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City of Las Vegas firefighters treat a man, apparently suffering from smoke inhalation, after a fire at the City Center Motel, on the northeast corner of Fremont Street and Seventh Street, in downtown Las Vegas Tuesday, May 8, 2012.
By Conor Shine (contact) 
Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 | 2 a.m.
Sun coverage
After months at impasse, firefighters and the city of Las Vegas are scheduled next month to resume efforts to reach a contract agreement, this time with the help of a third party.
Over the course of three days starting Feb. 4, an independent fact-finder will hear arguments and evidence from both sides and issue recommendations about the disputes that could help end negotiations that had been stalled since an impasse was declared in May 2012.
There’s been little discussion about the contract since, said Scott Johnson, president of firefighter union Local 1285. Firefighters have continued working under the terms of the previous agreement.
At issue are concessions sought by the city that firefighters are reluctant to make after several years of budget cuts.
“That doesn’t mean we are asking for a great deal of things. It simply means we are hoping to reset and do some recovery of concessions our members have made in the last couple of contracts,” Johnson said.
City Manager Elizabeth Fretwell has called the growth of the fire department’s budget, which has increased at nearly twice the rate of the city’s general fund since 2004, unsustainable.
The contentiousness of the negotiations is captured in a September complaint filed by the firefighters after the city offered each of them a $549 bonus.
The complaint, which has played out over the past months in a series of filings with the Local Government Employee-Management Relations Board, accuses the city of bad-faith bargaining for offering the bonus to firefighters as part of its “gain-sharing program.”
The program, akin to profit-sharing in the private sector, took a percentage of leftover funds, $1.3 million this year, and gave them to city employees in the form of a bonus.
Three employee groups, 262 nonunion employees and 263 members of two separate police unions, accepted the bonuses, but the 594-member firefighter union and the 1,248-member Las Vegas City Employee Association rejected the bonuses.
The firefighters were the only employee group to file a complaint over the bonuses. Johnson said the gain-sharing bonus circumvented and undermined the collective-bargaining process.
“We feel that these issues are best handled at the negotiating table. This is not the proper process by which to go forward with this type of an offer,” Johnson said.
That complaint likely won’t be heard by the employee relations board for several months, by which time the fact-finder could have issued his recommendations.
Johnson said he’s optimistic the fact-finding process would lead to a deal between the firefighters and the city.
If it doesn’t, negotiations could make their way to binding arbitration, where each side submits its final, best offer and an arbitrator chooses between them, something the firefighters haven’t done in more than a decade, Johnson said.
Auto workers accepted the profit sharing. Many other Unions have accepted them.
Why not the lv firefighters
Approximately 81 people who work for the Las Vegas Fire Department made over $200,000 last year in salary and benefits. The highest was over $304,000 for a Battalion Chief. The firefighters get paid a lot more than the people who drive the blue and white ambulances who respond to the same medical emergencies. Also, they can retire much younger with a big pension.
It's not just the firefighters who are looting the local treasuries. The City Manager of Henderson made over $962,000 in salary and benefits last year. A fire engineer in Clark County made over $532,000, a corrections lieutenant in North Las Vegas made over $525,000, the Fire Chief in Henderson made over $521,000, the Assistant Sheriff for Metro made over $544,000, and a lieutenant made over $507,000. Check out http://transparentnevada.com/ for yourself. Then you'll know why we have 45 kids in a classroom.
These guys are grossly overpaid. If they are unhappy then the jobs can and should be contracted out to private companies. Who do those guys think they are milking hundreds of thousands of dollars in pay and benefits from the Henderson and Las Vegas taxpayers. There are a few guys who are not even Nevada taxpayers. A couple actually live in Oregon and other states. I say let their salaries stay the same or they can look for jobs elsewhere. No city will pay them what we are paying them.
Steve Brown, again as a number of times before, you make your comments with out checking all the information.
The Clark County Engineer you talk of is no longer working there. If I remember, I seen some where that he passed away that year. The Las Vegas City Battalion Chief I believe, retired and that was his total cash out including all his benefits that he earned over his career.
The others you describe are nonunion appointed positions. (Fire Chief, City Manager and Asst. Sheriff) I don't know if Lieutenants are nonunion. And some of those, that may had been their last checks. You need to see the 2012 update and see if you can find their names. You know the old saying"garbage in garbage out"!
Steve Brown, again as a number of times before, you make your comments with out checking all the information.
