The highlights of the award include:
1. Three year term: January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2017.
2. A 3% wage increase in January of each year.
3. A $200 increase to the maximum paid for longevity.
4. Increased monthly employee contribution for health care to 6% (2017) of the COBRA rate, with limits on yearly escalation.
5. Deductibles on Health Care expenses. (Annual Individual $500 and family $1,000 in 2017)
6. An increase in the co-pays for prescription drugs.
The award is nearly identical to the terms of the tentative agreement of April 29, 2015 presented to the IAFF. It is also nearly identical to the terms of the negotiated settlement between the City and the Fraternal Order of Police Star Lodge 20 in April of 2015.
“Our labor agreements are essential management tools by which we manage our operations,” Mayor Bob Donchez said. “We feel that we have dealt with our employees in an equitable manner from the start of negotiations, a fact supported by this award.”
This agreement affects 108 firefighters in a City with three unions - Police, Fire and SEIU. There are also 120 non-union employees.
“I am pleased that this process is now complete, and the City is anxious to continue to provide services to the citizens of Bethlehem,” reported Mayor Donchez.
37 comments:
Bobs a good guy in so many ways.
I just can't figure out the sorry handling of the Martin Tower fiasco!
Add this to the overly generous handouts to his unqualified Administrative staff. This will be an expensive rudderless ride.
1:23,
You are right. He is a nice guy. Kind of guy you like to have as a next door neighbor. Just don't loan him your tools because you will never get them back.
His problem is that he can't make a decision and he allows himself to be led around by the nose by his inept staff and his two puppet masters.
Karner, once again, embarrassed the so called mayor with her ineptness Tuesday night at council over the bus station debacle. Totally unprepared, couldn't answer questions making the administration look foolish.
His administration, if you dare call it that, is the worse in the last 25 years.
3:52,
$6,000-$12,000 pay raises and lopsided union contracts can secure a lot of votes and yes men.
They should have gotten that without binding arbitration. The City of Bethlehem was not so generous, as someone else had to step in to decide. I'm sure the unions are not happy but it is a lot better than some other unions in other cities. A small price to pay for the guys who run into a burning house to save your children!!!
Anon 9:41, what they got, they were offered in Spring 2015, and rejected it. The arbitrators did not give them any more than the City was willing to give. This is a loss for the union. Union Prez Saltzer is pissed off that they lost again. The only ones who made out on this were the lawyers who represented the City and Union.
It will only get worse if God forbid Willie gets elected. He should be running a frat house not our city.
Neither booby d or wee willie will become the next mayor. The citizens and businesses are fed up with their lack of transparency and arrogance. Both have tried too many times to cram stuff down the peoples throats while completely ignoring their input. They only listen to their major contributors.
Anon 11:28, the citizens don't care and the business don't get it. If you are in the right circles, you will win. The lever pullers of Bethlehem will vote for these guys without blinking an eye. The downtown merchants come off as cry babies to most citizens, and most of them are not Native Bethlehem-ites, same with the lawsuit people. They all moved here and now want to tell the natives how to live. Most people think they are downtown snobs.
Bob will win re-election in a landslide, and it won't be over Willie. Willie will patiently wait his turn and become Mayor in 2021.
At my place of employment, due to request of rate reduction form some of our client's, many staff will not see a raise this year. For the rest, the plan is 2.5%. Our co-pay and deductibles are much higher. Welcome to the real world folks.
In the real world, people who don't sign their names are viewed as cowards and are never taken seriously. Save your smug remarks or the bar stool.
Gotta' love all the anonymous experts who seem to know everything except their own name.
Was Willie the president of his fraternity?
Some anons must remain anon as they toil under the oppressive regime. Much like in Allentown we do as we are told or suffer foul mouthed threats and have our jobs threatened. Many have too many years in to sacrifice our jobs. Others are not yet vested and would lose a great deal is canned.
Bullshit. You are just a coward, and are very likely not even an employee, except perhaps one who already has been fired and has an ax to grind. Antone who can't identify himself but resorts to cheap name-calling is a coward and is given no credibility. You are in no position to judge the conduct of others when your own behavior is blatantly dishonest.
Bernie I get calling bullshit on some of the people who post anonymously.
On the other hand ,I am aware of a few people who are connected to local , county and state govt, unions, and or state govt entities , who do post on here.
Because they get a pay check from the same govt , they rip , they must remain anonymous. I get that 100%
Those people, however, do not resort to partisan or personal attacks. In fact, I find some of their posts quite interesting and informative.
Nobody over there is making 6 to 12 k more this year Bernie,Anon 7; 12 is what he or she is. -percentages are based on the present salary. These folks are up to speed as a Fire Department and unlike Easton their University,Lehigh University kicks in to help pay some freight.They are a great Fire Department.
1219...sorry you feel that way. My college professor always talked about "life in the real world" Not saying they dont deserve a wage increase. No name calling here but calied my statement of fact "smug". Just stating the reality of the economy today. In the private sector, some live and die by a two week timecard. A 30 year employee was recently layed off with only 2 weeks severence. Welcome to at will employment. In this case, I cannot publicky reveal myself or employer.
