CONTRACT
R.B. firefighters spurn deal
City's offer lacks retirement, salary needs, they say

By:    Kimberly Ross

Record Searchlight

Published: September 27, 2006

RED BLUFF -- Firefighters rejected a city contract -- and a 3 percent raise -- rather than accept an offer they said didn't improve their retirements and kept their salaries lower than seven comparable cities. Red Bluff Firefighters Association Secretary Dave Carr said Tuesday that the city's poor contract offers have failed to gain an agreement for the second year in a row.

This time, the nine-member association decided to make a statement that will leave members with no raises, Carr said. "We're not going to do the 'take it or leave it' thing. We're sending a message to the city that we're not going to be bullied any more," he said. Firefighters told the city that no contract was better than accepting its "last, best and final" offer. That included a 3 percent raise but didn't upgrade firefighters' "2 percent at 50" retirement package to their requested "3 percent at 50," as the city did for Red Bluff police officers last year, Carr said. The "3 percent at 50" formula means that employees may retire at age 50 and collect 3 percent of their maximum monthly salary for each year of service.

Interim City Administrator John Blacklock said the City Council offered what it thought was fair. But retirement, benefits and other costs to the city keep increasing. "At this point, the council just felt that they couldn't take on that financial risk," he said. "Part of council's concern is enhancing a retirement benefit that would just cause those costs to go up even faster. The increases that we've seen already have been just extraordinary."

Firefighters also wanted a wage increase that would put them at an average of seven comparable north state city fire departments. Top-step captains were paid a monthly average of $5,734 in the seven cities. Chico paid the most at $7,329; Redding was just above the average at $5,911; Red Bluff, at $4,304, paid less than Susanville's $4,745, Carr said. Red Bluff has 13 full-time firefighters and about 25 part-time reserve firefighters, Carr said. The 2006 contract negotiations ended in an impasse in April, and a mediator's efforts on a compromise failed this summer.

In 2005, the association also rejected an agreement, but the city forced a contract that granted firefighters a 3 percent raise. They agreed to a contract that ended in 2004 and raised salaries about 14 percent over three years, which included benefits increases, Carr said. Carr said the firefighters hope that 2007 negotiations will be more successful than this year's. Meanwhile, they'll keep fighting fires. "We're professionals," he said. "We'll continue to do our job."

Reporter Kimberly Ross can be reached at 225-8339 or at kross@redding.com