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THE BALTIMORE FIRE OFFICERS |
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1030 S. Linwood Avenue |
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President Stephan G. Fugate Though I am the last person that would need to be told there are more important things going on, I simply MUST respond to an editorial published in today's Sun. Below, please find the text of a letter I have written in response and though I do not expect that it will be published, I will disseminate it as best I can. Editor, In your lead editorial of today, you state "Six of the eight (Pension Board) members either do or will receive pensions from the fund. The Chairman, Stephan G. Fugate, is also head of the city firefighters union, meaning he both manages the pension funds and negotiates the benefits the city will have to pay out. Underestimating the costs of benefits makes them more attractive for city leaders to grant." Please allow me to respond on behalf of myself though I believe the others referenced would take exception as well to the extent that they too are impugned. There has been no benefit improvement to our Plan since adoption and subsequent improvement of our DROP, in ’96 and ’97 respectively, and I was first elected to the Pension Board in 1998. Indeed, the only change I have been party to since ’98 is what would arguably be described as a diminution of benefit in the form of DROP2 which will become effective on January 1, 2010. In any event, changes in benefit structure or actuarial assumptions are valued by professional actuaries employed by either the retirement system or the unions and in the event that those two might disagree, the Board is obliged by a self-imposed policy, which I endorsed and supported, to favor the cost estimates of the retirement system actuary. While I suppose I should be flattered that presumably educated people would believe that I could freelance in the highly technical and mind-bogglingly complex actuarial sciences, the underlying implication that I would do so inappropriately is offensive if not libelous. I am painfully aware that I function in a somewhat precarious position and my actions are guided accordingly. In the rare instance when I must chose between my role as a president of the Fire Officers Union or as a fiduciary for a public pension fund, I can assure you that I opt for the latter. I am much more comfortable in explaining myself to our Union members than to a judge and the choice between losing an election or going to jail is a very easy one for me. If the Sun or anyone employed by the Sun, however, is aware of a single circumstance of me or any of my Board colleagues EVER having done anything in self-interest or contrary to our fiduciary responsibility to the Fire and Police Employees’ Retirement System, I’d be interested in reading about it. I understand full well that editorials are based upon opinion and not fact, but those opinions should, at the very least, not be sheer speculation. Stephan G. Fugate, Chairman Baltimore Fire & Police Employee’s Retirement System
Thursday, October 15, 2009 Sun Editorial
Saturday, October 3, 2009 CC 09-0161R Emergency Hearing - Fire Department Lay-Offs A City Council Resolution will be introduced on Monday, October 5, 2009 that would require an "Emergency Hearing" regarding the prospect of layoff of Fire Department personnel. The lone sponsor, Councilwoman Belinda Conaway is and has been a supporter of the Fire Department and it is not clear whether or not this Resolution has the support or endorsement of the Administration. What is clear, however, is Article 23 of our respective MOU's and while we appreciate the apparent interest and concern, we would only expect that the negotiated and mutually agreed to provisions of Article 23. Please click HERE to view the Legislative File and we have included the text of Article 23 from 964's MOU below. The language below, by the way, is virtually identical to that contained in Article 23 of 734's MOU. Also note that the link in the previous sentence will allow you to view the Legislative File Text via another link at "Attachments". ARTICLE 23: SENIORITY, CALL BACK, LAYOFF AND RECALL A. A roster of all members of the Fire Department shall be compiled and maintained by the Personnel Administrator showing each member of the Fire Department in the order of his length of service with the Fire Department. Company rosters shall be maintained. B. Department Seniority - Captains 1. An employee's seniority for Acting Battalion Chief shall be established by the date of his/her acting-out-of-title approval. 2. Employees transferring to another Unit in another Battalion will be placed on the Battalion seniority roster where his/her acting seniority places them. 3. An employee cannot "bump" current first Acting Battalion Chiefs. 4. An employee transferring will be considered for the next available first Acting Battalion Chief position if seniority warrants. If an employee is transferring into a unit where the previous Captain was one of the four (first-acting) senior Captains, and the employee transferring in has more seniority than the next junior Captain, the employee transferring in will assume the first acting position (This is not considered a "bump"). 