Mediator to extend fact-finding hearings

Toledo firefighter James Ferguson holds a sign during Thursday's protest on South Erie. Representatives of firefighters Local 92, the city's main firefighters union, and the city are set to meet again in March. THE BLADE/LISA DUTTON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Tension surrounding a meeting of the city's main firefighters union and Bell administration officials Thursday dissipated somewhat after a mediator agreed to extend the hearing into March.

Representatives for firefighters' Local 92 and the city of Toledo are scheduled to meet again before fact finder Michael Paolucci on March 1 and 2, bucking complaints by the union that it would not have enough time to present its case.

Local 92 Vice President Dan Desmond had objected strongly earlier this week after learning Mr. Paolucci planned to restrict the hearing to just one day. Dozens of angry Toledo firefighters gathered outside the downtown building where the meeting was under way Thursday to protest the time limit along with other rules for the hearing they deemed unfair.

"It's taking away our ability to present all the facts to the fact finder," retired firefighter and former union president Jim Martin said. "All we're looking for is to be heard. Let us present all the facts before decisions are made."

But after emerging from the discussions inside the city's Division of Environmental Services building on South Erie Street Thursday afternoon, Mr. Desmond sounded a more positive note about the talks.

"We certainly are pleased we have more time to be heard," he said. "We're cautiously optimistic about the day."

Firefighters also were upset the fact-finding session was not open to the public, and that they were not allowed to have a court reporter in the room to document the proceedings. The parties declined to discuss if either of those conditions would be modified. However, Craig Zimpher, the chairman of the State Employment Relations Board, said that fact finding is always a private affair under Ohio labor procedures. He said having a court reporter present is unusual, although the fact finder could decide to allow it if both sides in the negotiation agreed.

"The decision is ultimately made by the fact finder," Mr. Zimpher said.

The hearing extension may not be enough to placate the union's full membership, which numbers over 500. Firefighters turned up in droves at the Erie Street building Thursday, carrying signs protesting not just the hearing restrictions but also the concessions demanded by Mayor Mike Bell's administration.

Firefighters protest not only the hearing restrictions but the concessions for which the city is asking. THE BLADE/LISA DUTTON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

They said the city is seeking to cut the amount it pays toward the employee share of pension costs and also wants to move Local 92's health-care plan from one managed by the union to the city's own system. If the city gets everything it wants, Local 92 members would see a 17 percent reduction in pay, they said.

The firefighters said they reject the city's assertion that it doesn't have enough money to continue paying for the same benefits and wage increases for its workers. They expressed frustration with being asked for more cuts after making concessions in the past. At the same, the firefighters said, their workload has increased.

"Every time a contract comes around, [city officials] claim they're broke. That's every three years," said Ric Backus, a paramedic firefighter who stood next to a sign proclaiming Toledo's improving financial outlook based on expected job creation at automotive plants and the casino. "I think we've earned what we're asking. We just want what's fair."

But Mayor Bell stood by his administration's budget numbers. He said the demands the city is making of the firefighters are no different to the requests it's made of other unions.

"Every union that we've dealt with so far we've had to move down the same road as far as concessions are concerned," the mayor said. "There's no new money coming into the city. We're just trying to stay inside the framework the taxpayers have asked us to stay in."

The city has secured contract deals with its smaller Toledo Police Command Officers Association and the Fire Chiefs Association, both of which agreed to gradually eliminate the subsidy of employee pension contributions over three years and to pay more for health care. Their wages will be frozen in 2012 but will go up slightly in 2013 and 2014.

The Bell administration also reached a pact with the city's largest union, AFSCME Local 7, late last year, but the bargaining unit is disputing a clause in the contract and has refused to sign it. The dispute will go before the State Employment Relations Board in March.

Another large union, the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association, which represents 459 officers, will attend a fact-finder's meeting with the city later this month.

Mayor Bell maintains securing union concessions is essential to balancing the 2012 budget. City spokesman Jen Sorgenfrei said this week that if agreements are not reached Toledo will be forced to make drastic cuts to services.

Contact Claudia Boyd-Barrett at cbarrett@theblade.com or 419-724-6272.