The Clark County Engineer you talk of is no longer working there. If I remember, I seen some where that he passed away that year. The Las Vegas City Battalion Chief I believe, retired and that was his total cash out including all his benefits that he earned over his career.
The others you describe are nonunion appointed positions. (Fire Chief, City Manager and Asst. Sheriff) I don't know if Lieutenants are nonunion. And some of those, that may had been their last checks. You need to see the 2012 update and see if you can find their names. You know the old saying"garbage in garbage out"!
Tis true that many government employees are grossly overpaid. Media told us that New York area firefighters get maybe $50K after 10 years so why are we STILL PAYING SIX FIGURES???
I can't beleive the audacity of the FF Union to be squabling about a contract. It was PROVEN that the system was bilked by more than one FF and yet the ones they found guilty, which was "TWO" sued and got re-imbursed the money they lost PLUS kept there jobs. This union is a farce, has rules that doesn't hold its members accountable for thievery and all of them are grossly overpaid compared to the rest of the US. Its time to get rid of these thiefs and get new blood.
LV55, NV Fisherman, chuck33, please dont complain until you walk a mile in the shoes of these heros. They risk their lives, and many lose there lives for people like you that sit behind your computers and complain about what people who have very hard jobs get paid. How much is a life worth...50k 100k 150k? Because these folks put their lives on the line every day so people like you can sit home and complain about it. Please let me know how many times you have risked your life at work. I would venture to say ZERO as you sit behind your desk at work complaining. When shots are fired,a house is burning on and on these heros run to the problem , not away as folks like you do. They protect you and your family, so you can continue to sit your butt behind your computer and complain about them.Maybe next time, just take care of your own problems instead of calling them because they are over paid and lazy as you say. Better yet, spend a week working their job then you will go running back to your little desk in a nice warm office saying, I dont want to ever do that again. I believe many of you wouldnt last a day on their jobs as you run in fear. Think before you speak about what these brave men and women do every day for you and your family and to get 100k a year for risking their lives.
Blah, Blah, Blah
The City Manager uses the same line over and over again like a broken record about the budget of the fire department. I believe I pay an additional tax to fund my fire department which is ISO Class One and nationally accredited. Keep up the great work firefighters, no matter what the City Manager tries to say about you and your budget!!
The City Manager says this has been going on since 2004, why are they just now addressing the issue? Something seems misleading or maybe out of context, especially when you look at the link to the former story of the fire fighters and the concessions they made.
If the firefighters don't like the contract-they can go to go to work in another city. For the money they're making-there's plenty of fire fighters from around the country that will come to Vegas to replace them-bottom line.
So once again we have uninformed people making comments about our City of Las Vegas Firefighters.
Hey Chuck333 this article is about the city of Las Vegas Firefighters, if you check your facts the sick leave issue was in the Clark County Fire Department. Get your departments straight.
Roslenda, if you believe the media report that a the NY area firefighter makes 50k after MAYBE 10 years you should do some homework before you post here.
NVfisherman, if you work for a local goverment agency you pay taxes in that state. Doesn't matter where you live. What do you think they just hand these people a wad of cash and say have a nice day.
Steve Brown do you really believe those numbers have anything to do with the size of our classrooms? One has nothing to do with the other. Those numbers are inflated because they retired from those agencies, that's not their normal salary. Also if your going to talk about the people who drive the blue and white ambulances atleast give them their credit and know their company names, AMR and Medic West.
Did any bloggers watch the council meeting covering the ICMA study of the fire department. Check with your council person like I did and see if they think a flat line budget since 2008 in the fire department is unsustainable??
Don't buy into the PR machine of the City Manger, look for the true facts and statistics of the city budget numbers.
Oh yeah? , well there are a lot of issues out there in the world to be more concerned about than contract issues wiht the fire department. # 1 What about the Subway footlong not actually a foot long? LOL # 2 What about all the housewife shows? what if they never get along? what will we do? #3 What about nanny boo boo , will she grow up to look like her mom? . Now go solve those three things and then focus on firefighters salaries. lol
firemen are a legend in their own mind.
overpaid and full of themselves.
Fact finding and firefighters should never appear in the same sentence in this valley. Unless of course you place Anti in front of one word.
Comment removed by moderator. Inappropriate
Seems to me that all these firefighters care about is money. It amazes me how much they make here. My son and ex-husband are firefighters and make no where near what they make here. Maybe if they thought more about the community they work for and less about money this place would be better off.
