New Deal, New Cooperation For Nutter Administration And Firefighters Union
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It was a remarkable scene Friday at Philadelphia's City Hall, as Mayor Michael Nutter and the firefighters union -- who have battled in court and in the press for years -- stood together in announcing a new arbitration contract award for the firefighters.
An arbitration panel has given the firefighters a four-year contract, retroactive to July 1 of 2013 and running through June 30 of 2017. Mayor Nutter is not appealing this award -- a stark contrast to the previous contract, which his Administration fought in court for years. Nutter alluded to that lengthy battle in announcing this new deal.
"Certainly we have had some disagreements and disputes over the last seven years," said the mayor. "But we have always, always, always been partners in public safety. In the heat of battle, sometimes things are said. But never, ever, in any way, shape or form, were any of those comments meant to be disrespectful to our great hero public servants."
The head of Firefighters Local 22, Joseph Schulle, stood at Nutter's side as the award was unveiled. He later said the ill will between his members and the Administration is finally easing.
"Step by step, as we continue to work together, and we continue to get things done, eventually the barriers are brought down," Schulle said. "You can see that slowly this feeling is dissipating."
Schulle was elected head of Local 22 in the spring of 2013, and four months later, Nutter dropped his appeal of that earlier award. He succeeded Bill Gault, and many observers felt Gault and Nutter had developed a level of personal animosity that hampered progress. For his part, Schulle believes the change in leadership helped.
"There was a level of frustration that had grown, and when I came in to office, it gave us an opportunity to start fresh," he said. "And I think both the union and the mayor's office took advantage of it, and we began to work together more."
The new award gives firefighters three-percent raises in the first two years, a 3.25% raise in the third year, and it calls for further arbitration of wages for the final year of the deal. The mayor also praised several changes to the union's health care plan that he said mirror reforms in the current FOP contract.
The firefighters were also awarded the right to move out of the city after five years of service. That provision is also included in the FOP contract, and Mayor Nutter said few officers have taken advantage of that so far.
The arbitration award will cost the city an estimated $70 million over five years, and the mayor's numbers-crunchers must now determine how to pay for it. Nutter unveils his new budget proposal in about two months, and the cost of this deal will be reflected in that.
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