HUNTINGTON BEACH : Contract Talks With Firefighters Collapse

For the second time in a frequently stormy 19-month contract dispute, negotiations with city firefighters collapsed this week, leading city officials to announce their intentions to declare an impasse.

A final meeting to attempt to clear up all differences is scheduled for June 4. If negotiators are unsuccessful, the dispute over the future of paramedic vans and staffing levels on fire engines will be handed over to a state-appointed arbitrator.

Capt. Curt Campbell, president of the 145-member Huntington Beach Firefighters Assn., said he and his union members believe that the city is trying to eliminate paramedic vans and may be attempting to reduce manning levels on fire engines from three firefighters to two.

“They’ve misled us,” Campbell said Thursday. “They have raised taxes and charge for medical aid, and they are still planning on reducing service. We think residents would be interested in hearing about this.”

City Administrator Michael T. Uberuaga said Thursday that “there is no intention whatsoever” to eliminate paramedic vans. He acknowledged, though, that the city is balking at requests by firefighters to “lock in” fire personnel staffing levels in contract language.

Uberuaga said officials couldn’t agree to that because city officials “would never have the flexibility to reduce personnel when times are bad.”

Campbell countered that manpower reductions would increase response times and reduce service to residents.

The city and the firefighters previously went to arbitration over pay issues that were settled earlier this year.

The settlement called for an 8.5% pay increase for captains and paramedics and a 9.5% pay increase for firefighters retroactive to Oct. 1, 1990, and an across-the-board 5% increase for all firefighters retroactive to Oct. 1, 1991, Campbell said. This year, captains and paramedics will get a 6% increase and firefighters a 7% boost on Oct. 1.

Firefighters currently earn roughly $31,000 to $41,000 a year. The pay increases won’t take effect until firefighters sign a memorandum of understanding, officials said.