Firefighters seek to address 'burning issue in room'

Longboat Key Fire Rescue union negotiations began for a new three-year contract Jan. 30 at Town Hall without a word about salaries, insurance or retirement plans.

Instead, Longboat Key Fire Rescue Union District Vice President Keith Tanner started negotiations with what he called “the burning issue in the room that needs to be straightened out.”

Tanner and Lt. Jason Berzowski made it clear they are waiting to hear from Town Manager Dave Bullock about whether Deputy Fire Chief Sandi Drake will be disciplined for a December incident during which Drake shattered a glass picture frame and stormed out of the fire station, threatening to quit. The incident led former Deputy Chief Matthew Altman, who was acting chief while Fire Rescue Chief Paul Dezzi was on vacation during the holidays, to resign.

“There’s a discipline issue that’s burning these guys and burning them bad,” Tanner said. “We have 30 unhappy firefighters who are waiting to see what direction you’re going to go on that. This employee who did what she did has not been disciplined the way one of my guys on line would have been disciplined.”

Bullock met with all three fire shifts at the request of each shift three weeks ago without the presence of Dezzi to address their concerns.

Both Bullock and Dezzi told the Longboat Observer last week that the department does not have major morale issues. Bullock said he’s working to address any issues the department has by working closely with Dezzi.

Tanner, however, says there’s a morale problem that got worse when Drake wasn’t disciplined for her actions in December.

“There are two sets of rules, it seems, when we discipline people,” said Tanner, noting that firefighters have been suspended without pay for infractions such as missing a shift or abusing social media policy.
Tanner told the Longboat Observer after the meeting that morale isn’t low because of salaries or benefits.

“Sure, we’re unhappy we haven’t gotten raises, and pensions have been changed, but we deal with those issues during negotiations,” Tanner said. “Our main morale issue is management’s inability to be fair across the board and address our issues.”

During the meeting, Berzowski also said morale is a top priority.

“Management (non-union employees) and line personnel are being treated differently,” Berzowski said. “Up until two months ago, our major contract issues were salaries and pensions. But to be bluntly honest, this issue of personnel rights is now right up in line with the other two, and we want to know where we stand on this.”

After Town Labor Attorney Reynolds Allen asked for a recess, firefighters returned and were told Bullock, who is in charge of disciplinary measures for employees, would address the discipline issue at the appropriate time.

Bullock declined to put a timetable for making a decision, and firefighters agreed to move into other issues that affect them for a new three-year contract that begins Oct. 1, 2015.

Tanner said the other main points of contention for a new contract involve wages, benefits and pension.

“It’s real simple,” Tanner said. “We are looking to be comparable with Sarasota County and get our wages up.”

Currently, Longboat Key firefighter/paramedics have a base salary of $51,309.44.

Tanner and Berzowski also said the union hopes to re-introduce the wage step increase program.

“We’re trying to close the gap so a one-year guy isn’t making the same as a five-year guy,” Tanner said.
Berzowski said the union also hopes to address pensions.

While town firefighter/paramedics are pleased with the transition to the Florida Retirement System (FRS) pension that occurred when the town froze its pension plans, they pay 9.6% more toward their pensions than Sarasota County firefighter/paramedics, Berzowski said.

During negotiations for the previous contract, they agreed to pay 9.6% toward their contribution (matching what the town agreed to contribute to the FRS plan), plus an additional 3% mandatory FRS contribution in hopes they could write off a portion of that mandatory contribution.

“That didn’t happen,” Berzowski said. “We’re happy with FRS, but a lot of guys are waiting to see what happens with this contract and where it goes with FRS contributions before they decide if they need to move on. And we want to keep the guys we have.”

Berzowski, a former accountant, said he also plans to bring forward a method “to keep the payroll neutral” and adjust salaries appropriately once six firefighter paramedics enrolled in the Deferred Retirement Options Program (DROP) reach mandatory retirement later this year, freeing up money that can be readjusted to younger members.

“We think we can be creative,” Berzowski said. “We’re willing to work to find a cost effective way to fix things.”

Bullock told firefighters he plans to unveil a performance-based appraisal system for all employees in the coming months.

“The best employees should be paid more than employees that aren’t so good,” Bullock said. “We’ll talk about that more in the future.”

Allen said he appreciated the firefighters’ thoughts during the opening session but warned them that demands come with a price.

“We can add and subtract just like you can,” Allen said. “Be mindful everything has a price to it.”

Human Resources Manager Lisa Silvertooth is working to compare salaries and benefits for nearby cities and counties with similar structures. Further negotiation sessions won’t be scheduled until mid-March.