5. The employee may elect not to invoke his seniority for a first Acting Battalion Chief position each time an opening occurs. 6. If an employee is "disbanded" and is currently in a first Acting Battalion Chief position and the disbanded employee has more seniority, the employee may "bump" a junior Acting Battalion Chief. C. Employees called back to duty shall be so called on the basis of company seniority within the appropriate rank, whenever feasible. The officer in charge of field operations shall have full authority and discretion to select companies for emergency call back. D. 1. The Employer shall notify the Union of the need to reduce the number of employees who are on payroll within the bargaining unit at least 30 days before the effective date of a layoff. Such notice shall be given in writing addressed to the Union by certified mail. The notice shall disclose the number of positions affected, the rank or classification of each position so affected, and the unit or units, if any, which are to be disbanded. Immediately after issuing the notice, the Employer shall give the Union a reasonable period of time, of no less than 15 days, within which it shall meet and confer with the Union to discuss such an action. The Employer shall respond to any proposals, which the Union may make in response to the subject matter of the notice. 2. Each employee who is to be reduced in rank or laid off as a consequence of a reduction in force or the disbandment of any unit shall be given written notice, at least 21 days before such action is to occur, of the date, purpose and nature of the action that is to be taken with regard to him or her. The notice also shall reasonably state the reasons for the action, and any rights, which the employee may have under the Administrative Manual and Civil Service Commission Rules or this Memorandum with regard to his or her employment. A copy of the notice also shall be timely delivered to the Union. 3. All reductions in force shall be established by seniority in the Department. Departmental seniority shall be established from the date that the employee was hired into the Fire Department. Seniority in rank or classification shall be established from the date that the employee was promoted into the rank or classification, which he or she currently occupies. In the event of a tie in seniority, the tie shall be broken on the basis of the Fire Academy final standing or score upon graduation from the Fire Academy. There shall be no preference granted for subjective evaluation of performance, skill or ability when determining who to reduce from rank to rank, or who to lay off. 4. For the purpose of determining either seniority in rank or departmental seniority, the following additional rules also shall apply for layoffs and reductions in rank within the Fire Department. First, should an employee who formerly was employed by the Fire Department return to the service of the Department after a break in service due to an injury or illness causing disability, all time which intervened shall be counted in the employee's favor as if the employee lost no time away from work. Second, should an employee return to the Department after having resigned from City service or voluntarily transferred from Fire Department service for more than 6 months, his or her seniority shall begin anew; if less than 6 months, then the employee shall regain previous service time. 5. In the event a reduction in force is necessary, the reduction shall proceed in the following order: (a) Employees shall be laid off in reverse order of departmental seniority; the most junior employees within the Department shall be laid off first, without regard to rank or classification. (b) In the event that a reduction in force results in the need for a redistribution of employees from superior ranks to lesser ranks, such reductions in rank shall be accomplished by reducing in rank those employees with the least tenure in the affected rank, counting from the employee's date of promotion. (c) An employee who is laid off shall be paid for all accrued but unused leave time, including vacation holiday and retirement leave (Employee must be eligible for Service Retirement), based on the employee's total annual salary as of the date of separation. (d) All employees who are reduced in rank or laid off shall not suffer any loss in benefit or entitlement accrued prior to the date of the action, e.g., holidays, vacation, personal leave, pension, and overtime, earned, accumulated and unused at the time of reduction in rank or layoff. (e) Department Seniority – Lieutenants 1. For the purpose of this article the three (3) Lieutenant positions in each suppression company will be listed as follows, Senior Lieutenant, Lieutenant and Junior Lieutenant. 2. A member's seniority will be established on the date his/her promotion to the position of Fire Lieutenant Suppression. Members voluntarily transferring out of suppression will lose their seniority. Member's new seniority will be established on the date he/she returns to suppression. 3. The Lieutenant with the most seniority in a company would be in the Senior Lieutenant position and the Lieutenant with the least seniority would be in the Junior Lieutenant position. 