Spare us the anonymous lecture, coward. I call you smug be you are and I sign my name. You hide under a rock.
I cant understand a 3% increase when the taxpayer got hit with a 2.2% property tax increase. What bothers me more, approximately 65% of the fire-fighter are not residence of this city and their wage tax goes to the municipality where they live. I wonder if they even shop in this city.
This is a fair criticism, but not the anonymous personal shots on everything from penis size to the cowardly blanket condemnation of public sector workers from people who crawled out from under a rock.
Sleep tight Bernie - Achmed's Friend
I'll visit again.
That's bc you are a troll, nothing more, and never to be taken seriously. People like you are the biggest cowards out there, and i sleep like a baby. The day I become fearful of a fool like you is the day i quit blogging. Crawl back under your rock, pussy.
Really? You used to have to be a resident to apply to be on the fire department. When did they change that and why? I was always told they made you live in the city so you could be called in in an emergency? Who do they call now? I thought the whole idea of civil service was having the tax paying residents work for their communities. This doesn't sound fair.
Anonymous 8:00PM - and almost all of those out of town dwellers reported off sick during the snow storm. We've already used more than 60% of the years overtime budget.
Residency clause was overturned in State court . Easton and Bethlehem both use to require residency . Personally ,it;s my opinion only,- that it should be required as I'm probably behind the times and think employees should have skin in the game and be of a proprietary mind set .What do I know. Here in Easton at one period 50 percent of the Fire Dept moved' off campus''so to speak in less than 5 percent of its paid history. If you had a bus company were your riders did that you would be out of business. Some people would argue that increases the gene pool -well it's more important to hire based on the law, and give each applicant a fair ,level paying field-or you get something else later.TROUBLE.
Peter, the residency clause was not overturned in State Court. Outside city residency was bargained for by the Bethlehem Police Union in the early 1980s. By the mid-1980s, the Fire Union and the SEIU workers bargained for the same. Thereafter, the City removed its residence requirement for all workers.
Residency requirements are still legal in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia has it that you have 1 year from the date of hire to move into the City.
Bethlehems fire Union never wanted the residency law changed, they never bargained for it and they fought against it when the city suggested making the change. The department had long relied on the off duty guys, living in the city, to be available to be called in for major fires. The city wanted to change that, to force the department to rely on local volunteers for those calls, instead of the cities actual firefighters. To save money, of course, volunteers don't need to be paid. I agree with Peter, residents are invested in their community and seem likely to be better candidates, but.... $$$$$$ trumps what's right
People please stop posting about the terrible job Karner has done in the city. Bernie has a major hard-on for her and doesn't like it. He is into bare hobbit feet.
Anon 1;29 Sorry, I should have said ;as applied to Easton 3rd class city --
Anonn 1;29 Years ago the HR director under Mr.Panto 's earlier direction decided to 'disregard the law of hiring' and with the idea they would wait out a challenge, well it came in the form of CUVO v City of Easton --not the wrestler, but a distant relative -he won and all out of town people were struck from the list at that time .In my case ,my father said they would hate me for it ,so I never used it against them during hiring process . I was a Vietnam Veteran subject to readjustment act that would have given something like 6,500 bucks to hire me at the time -that didn't work, they hired other guys and I incorrectly received no benefit as a veteran at that time .AFTER all that time overseas and draft evaders were running to Canada-School teachers had 2-S defermites and then they --get out of the draft- So -life is not alway just a bowl of cherries- ya gotta deal with it and go on .
It's time the city starts looking into residency for city employees to get some of the tax dollars back and be fair to the tax payers. I am sure there are a lot of qualified men and women who live in the city that could use these jobs.
My personal opinion, and ibelieve a minority opinion at that, is that you hire the best person fro the job, regardless where he or she may live. In fact, I think a residency requirement just leads to cronyism and parochialism.
"So -life is not alway just a bowl of cherries- ya gotta deal with it and go on ."
Yet you can't let go and go on. You constantly bitch and moan about how unfair it is to you. You enlisted and now you blame people who went to college. The world doesn't owe you anymore than anyone else. Try to get over yourself and stop living in the past. You made choices, live with them and stop blaming others.
Well, for this taxpayer the best person for the job is the one who can get there the fastest, and I'm guessing someone living in Bethlehem is going to do that faster than someone living in New Jersey or Connecticut.
anon 5;39-That's right the world does not owe me more than anyone else ,but the issue here is what the law was and what it is now in hiring procedure.Even playing field. Just like you had. Also to think something less than you accuse me of ,about people that went to college ,would be to hold out my own parents and most of my extended family ,which is more than you can say for yourself. -You could not have survived my past,you would have been dead in the water ,bigboy. The idea is that PAST institutional memory of past practices avoid happenings to YOU now. I don't blame anyone except myself -molon labe.You were a walk on.
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