GARDEN GROVE : City Imposes Pact on Firefighters

After more than four months of negotiations with the city’s firefighter union, the Garden Grove City Council has voted to declare an impasse in talks and impose a contract covering the Fire Department.

The vote was 4 to 1 Monday night in favor of the city proposal, which calls for a one-year contract with a 4% wage increase and a $58 monthly increase in the city’s contribution to medical benefits. Councilman Frank Kessler voted against the pact.

Contract negotiations began in late December and have been stalled since early April. A contract similar to the one enacted by the council Monday was rejected by the union membership 82 to 0. The union’s most recent counteroffer was a 7% pay raise.

Under state law, public safety employees cannot strike. If an impasse in negotiations is declared, a city council may impose a contract, regardless of the union’s objections.

In one concession to the firefighters, who are members of Garden Grove Firefighters Local 2005, the council agreed to make the wage and fringe benefit increases effective as of March 17. Generally, the city has opposed any retroactive pay or benefits.

The action came after more than three hours of discussion among firefighters, their supporters and the council. The council chamber was filled with men and women bearing picket signs that supported higher wages for the firefighters.

“Be responsive to your employees. Use your authority to request a state mediator to come here and help in negotiations,” urged Richard A. Levine, an attorney representing the firefighters’ union. A dozen citizens spoke to the council on behalf of firefighters, many of whom credited paramedics with saving their lives.

“I have a responsibility to the people in this town to see that the city doesn’t go broke,” said Mayor W. E. (Walt) Donovan. “I can’t in good conscience give it all to the Fire Department because they’ll save me if I have a heart attack.”

Kessler opposed the contract on the grounds that he felt that firefighters should be paid on the same basis as the Police Department, which uses a formula comparing salaries of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Huntington Beach.

“We cannot offer quantity. We’ve always attacked the problem with quality. And you cannot recruit and keep quality people unless you pay a competitive wage,” he said.

To call attention to the stalled contract talks, firefighters have picketed city buildings and busy intersections. The possibility of making public safety salaries an election-year issue was raised.

“We’ll see you in November,” several cried out after the council vote.