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Liberty firefighters, police get raises in new contracts
New contracts
Facts, figures
Here are details on the new labor contracts for Liberty Township firefighters and police officers.
Fire, new hire: Probationary fire department employees work 96 hours, two 24-hour shifts per week. Pay rate is $1,218.24 every two weeks.
Firefighter with experience: With seven years seniority, pay is $1,927.68 every two weeks. Lieutenants get $2,053.44 every two weeks, and captains, $2,220.48.
Probationary patrolman: Pay is $14.44 per hour for 2011, $14.66 in 2012 and $14.98 in 2012.
Patrolman with experience: After one year, $16.85 per hour for 2011, $17.10 for 2012, $17.44 for 2013. Step 3 wages will be $19.26 per hour for 2011, $19.54 for 2012 and $19.94 for 2012. Top scale (step four in the pay scale) is $24.07 per hour in 2011, $24.43 in 2012, and $24.92 in 2013. A shift differential of 20 cents per hour will be paid for afternoon shifts, and 30 cents per hour for midnight shifts.
Public Employee Retirement System: The township will now pay 10 percent. Figures are for 80 hours over two weeks. In the fire department, this means for new hires, the township share is $292.38, employee share, $121.82, every two weeks; seven-year firefighter, township share is $462.64, employee share, $192.77; lieutenant, township share is $494.83, employee share, $205.34; captain, township share, $532.92; employee share, $222.05. For police, the township will pay $209.09 for a probationary patrolman, who would pay $134; for full-rate patrolman, the township will pay $348.53, the patrolman, $223.37.
Other issues: The contract also addresses holiday and personal days, insurance coverage, staffing, training, grievances, overtime and uniform allowances.
Source: Liberty trustees
By LINDA M. LINONIS
liberty
Police and fire departments received raises after going through fact-finding and arbitration in contract negotiations with the township.
Negotiations began last fall; contracts ended Dec. 31, 2010.
Fire department captains and lieutenants will receive a 5 percent wage increase this year and 3 percent increases in 2012 and 2013; firefighters will receive a 3 percent increase each year.
Police department patrol officers received a 1.25 percent wage increase this year; 1.5 percent for 2012; and 2 percent in 2013. Wage increases for both are retroactive to Jan. 1.
Trustee Chairman Stan Nudell addressed the township’s finances and point of view at a news conference Thursday.
“The trustees wanted a three-year wage freeze,” Nudell said.
He cited the “loss of real-estate tax revenues” because of the lower value of homes, local funding reductions by the state and elimination of the Ohio estate tax. Nudell said trustees are looking at ways to reduce spending. Buyouts may be considered.
The police contract applies to nine patrol officers; the fire pact applies to the whole department. Contracts for police sergeants and captains are being negotiated, as are contracts with Teamster clerks and 911 telecommunications union members.
For health care, both fire and police employees will pay 10 percent of the cost. Costs are $29.01 a month for single, and $95.57 monthly for families.
Fire Capt. Bill Opsitnik, representative of Liberty Township Professional Firefighters Local 2075, said, “The cost of health insurance will offset the raises.”
He said the township “hadn’t bargained in good faith.” Opsitnik said the state has set a time line for negotiations — within 90 days of the end of a contract, then 45 days for a fact-finder, followed by an arbitrator.
Police canine officer Ray Buhala, representative of Ohio Patrol Benevolent Association and member of Fraternal Order of Police Local 65, said the police union had proposed a zero raise the first year in regard to economic times, with a contract reopener after that. The trustees wanted a wage freeze.
Buhala said what the police got was more a “standard of living” increase, not a pay raise. He said before this contract, patrol officers’ health-care contribution was zero percent and now it is 10 percent. The arbitrator allowed the increase for the township.
The township budget is about $7.5 million for 2011. A year ago, the township was $700,000 in debt, and that’s been reduced to $350,000, Nudell said.
The total cost for wages and benefits in the police department for 2011 is $1,613,486; in the fire department, that cost is $1,456,929. The police department has a $225,000 deficit.
There is a 1.5-mill levy for 911 operations that generates $290,000 annually but the service is costing about $15,000 more per year.