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Published Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011 | 2:17 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011 | 4:16 p.m.
Sun Coverage
Sun archives
- North Las Vegas approves tentative agreement with police union (1-5-2010)
- Police union, North Las Vegas reach tentative agreement (12-16-2010)
- Federal grant to save 16 police officers’ jobs in North Las Vegas (12-15-2010)
- NLV Police Union offers to give up pay raises next year (12-9-2010)
- North Las Vegas OKs budget cuts that include job losses (11-1-2010)
- NLV reaches tentative agreement with Teamsters to avoid layoffs (10-28-2010)
- North Las Vegas announces proposal to cut 251 jobs (10-20-2010)
- North Las Vegas City Council votes to cut jobs at detention center (10-6-2010)
- Committee says North Las Vegas employee salaries ‘out of whack’ (10-6-2010)
- NLV City Council caught off guard by budget survey (9-24-2010)
- North Las Vegas to cut jobs as feds shift inmates to new facility (9-21-2010)
The North Las Vegas firefighters' union has entered a tentative agreement of concessions with the city to help close a projected $35.1 million budget gap during the next two years.
The agreement, originally presented by the union Dec. 8 and signed by city officials Tuesday, includes giving up sick-leave sellback and holiday pay sellback. It also includes forgoing any raises for the next year, union president Jeff Hurley said.
The city should save about $4 million because of the concessions, Hurley said. “It’s reoccurring savings. These aren’t deferred raises,” he said.
In addition to agreeing not to lay off any firefighters during the next fiscal year, the city also agrees it won't seek contracts from private companies to perform firefighters’ duties.
Those duties, according to the agreement, include “but are not limited to current medical patient ambulance transportation, Tactical Medic program and fire prevention activities/inspections.”
If the city and union had not reached an agreement, 33 firefighters would have been laid off. The firefighters' union has about 190 members, Hurley said. Hurley said the union's membership is expected to vote to accept the tentative agreement by Thursday afternoon.
In October, Acting City Manager Maryann Ustick gave a presentation that showed how the city could cut $35.1 million from its budget during the next two years. In that presentation, Ustick said firefighters would have to be laid off if no changes were made.
“We are the only union in the city of North Las Vegas that has made four rounds of concessions,” Hurley said. Those four rounds have occurred during the past two years.
But Hurley said he understood that budget shortfalls had put city officials in a difficult position.
“I think it’s the right thing to do,” he said of the city council’s choice to ask the unions to come forward. “The only way we’re going to be able to [cut spending] is by making concessions.”
In those four rounds, the union has cut $17 million from the city’s budget, he said.
City spokeswoman Juliet Casey released a statement about the agreement Tuesday evening.
"We are pleased the concessionary talks with the IAFF were successful and we that we now have two tentative agreements, one for the supervisors and one for the non-supervisors,” the statement said. “Once approved by members and City Council, the tentative agreements would take effect on July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012."
Both the city’s Teamsters union and police officer’s association have stepped forward since the city’s budget reduction plan was presented in October. The concessions from the three unions, when ratified, will have saved a total of 188 public-sector jobs.
Why would the city agree not to look into private companies?
It is not about concessions, it is about using our resources most efficiently.
Obviously, $180k per ff is not efficient.
Have you seen the private companies out there?? I saw one sitting at a Jack in the box the other day, and all I can say is YIKES! I'll stick with what we have thank you.
Glad to see that at least the North LV fire department is understanding that if the money is not there you give up some or lose a lot.
Now if some of the other unions would take notice we might get more of the problems worked out around this county.
AMR and Medic West aren't exactly proving themselves to be "efficient." www.latefor911.com
I'd rather well paid public employees who show up when called than minimum wage contractors who might show up or might not. Besides, basic public services shouldn't be farmed out to low bidder operations just on principle alone. The public investment in emergency services should rest in the hands of a publicly controlled, publicly accountable organization.
Our firefighters do an excellent job, in all four jurisdictions in the valley. They deserve what they make.
keystone6;
Horrible website. I continue to be amazed at what levels union thuggery will stoop to promote their ilk. Everyone else is taking a pay cut, and so has NLV FF, hoorah!
I can only hope CC FF's lose in arbitration because they have time and time again shown themselves to lack reason and logic while crying but "you promised I would never take a paycut or lose any of my fat benefits". Which, BTW, were granted by the "publicly controlled, publicly accountable organization" that you refer to.
Shut down your lousy websites and your PR campaigns and go back and do the job you were hired to do and take a pay cut like everyone else.
First of all, its not my website and not my PR campaign. I'm not a firefighter or public employee of any kind. I do however appreciate the truth, and thank the firefighters for putting the real information on the table for the community.
Unfortunately those who constantly push for bottom of the barrel services, especially fire and ems services, would rather resort to name calling and jealousy over what firefighters get paid.
And I love it... "union thuggery." I'm not a teabagging window licker who thinks unions are bad, so your baseless and reactionary anti-union rant doesn't do anything for me except to highlight your ridiculous hatred of organized labor. Congrats.