MANCHESTER, NH — Jeff Duval had a front-row seat for Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting. He took three minutes at the microphone during public comment to urge the Board of Aldermen to accept the contract proposal put forth by the firefighters union. As president of IAFF Local 856, Duval is weary of waiting for a new contract with the city – it’s been 432 days, and counting.
Duval listened intently as the board voted to approve tentative agreements with five other bargaining units — AFSME fleet, health, facilities, public works, and Teamsters Welfare.
When the Board of Aldermen voted on the current proposal put forth by the firefighters, which was voted down 8 votes to 7, Duval said it was especially disappointing that the tie-breaking vote came from Mayor Joyce Craig.
“Our membership is extremely disappointed that Mayor Craig chose to break the tie and not have our proposal proceed to the next step. We spent a lot of time and man hours getting Mayor Craig elected, and we thought there might have been a better outcome to our proposals last night,” Duval said.
Craig issued a statement promptly after Tuesday’s meeting. She called the tie-breaker “one of hardest things she’s had to do” since taking office.
“This is not about the value I place on our firefighters – I hold our Fire Department in the highest of regard, and am so grateful for what they’ve done in stepping up and in opening up Safe Station, and addressing the opioid crisis. But we need to come to the table and hear from both sides,” Craig said Wednesday.
“From my perspective it’s important that decisions made are fair and equitable to all city employees – and also keep in mind our educators are out of contract,” Craig said. “From a long-term perspective, we must make sure that we’re planning accordingly so we can address their needs in the future, as well.”
Craig said the contract from firefighters that came forward “had no meaningful concessions and no meaningful savings,” and a [Cost of Living Adjustment] COLA in years 2 and 3 that were higher than the tax cap. “That is just not sustainable,” Craig said.
Duval said if Craig wants to talk about concessions, he would remind the city about what’s already been lost.
“Five years ago we gave up time-and-a-half for overtime. Now we have to work 44 straight time hours until we get time-and-a-half, and there’s no other department that has to give that up. We also gave up HSA for new hires,” Duval points out, adding that he believes there should be options provided by the city.
“I think it would be a show of good faith from the City to implement the merit and longevity steps due our members who haven’t had them for the last two years – those are included in the budget, and not coming from the contingency fund, from what I’m being told,” Duval said.
“I also understand it was the COLA that sent some aldermen to the other side when the vote went down, and we’re willing to come back to the table and sit and talk with the negotiation team to come to a fair and equitable contract for the firefighters. It’s not that I don’t think the offer we made was fair and equitable. But if you take things as a whole over the last few years, nobody’s given up more than the firefighters. If you look at where we once started, we’ve come a long way from that time,” Duval said. “Our feeling is the city is not moving anywhere toward the middle and has, in fact, in the last few meetings added other concessions they’re looking for.”
Ward 3 Alderman Tim Baines was among those aldermen who voted against the contract. He says he came into Tuesday’s meeting leaning against supporting their proposal, and, all things considered, decided their proposal just didn’t go far enough.
“I’m one of those who had the support of the firefighters during my campaign, and I promised them I’d always negotiate in good faith and keep an open dialogue. We approved five union contracts last night where there were concessions made,” Baines said. “But part of being an alderman is looking at the big picture of the city, and sometimes hard decisions have to be made.”
Baines says he was hand-picked by the firefighters to sit on a special negotiation committee to try and get to common ground, but those talks fell apart.
“Even so, I felt we made significant progress. This contract proposal just didn’t deliver when it came to making a few small fundamental changes with new hires – changes that would help to get rid of this gridlock we’ve had every year since the tax cap, over whether we are we going to bust the tax cap or take care of unions.’ We’re looking for concessions on the 5- and 10-year mark for new hires as well.”
Baines said he reached out to Chief Dan Goonan to ask him what would happen if the board approved the contract as proposed, and then going forward did not have the budget to sustain it in future years.
“At the end of the day, he told me we would be looking at layoffs and station closures, and that’s not something I want to see on my watch. As the downtown alderman I see firsthand the hard work our firefighters do every day. It’s a job that’s drastically changed due to the drug epidemic, and there’s no doubt about it they deserve a really good contract. They should feel supported by their elected officials,” Baines said.
Craig echoed Baines’ sentiments – casting the tie-breaking vote against the proposal was no reflection on the high regard she has for city firefighters.
“This is something that began long before I became mayor, and a lot has happened prior to me taking office, but this is absolutely something we can resolve sooner than later, and I’m hoping we can come to the table as soon as this week,” Craig said. “There’s no benefit in delaying this. I’m open and available to continue to work on this as hard as I have to.”
Duval says reaching a long-term tentative agreement is what firefighters want, also. But over the past four years the work of city firefighters has fundamentally changed, and the need for training some of their ranks as PTSD counselors is just another reality of the job that the public – or city officials – may not fully appreciate.
“We are going to respond – and continue to respond – to the needs of the city and help the citizens of Manchester. The only thing I’d ask the public is this: If your family has been touched by the work of city firefighters, please reach out to your aldermen, or the mayor, and let them know how valuable firefighters have been to you, not only in fighting the opioid crisis, but to the community as a whole,” Duval said.