clear how this is saving any money.
Can someone explain it to me please.
unsilent_majority
There is a difference between a fire engine and a fire truck. The fire engine carries EMS gear, tools, hose and water (olease pay attention Erin so you get the facts and do not confuse more people that your newspaper already has) the fire engines are staffed with 1 captain, 1 engineer, 1 firefighter and 1 firefighter / paramedic which equeal 4 just like all other entities in the valley. The fire truck carries EMS gear, alot more tools and has the large ladder on top of the rig and is staffed by 1 captain, 1 engineer, 2 firefighters and 1 firefighter / paramedic which equals 5, again just like all the other entities in the valley. North Las Vegas has 7 fire engines and 2 fire trucks. Erin, pleae be specific when checking your facts and the city administration will confirm this staffing level for the 2 DIFFERENT kinds or rigs. You are confusing people when you infer that North Las Vegas overstaffs all their rigs when you state that there are 5 on the engines when compared to the rest of the valley. You can also call the Fire Department Administration directly to verify this and a correction would be nice but not expected (I'm not holding my breath). What exactly did the fire fighters give up is the raises and pay as the article states and they gave up the 5th position on the truck companies which will save 2 overtime positions everyday since those guys can now be utilized to fill vacant positions. I hope this cleares things up
To Erin
This is the comment that I have an issue with and is completely false "In the end, the city and the firefighters union came to a compromise, including reducing the number of firefighters on each engine from five to four, which is standard throughout the rest of the valley" If this is the comment from someone in the city administration then please post their name so they can ber contacted and asked how they came up with this statement.
Again I will stand here and tell you that this statement is 100 percent FALSE. Please try and rebut this
Okay, here is a better example from NLVFD website.
Located at 4110 Losee Road, this station was built in 2001. On April 2, 2002, it was dedicated as the Brent Cooper Memorial Fire Station. The station currently houses one engine, Engine 52, a 2008 Pierce Quantum whcih is equipped with a 1500 gallon per minute pump and a 750 gallon water tank, one truck company, Truck 52, a 2008 Pierce Quantum 100' tower ladder with a 1500 gallon per minute pump and a 750 gallon water tank. The engine is staffed by one captain, one engineer, and two firefighters, the truck is staffed with one captain, one engineer, and three firefighters. Both units are capable of providing advanced life support (ALS) services. Station 52 serves as the office of the Fire Equipment Specialist who is responsible for maintaining, testing and repairing all fire related equipment.
hosehead
First of all, I don't see how not getting a raise is giving up anything.
Second, you stated that "they gave up the 5th position on the truck companies which will save 2 overtime positions everyday since those guys can now be utilized to fill vacant positions".....
So does that mean two guys were getting paid OT everyday?
No not everyday but on the days that someone is off on vacation or sick now rather than calling in overtime they can use the 5th guy from the truck. And yes it is giving up a contractually obligated pay raise or merit increase. The city wanted to shrink the departments budget by X amount of dollars and those raise and merit increases are budgeted in for the year, so YES it is giving up concessions in order to reduce the budget, isn't that what the city is trying to do. Do you not think they budget in increases for utilities, inflation and things like that, so yes they budget in pay raises so there are no surprises. The bottom line is; yes the firefighters gave concessions equal to if not more than what the city wanted to balance it's budget with respect to the fire department.
And in answer to your other questions, I would say yes that almost everyday there is overtime being paid. This goies back to the principle that has been said over and over and is beating a dead horse; that the city administration has decided that paying overtime is less expensive than hiring enough firefighters to have "rovers" to fill in the vacancies. THIS CITY DECIDED THIS, NOT THE FIREFIGHTERS.
a drop in the bucket in savings. They "think" they've saved money....that's laughable
So reducing the budget by over 1 million dollars is only "thinking" like you've saved money. You must be very wealthy because to me a million dollars sounds like a nice savings.
I see people are upset when bashing the firefighters does not work out to their advantage. I guess bape702 can not engage in an intelligent debate when the facts do not support your worthless arguments. I also see the the Sun chooses not to clear the air about inaccuracies in their stories. I am so sorry that no firefighters were laid off since that is what you bitter people want to see regardless if they work out a deal with the city councils or not.
hosehead-
The majority of the people here are intelligent and reasonable. But there are a limited few (birdie, bape702), who either are so ignorant or they just enjoy spreading hate and discontent. Regardless, we do what we do and more than likely one day they will be glad we're around.
To Birdie, Cheers!!!.. ;)
Trust me... North Las Vegas is in worst shape than they are telling you. Agreeing to NOT GIVE RAISES is not the same as ROLLING BACK WAGES, which is what they need to do if they want to stay afloat. In the end they city will have to cut more non-FF staff in order to accomodate this agreement -- but hey, they will still have the FF ready to campaign for them.
You're right, they must be in worst shape, after all they are still building a waste water treatment facility, they are still building a new city hall. They have purchased the property around the new city hall to build a park, they have purchased more property and businesses along with 5th stret corridor. Oh My God the sky is falling. Give it a rest and accept the fact the some people are tired of this rhetoric that has been going on for too long, OH GOD the unions and Fireifhgters have caused all the economic crisis. Oh God lets put them on 8 hour days; thats good thinking uncommonsense we take the 3 platoons now and put them on 8 hours days 3 shifts a day and blamo problem solved, we have monday through friday covered, oops we forgot saturday and sunday, oh well lets just close and hope there are no illnesses or accidents or fires.
