A majority of the city of Las Vegas firefighters represented by the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) Local 1285 agreed to concessions that will save the city $6.5 million over the next two years. The City Council approved the concession offer by the IAFF at today’s council meeting in a 5-1 vote. The IAFF membership voted last week and yesterday, with 100 percent of the supervisory staff and 87 percent of the nonsupervisory staff approving the agreement.

The agreement is about 64-percent of the city’s target for the fire department in fiscal year 2011 (FY11), which started on July 1, and 74-percent of the targeted goal into fiscal year 2012 (FY12).

Some of the important deal points of the two-year agreement include:

• No cost of living (COLA) adjustment in FY11, with the ability of both parties to reopen the contract for negotiation of COLA and salary schedules in FY12.
• A 50-percent reduction in step increases in FY11 and FY12, and a reduction in the first step for new employees by 5-percent in FY11.
• No uniform allowances in FY11, with the ability of both parties to reopen the contract for negotiation in FY12.  
• A reduction of medical contributions by the city from $450 per pay period, per employee to $360 per pay period, per employee. In addition, instead of receiving medical contributions for 26 pay periods annually, employees will only receive them for 24 pay periods.
• A reduction of the emergency medical system (EMS) documentation pay for paramedics by 50 percent in FY11, with total elimination in FY12.
• An increase in the availability of “roving staff” to 8 percent, which will reduce overtime.
• The city agrees not to pursue a request for proposal for the privatization of EMS services for the duration of the contract.
• An elimination of the need for “brownouts” based on the ability to restore services through the savings in this agreement.

The agreement represents weeks of negotiations by the city and the IAFF, and with the approval of the membership and council, means both sides will avoid going to a costly arbitration.

The city has four bargaining units, but the contract with the IAFF is the only one that is currently being negotiated. 

"I believe the public is the big winner today,” said City Manager Betsy Fretwell. “This is the second in what will hopefully be four labor agreements we can bring back before the City Council that will help us preserve jobs and services. The biggest impact from this agreement is that we are going to be able to keep our fire and rescue personnel and function intact. At the same time, we are lowering our unit cost of service delivery." 

“We realized from day number one that our city, just like the rest of the country, was in a lot of economic trouble,” said Dean Fletcher, president of the Las Vegas Firefighters Local 1285. “Southern Nevada has been one of the hardest hit communities. We always wanted to be part of the solution. I have to give credit to the Las Vegas firefighters and their unwavering beliefs. They had two concerns; one, make certain public safety would not be compromised. Secondly, Las Vegas firefighters would be able to avoid brownouts. Ninety percent of the work that we do is about providing emergency care.  Seconds count when we are trying to start a human heart. Every minute makes a difference. This was never about jobs, but protecting our community.”