The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Firefighters’ contract contains a raise, increased insurance cost
TORRINGTON — A negotiated contract between the city and the Torrington Firefigher’s Union, Local 1567, is expected to save the city more than $40,000 annually.
The cost reduction comes from a change in how sick days are accrued. The new contract allows union members to accrue 1.25 days per month, down slightly from the former accrual amount of 1.50 days per month.
Mark Dumas, director of personnel and labor relations, wrote in a letter to the City Council that additional savings will be found from both “an anticipated change in sick leave utilization,” and overtime costs.
Union President Jeremy Minard said Friday that consistent working hours are the most important contract change for the members. “It’s a big improvement for the health of our members,” he said Friday.
The schedule change, which will be implemented in August, will allow firefighters to work a 24-hour shift followed by three days off.
The last contract, which expired on June 30, called for a day shift of 10 hours, followed by three days off. Upon return, the next shift required a firefighter to work three evening shifts of 14 hours followed by three days off.
“It’s the same amount of working hours,” Minard he wrote in a statement. “We feel it was a fair and collaborative negotiations with the City of Torrington and its representatives.”
The negotiations started in June, Dumas said.
“The biggest issue was salary,” he said Friday. “It took a while to get to that number.”
The salary package will provide a 2 percent raise for union members each year of the threeyear contract, resulting in a 6 percent raise by 2020. However,
the agreement also increased the cost of medical insurance for the firefighters.
“Local 1567 worked hard to protect the health, safety and working conditions of our members, all while being compensated with a fair wage and health insurance,” Minard said.
The firefighters will now pay 12 percent of the cost of insurance coverage, increased from 11 percent in the last contract. The amount increases 1 percent for each year of the contract, with a payment of 14 percent by 2020.
The union is “mindful to the fact of taxes and budgetary constraints, of which we feel we’ve always done our part in providing some type of savings to the city,” Minard said.
The contract changes will be retroactive to July 1, when the former agreement expired. A lump sum payment of the 2 percent salary increase is due the members, but the cost of the insurance increase will also be applied, Minard said.
The City Council is expected to approve the finalized contract in April, Dumas said.
There are two more municipal contracts under negotiations now, Dumas said: the Public Works and City Hall unions.