Onetobeat: I did my homework. They make less than $50K a year AFTER 10 years.
Benefits and Salary
THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD HAS THE BEST BENEFITS IN THE WORLD
As a New York City Firefighter, you will receive an incredible benefits package and a competitive salary that more than doubles in your first five years on the job.
But act now, the chance to join only comes every four years.
Benefits include:
Lifelong medical coverage for you and your family;
Growth opportunities;
Flexible work schedules;
Up to four weeks paid vacation per year;
Generous pension.
Firefighter Salary:
BASE
FRINGE*
TOTAL
STARTING SALARY
$39,370
$3,704
$43,074
AFTER 1 YEAR
$41,311
$8,159
$49,470
AFTER 2 YEARS
$44,995
$8,886
$53,881
AFTER 3 YEARS
$49,494
$9,775
$59,629
AFTER 4 YEARS
$54,556
$10,775
$65,331
AFTER 5 YEARS
$76,488
$22,616
$99,104
Promotion Opportunities:
Lieutenant
$94,300
$31,548
$125,848
Captain
$108,244
$40,919
$149,163
Battalion Chief
$140,945
$20,336
$161,281
* Fringe benefits reflect overtime, holiday pay and other differentials
The median expected salary for a typical Fire Fighter in the United States is $42,177. This basic market pricing report was prepared using our Certified Compensation Professionals' analysis of survey data collected from thousands of HR departments at employers of all sizes, industries and geographies.
clean house and give nothing---hire all new staff and pay straight 60-75k no overtime with same benefits and pension----you will have 100k people waiting in line!!!!! why would you give these people anything when 100k people will take their GRUNT jobs for half the salary!!!!! FF'S you are freak'n GRUNTS---get over yourself--everyone knows you are nothing special so stop asking for more, more, more--you don't deserve anything near what you already get----FIRE all the FIREfighters and clean house now.
I know plenty of firefighters that would gladly move here and accept a job for half the pay that these firefighters are getting here. They put their life in danger everyday as well for a lot less money than these firefighters and don't complain. These firefighters here are full of themselves because they do make so much money. They are a disgrace to the uniform and should be ashamed of themselves.
This conversation has been going on for years and the elected officials have done nothing about it.
There has been no reduction in what these hacks are making.
Nevada is a right to work state. Why are we even having this issue?
The people need to contact the elected officials,including legislators, and tell them enough.
Significant cuts to pay and compensation. Or be replaced. These guys can live on $65K per year in Las Vegas....There is no reason they should be making double and triple that amount.
When will the taxpaying private citizen say enough already....this is our money they are taking!!!
Comment removed by moderator. Personal Attack
You also have to take into account when looking at New York's salaries, is the cost of living in New York is so much higher than here in Las Vegas. I moved here from the south and was amazed that the cost of living here in Las Vegas was much lower than where I moved from. So again, I do not understand the very high salaries of not just the firefighters, but others as well. And I might add that the salaries in the south are much lower with the higher cost of living. It just seems to me that all the people here making these high salaries should just be happy with what they are making and stop being so greedy. Remember Karma???
Posters: New York is a STATE with many cities and fire districts including NYC. There was a media clip or something on a 60-minutes-type show where a firefighter talked about taking a 10% pay cut and that amounted to $5K and he had more than 10 years on the job. This was discussed in this forum months ago and I stand by my statements.
Firefighters are essential and deserve a living wage but NOT what we've been paying. Vegas is a large city with a couple dozen high-rises so (some) firefighters need that extra training and serious duty assignments. I join the chorus asking the Commissions to DO SOMETHING to reduce compensation of firefighters and to consider 10% reductions for all government employees at the local (city, county, SD) to reflect the 10%-plus cuts the rest of us have taken--those of us who are still working. The government "leaders" need to get around to serious review of job descriptions versus salary pay scales AFTER adding in the 20% kicker for PERS, 5% of so for health care.... Union contracts should not be RENEWED CONTRACTS until compensation comes down--sure they'll work under the old pay scales and refuse to ratify. DE-CERTIFY any union that refuses a reasonable offer in today's economy. If necessary, rewrite job descriptions and hire a very similar worker with a non "firefighter" job description at the reasonable rates. Perhaps trainee or apprentice.
LV55, NV Fisherman, chuck33, please dont complain until you walk a mile in the shoes of these heros.
@14smoke14:Anytime you or any of the FF's would like to walk in my shoes I'll be glad to oblige. You'd last a few hours at best.