4. A Lieutenant transferring into a company will assume the vacant position if his/her seniority allows. If a member is placed into a position where his/her seniority is not in effect he/she will be considered for the next available senior position. In the event of any identical promotion date(s), the members standing on applicable promotional list shall prevail. 5. A member may elect not to invoke his/her seniority for a Senior or Lieutenant position each time an opening occurs. 6. If a member is "disbanded" and is currently in a senior or Lieutenant Position or if disbanded member has more seniority, the member may "bump" a Lieutenant or Senior Lieutenant in his/her new assignment. 6. Any employee who is reduced in rank and involuntarily transferred into a new unit shall be entitled to acting out-of-title compensation based on the employee's acting certification. Any employee who at first received acting certification in rank and then was promoted, upon return to that rank or classification after demotion, shall retain his or her original acting certification and approval date, and shall enjoy the right to exercise the same. 7. If the current salary is the same as or greater than the maximum of the lower grade, the employee shall receive the maximum salary for the lower grade. If the current salary is less than the maximum of the lower grade, the employee shall receive the closest salary rate of the lower grade. 8. The Department of Human Resources shall prepare and maintain a list, known as a "Reemployment List," of all persons who are reduced in rank or laid off, by rank or classification. In the event that vacancies occur within the Department while persons remain on the Reemployment List, the order of recall shall be determined by reference to the Reemployment List. The Reemployment List(s) shall remain in effect for 24 months after the date of a layoff (unless extended by the Department of Human Resources) and shall be used to offer employment opportunities that may become available by seniority to all persons who have been reduced or laid off, before any employees are promoted from one rank to another or any persons are hired or transferred (from other City agencies) to become new employees of the Fire Department. No person may be hired, nor may any person be transferred from another City agency, while any person in that rank or classification remains in a reduced rank or on the Reemployment List. Any persons who are returned to their former positions shall be placed in the pay grade of their former rank, restored to the level of total annual compensation that they would currently receive had they not been reduced in rank or placed on the Reemployment List. The employee shall receive no credit for longevity while on layoff. 9. Notice of recall to the employee's former position shall be given to the employee in writing at his or her last known post office address, it being the employee's obligation to notify the Personnel Administrator, or other designated agent of the Fire Department, of any change in address while laid off or reduced in rank. The notice shall be by certified mail, return receipt requested. The employee shall be given 20 days to accept an offer of reinstatement, in which case written acceptance shall be sufficient if filed in any form with the Personnel Administrator. 10. Any employee who is reduced in rank, pursuant to this Article, and is on a promotional list when demoted shall remain on the list and remain eligible for promotion until the list expires, subject however to the recall or reinstatement rights of any laid off or demoted employee under the terms of this Article. 11. The provisions of this Article shall govern to determine the rights of any employee who is demoted or laid off on or after July 1, 1992.
* Note: Subsection "E" (directly above) was NOT continued into the FY'10 MOU just recently settled through Binding Arbitration and no longer applies. It is included herein only for informational purposes and because the "cut & paste" above is from the FY'09 MOU. Saturday, August 29, 2009 Furloughs or Layoffs? - Contractual provision. In our meeting with Deputy Mayor Thomaskutty yesterday, we asked whether or not he believed the City had the authority to impose furloughs unilaterally and his response was "yes" indicating the the City Solicitor, Mr. George Nilson, had so determined already. We did not enter into a debate over the issue, but we believed, intuitively, that there was a provision in our MOU's that would address the matter and indeed there is. I suppose there's always room for the parsing of words and Lord knows lawyers everywhere revel in debating (remember the Presidential query over the definition of "is"?) so nothing is ever as clear as it would appear to be but when it comes to lawyers, we have one of the best. The MOU provision below is the bi-product of our last venture into unilateral changes of previously negotiated issues and the genius of our counsel, Mr. Joel A. Smith, Esq. Only one thing for the City to consider at this point; will you honor the mutually agreed to terms of our MOU or not? Only one thing for the Unions to consider; what's the point of having an MOU if you're not going to demand it's enforcement? Article 36: TERMINATION, CHANGE