Valley Fire, Union Agree On Contract

A new labor contract will mean big changes for Spokane Valley Fire District firefighters.

The agreement includes significant changes in pay, promotion, sick leave, staffing levels and fitness requirements.

“It got torn down to its very foundation. Every article was gone through and rebuilt,” said Lt. Steve Spuler, a member of the union’s wage and hours committee.

The local union and Valley Fire administrators are still working out how the 48-page contract will be implemented.

“How they (the contract changes) are going to impact us has yet to play out,” said Spuler. “By in large, I guess we’re satisfied with the outcome.”

The contract passed with 75 percent approval among the 126 personnel represented by International Association of Firefighters Local 876. After a year of talks, both the local firefighters union and Valley Fire commissioners signed off on a new three-year contract last month.

“It was a long process this time, but we got a good contract,” said Valley Fire Assistant Chief Dave Lobdell.

The old contract expired Dec. 31, 1999.

The two sides began preliminary talks in May 1999. In August of last year, negotiations started. In January, a mediator from the state Public Employment Relations Commission was brought in to bring the two sides closer to a final agreement.

Some of the big changes came relatively easily. Union and administration negotiators agreed the district needed a drug policy. The new contract states that if a supervisor has reasonable cause to believe an employee is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the employee can be required to take a drug or alcohol test.

The two sides also agreed that the district would pay for each firefighter to be issued a full-dress uniform to be used for formal occasions such as funerals and graduation. But firefighters gave up their $175 yearly clothing allowance to get the new uniforms.

They also agreed that a committee will be formed to develop fitness standards. In the past, there was a fitness requirement to become a firefighter but no ongoing standard.

More contentious was a potentially big change in staffing levels. The contract used to stipulate that there had to be 28 people on shift at all times.

In the past, if a station had closed or a levy had been defeated, the staffing numbers would have remained the same.

The new contract has a per-apparatus requirement - three firefighters for each pumper truck and two for each rescue or medic truck. With a 10-day notice to the union, the district can stop staffing individual trucks.

“It (staffing levels) would only change if we ever have a catastrophic funding event and have to close a station or two,” Lobdell said.

Vacation time also jumped from an average of seven to nine shifts each year.

The contract also includes also a wage increase, which was largest for first-year firefighters (6.5 percent) and smallest for captains (.3 percent). Total wages rose 3.5 percent.

The contract also made it harder to get promoted. The probation period for promotions was increased from six months to one year.

The disability leave policy also changed. Injured firefightes previously were excused from heavy duty until a doctor says otherwise. The new contract stipulates they do light duty at the district. In the past, light duty was optional.

“There’s no intent by anyone here to have them sit in a corner and read books. There’s plenty of stuff that needs to get done,” Lobdell said.

The newly signed contract is retroactive to Jan. 1 and is in effect through Dec. 31, 2002.