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By Dave Toplikar (contact) 
Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011 | 11:52 a.m.
Elizabeth "Betsy" Fretwell
Bob Coffin
Sun Coverage
The Las Vegas City Council today ratified a new agreement with Las Vegas Firefighters Local 1285 that cuts a little more than $4 million from the budget and — for the third year in a row — will mean no cost-of-living increase for firefighters.
“It’s a fair deal and it’s good for both sides,” Dean Fletcher, the union’s president, said Wednesday following the city council’s unanimous decision to ratify the contract.
Fletcher said the 610 firefighters in the union are expected to ratify the vote at special meetings tonight and Thursday night, capping months of negotiations, which were actually at an impasse earlier this year.
However, they were able to avoid arbitration and reached an agreement, according to City Manager Betsy Fretwell.
“We feel very good about this agreement and we worked very hard to get to it,” Fretwell said. “What it does is it creates stability in the fire department budget.”
Under the key terms of the contract, city firefighters have agreed to have their medical benefits trimmed from $450 per pay period to $360 per pay period, plus receive those for 24 instead of 26 weeks, saving $1.4 million; plus having their uniform allowances reduced by $900,000.
Firefighters will also have to wait eight days after taking a sick leave day to be able to take any overtime pay. Previously they had to wait three days. That will save $520,000.
Starting firefighters will see their pay be reduced to $16.07 an hour, a 5 percent reduction. There will also be a 50 percent reduction in step increases on the firefighter salary schedule, resulting in a savings of $450,000.
Previously, paramedics were paid for filling out documentation paperwork, but that extra pay will end, saving $450,000 in the budget.
Fretwell said the agreement was reached, in part, to prevent a “brownout” schedule, in which certain units would be taken out of service because of budget concerns.
“We will use the savings from this agreement to be able to plumb back up that budget and to be able to provide the services that are necessary,” Fretwell said. However, she said that the fire chief will still be able to brown out some units as needed, at his discretion, to deliver services in the most efficient manner.
“It’s my hope that the savings from the contract will cover the service of the department,” she said.
Councilman Steve Wolfson asked if the service levels will be maintained at the same levels, even with the reduction.
Fretwell said the service would have been affected without the agreement.
“I think everybody has been struggling in their departments,” Fretwell said. “You can’t go through a 20 percent reduction over three years and not feel it.”
She said she hoped the new budget would help the department be able to hire some new firefighters and cut back on the work load faced by existing firefighters.
Councilman Bob Coffin said when he first decided to run for the council last year, he had heard stories about firefighters gaming the system and calling in sick and allowing other firefighters to take overtime and creating huge salaries. However, Coffin said he has found that the city’s fire department didn’t have the same problems along those lines that the Clark County Fire Department had.
“Our contract had already been written so that you could not have those abuses that we were seeing with the county firefighters, but all firefighters were being painted with the same brush,” Coffin said.
Las Vegas Fire Chief Mike Myers agreed with Coffin, saying they did a review of the sick leave/overtime situation for the city and “I was very satisfied, very happy, very proud of the way Las Vegas firefighters are handling their sick leave and their overtime.”
Does the firefighters still get paid extra if they bring a patient to the emergency room with this new contract? Like there were in the past!
So the overpaid slugs in the fire department have elected to "forgo" their scheduled COLA.
How noble of them.
Guess that means they'll just have to make up the difference on extra OT by watching a few more DVDs at the fire station.
Big deal - so what - I haven't had ANY kind of raise in 6 years - I don't see anyone writing a story about MY trials and tribulations.... it's just something most of us have to put up with.
"It's a fair deal and it's good for both sides," Dean Fletcher, the union's president, said Wednesday.
That can only mean one of two things:
a) the taxpayer is getting shafted somewhere that is not being reported.
b) the parasites in the union are starting to believe they could kill the "host" if they are not careful.
I'm pretty sure the banter about privatizing fire services has caused more than one union leech to soil their britches.
I know many of you haters just want to hate but read the article.
This is the City Firefighters, not the County firefighters that gamed the overtime system. Not even all of the county guys gamed the system.
Our city guys take good care of us so think about that next time you need them.
If you really believe the things you post here stop by a Fire Station and tell them to their face. ;-)
Their my HEROS (LOL)
A $ 16.07 starting salary is very low. I know if you add Health Insurance, Vacation, Pension etc.. it's more. But really, I feel like the LV and NLV Fire and Police Departments are getting far too much negative criticism. Anyone doing these Professional jobs is not the real problem. Look at the Billionaires, Hedge Fund Managers and Wall-Street Banks to rightly place your anger.
WOW...the T baggers are mad because the union firemen took a pay cut?
COULD YOU POSSIBLY BE MORE REDICULES?
The $16.07 number is a joke. The average fireman makes over $180K a year - and does it working 8 days a month.
Disgusting.
But hey I guess, "Heroes" don't come cheap these days.
1776- I don't know if you are a liar, or just plain ignorant. Either way you are wrong. 8 days a month? So they work 8 8 hour days then? Or do they work 10 24 hour days? You see one is only 64 hours a month while the other is 240 hours a month. That's a pretty big difference. When you say they only work 8 days a month the average person equates that to the typical 8 hour day.
Where do you get that the average fireman makes over $180K a year? Where is that nonsense coming from? Or is it just so easy for you to sit behind your computer and hurl lies? How is the posted starting salary a joke? It's what they get paid hourly. It's pretty black and white.
Mr. Hamilton,
Why is it that there is no active business license for anyone by the name of Edward Hamilton in Henderson?
Do you run a legal business in Henderson and the great State of Nevada?
@outkast...that minimum starting wage has a ton of add-on pay that isn't posted on a recruitment brochure. I'm not talking about the addition of their benefits either. I'm talking about hourly add ons to their take home pay. It doesn't add up to $180K though...that is a bit high. Probably more like $60-$70K/yr for a rookie.
Good one Brian D...
Try again (on the lower side)
@bond213, give me the lower side. You obviously know. I'm just curious. I'm not one screaming $180K/yr. I'm a bit more realistic.
The LVFD has been pretty good in these tough times. These aren't the county guys who cared more about their greed.