OR AMENDMENT B. If a substantial and material change occurs in the fiscal status of the City of Baltimore's General Fund subsequent to the formation of the current Interest Arbitration Award or Memorandum of Understanding, then in such event the Mayor may require the reopening of the Interest Arbitration Award or Memorandum of Understanding, as to wages only, upon 20-days written notice to the other party. The Mayor's notice shall be noted in the minutes of the Board of Estimates. Should the parties fail to reach an agreement regarding a change in wages by negotiation, within 20 days following the commencement of negotiation, the parties shall submit the wage adjustment issue to binding interest arbitration, consistent with the procedures set forth in Baltimore City Charter (1996), Article II, Section 55(b). The neutral member of the Board of Arbitration shall be a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators. The issue submitted to the Board of Arbitration will be whether the Arbitration Award or Memorandum of Understanding must be modified in light of substantial and material changed fiscal circumstances in the City of Baltimore's General Fund which could not reasonably have been expected at the time of the interest arbitration or prior negotiation. The Board of Arbitration shall have the authority to modify the wage component of the Award or Memorandum of Understanding based upon the final and last positions taken by the parties. Any such modification shall only be prospective. The decision of the Board of Arbitration shall be rendered within 30 days of the commencement of the hearing. Friday August 28, 2009 Furloughs or Layoffs? All of the City Unions met with Mayor Dixon and several members of her cabinet yesterday (8/27) for what was thought to be an explanation of exactly what the latest cuts in State aid, combined with projected revenue shortfalls would mean. The focus of that meeting, however, was a rather general macro-view of the fiscal difficulties with very little in terms of specifics. It was agreed, however, that there would be follow-up meetings with individual Unions to address specifics and the Fire Locals were the first to have such a follow-up meeting just this afternoon. Deputy Mayor Thomaskutty, whose responsibilities include Public Safety, met with us at our Fire Department Headquarters this afternoon and offered some detail though certainly not enough for us to move ahead with any decision making process that will surely include our entire memberships. I will list, below, the specifics of the proposed plan for OUR Department but, again, there remain unanswered questions that we trust will be addressed at another meeting on Monday 8/31. The Fire Department’s share of the projected budget shortfall is $2.9M which must be covered within the current Fiscal Year. It is expected, by the way, that whatever plan that is to be implemented will be in place by October 1, 2009 which is three full months after the start of the fiscal year. Any delay would presumably compress the time-frame and increase the fiscal impact though there were no specifics offered. In order to meet the $2.9M budget reduction target, it has been proposed that those members earning less than $50K per year (base pay) will be subject to a five day furlough and those earning more than $50K per year will be subject to a furlough of eight days. Inasmuch as every member of Local 964 is in the latter category, the furlough we would be subject to is equal to approximately three percent of total annual salary (base pay). Just how any furlough plan would be implemented in an agency with a somewhat unique work schedule is not yet clear and, quite frankly, I’m more than a little disappointed that more thought has apparently not been given to the issue. The general concept of a “furlough” is a day off without pay but in public safety in general and the Fire service in particular, “furlough” presents a challenge operationally. We trust that we’ll have a very specific plan of implementation before we meet with our members to consider just how to proceed and we will not conduct any such meetings without some clarity. As we understand it, the choice that our members will have to make is whether to accept the furlough concept OR reject the furlough concept in which case layoffs and job abolishment will be the preferred course of action. In that regard, we still do not know whether or not the vote of our members will actually prevail, meaning that we’re not absolutely certain that if Local 964 rejects furloughs, furloughs will not simply be imposed unilaterally by the City. To summarize where we are at this writing; the apparent choice we have is to accept a furlough of eight days OR reject that and subject our newest members to layoff. The two issues not yet clear are exactly how furloughs will be imposed operationally and whether or not the vote of our members can or will be ignored by the City Administration. Obviously, there’s MUCH more to it all than that, but any more than a single page is typically not read. We will do our best to keep our members advised and informed and hope that they will ALL be engaged in the discussion and decision when the time comes.
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