City must give longevity pay to union firefighters

Published: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 6:06 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 6:06 p.m.

An arbitrator has sided with the Professional Firefighters of Ocala, IAFF, Local 2135, in its longevity pay grievance against the city of Ocala and has ordered the city to pay roughly $120,000 to the union members.

You never know how its going to end up, said Jared Sorensen, the citys director of Human Resources and Risk Management. I feel we presented a good case. Unfortunately, the arbitrator ruled against us. At this point, it is what it is.

The city has 30 days from Feb. 3 to pay the award, which was denied the firefighters in 2012. The $120,000 does not include FICA, which is estimated at less than $30,000.

Its something we had in our contract and that both parties agreed to, Robert Altman, the unions president said about the city. Every contract they had with outside vendors they paid in 2012 except us.

The firefighters contracts with the city expired in September 2011. The firefighters operate under the old contracts until new ones are ratified by union membership and approved by the City Council. There are two firefighter contracts, one for the firefighters bargaining unit and the other for the supervisory unit of officers. Arbitrator Vicki Peterson Cohens decision pertains to both bargaining units.

The city in 2012 decided not to award longevity pay to any of its employees, whether in a bargaining unit or not. The union argued that longevity pay is protected under their labor contract and, therefore, its members are entitled to the pay.

The contract reads that when financially feasible a lump sum longevity award shall be paid to eligible full-time regular employees at a time designated by the city manager according to a set schedule.

The city argued that the citys obligation to pay a longevity award is conditional and it is only required to pay when it is financially feasible to do so. It argued that during the recession, the city had to take measures to balance its budget, such as lowering the percentage of reserves from 25 percent to 20 percent and imposing a property tax rollback rate. During the 2012-13 budget process, the city projected an $8 million deficit and discussed strategies to close the deficit and the declining revenues. The city chose, among other things, to make department budget cuts of between 3 and 10 percent, sought pension reform, refinanced its debt and completed a voluntary separation program. Even after all the cuts, the city still faced a $3.6 million deficit without longevity bonuses.

City Manager Matthew Brower advised the city council it was not financially feasible to pay all employees the longevity awards. The city argued that it could not take the award away from other employees and pay it to the firefighters.

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City must give longevity pay to union firefighters