Erin, are you still there or are you off checking and verifying your facts and sources?
Hey Ronster if you are going to throw out an item that they are going to have to cut more non-FF staff to accomodate the agreement why don't you BACK IT UP WITH FACTS and not you're silly little innuendos. I have not heard of any new layoffs since they made this agreement, maybe you get some secret newspaper nobody knows about.
I, a resident whom has been quite harsh on the ff's in the past, think that this is great that the unions were able to make this happen. My biggest complaint in the past was that these unions put wage growth and protection of their senior employees (the most overpaid per unit of production) over the overall gainful employment of the group.
To me this sounds like significant progress with OT, which of the real issue or not, is the issue that gets the outside perspective the most ammo to be angry with.
I like it and way to save the jobs...I complain about your pay but I certainly do not want to be paying your unemployment!
Erin,
Are you ever going to address the innacuracy of your reporting?
hosehead-- your wrong 5 man truck companies is not the standard in the valley
vegasgolfer911 please tell me what department does not have 5 man truck companies and what station they are out of.
the county..T11, T16, T17, T18, T22, T76...anymore questions
I know when I run with the county they have 5 getting off the truck. any more questions?
ive read your postings...its my opinion and mine alone that i feel your doing more harm then good...surely your heart is in the right place however your delivery leaves a little to be desired(in my eyes)...the only thing ive noticed that your postings are doing here is getting more people angry with FD's so i ask please stop and maybe redirect your efforts in another more productive forum...my goal today was not to get into a pissing match with you but to simple correct your statement that 5 man truck companies is the norm...which it is not...i can say this with much confidence as ive rode the county truck that response to your departments area for only the past 7 yrs and not once has there been more than 4 people on the truck
Not sure about the rest of the county, but city fire has 5 on tiller trucks only...
"That's what happens when you put women in charge."
Never in the history of men has there been a demonstration of incompetence.....
Someone had a bad mommy experience :(
I took hoseheads word. Which contradicted the article. Now vegasgolfer911 says his point.
If vegasgolfer is correct, and the article is correct....then I go back to my question, what does this really save? It seems like an empty give-back to me.
FF are OVERPAID.. Put them on a 8 hour day ...40 hour week... Like the Casino workers have a 3 shift day ... and SAVE the TAXPAYER MILLIONS of DOLLARS ....if the ff can't live on 40 hours a week...there are a lot of people looking for a job ....
I'm confused, wouldn't this schedule require the city to hire more firefighters? If you put the existing firefighters on 8 hour shifts, 40 hour week doesn't that leave 48 hours of a week uncovered? Do you then man that 48 hours with OT from existing firefighters or increase your force? For NLV that would be 46 new firefighters..... Hey! maybe you are on to something!
"In the end, the city and the firefighters union came to a compromise, including reducing the number of firefighters on each engine from five to four, which is standard throughout the rest of the valley."
The ignorance in reporting is exhausting. TRUCK companies have 5 personnel due to the numerous operational tasks at a fire. This is standard for all large cities throughout the nation including the other Las Vegas valley agencies.
And yes, there is a difference between an ENGINE and a TRUCK, not just in appearance but in operational function as well. You are a journalist for crying out loud, do your homework before you put it in writing.
as previously stated....in the county there is 6 trucks and ALL of them are manned with 4 people
vegasgolfer,
So if that is correct, this isn't any real sort of concession, is it?
i cannot speak on concessions or other issues regarding other agencies because i dont know....my point was simply that there is not 5 people on every truck company in the las vegas area which was what hosehead and lisawilk was insisting
FF's will never understand that today most people are a lot more scared of bill collectors than they are of being in a fire. Yes, their jobs can be dangerous. A lot of people have dangerous jobs, like those 11 guys who died on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Now THAT'S a dangerous job. If a ff wants to send his kid to UCLA, I assume he won't have any complaints if his kid ends up $100K in debt. The state has to make budget cuts somewhere.
manfromuncle-
Listen, everyone has a dangerous job. People die everyday at their jobs. Somebody today died from a heart attack sitting at his desk, somewhere. The point of the dangerous job is that it is metro and FD's job to" purposefully put themselves in harms way to protect others." Someone mentioned cab drivers die all the time, that may be true, but the act of driving a cab is not life threatening, (except maybe in this town). There is a difference in law enforcement and firefighting and other "regular" jobs. That is a difference you like to abate because it lumps PD and FD in with everyone else. In reality it can't be done. Please don't try and spin this into a "hero" thing because that's not what it is.
------------------------
You also mentioned "the state has to make cuts somewhere." How about taking a look at the money being wasted on COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY projects that will be coming out of the general fund. Take a look at your Mayor and the absolute WASTE of money he is throwing around. If you stop and really investigate this you will be astonished. Then go to a meeting and try to ask him about it. "Meeting over."
city of las vegas can learn alot from cnlv. colv should said we must cut firfighter budget or we start laying off
unsilent,
Vegasgolfer is simply clarifying the CCFD's staffing of Trucks. This aricle is about NLV concessions, so yes, NLVFD did make a concession.