And
City
of
Interest
Arbitration
Arbitrator: Phillip Kienast
Date
Issued:
Arbitrator: Kienast; Philip
Case #: 04318-I-82-00095
Employer:
City of
Date Issued:
IN
THE MATTER OF ARBITRATION
CITY OF
)
) of
-and- ) Philip Kienast
)
)
ASSOCIATION, LOCAL 1762 IAFF )
________________________________ )
APPEARANCES
For the
Craig Hagstrom
and Alan Provost, Local 1762 Officers
For the Employer
Richard N. Burt of Donworth, Taylor & Company
OPINION
This proceeding is pursuant to RCW 41.56. A hearing in this matter
was
held on
the
Arbitrator of post hearing argument on
in
dispute are:
Wages
Acting Lieutenant pay
Medical and dental premiums
Overtime
Sick leave accrual
The Arbitrator has considered the factors as set out in
RCW 41.56
in
arriving at a decision on each of these issues.
Duration
The City requests a two year agreement with a 5% salary
increase
in
the second year unless the CPI-W does not increase by that amount
whereupon
wage negotiations would be reopened. The
had
no objection to a two year contract if an equitable salary adjustment
was
provided and a CPI formula be added if
the CPT exceeds 5%. Accord-
ingly, the Arbitrator will set the contract at
two years and provide
for a
5% increase provided that the CPT-W for
6% nor be under 4%. If it does exceed the 6% figure or not
increase by
at
least 4% wages for 1984 will be opened for negotiations.
Wages for 1983
In examining the comparative cities put forth by each
side, the
Arbitrator found three that
were identical:
Interestingly these three are
the three closest in population to Mercer
Island of those offered for
comparison. Accordingly, the Arbitrator
has
placed
primary emphasis on these three cities in his deliberations on
the
issues before him. However he has also
taken into account the
compensation
patterns and practices in the other cities submitted by
the
parties for comparative purposes. Table
1 discloses wages and other
data
relevant to the issues in dispute here.
Examination of Table 1 reveals that
to
the three primary comparison cities, especially in base hourly wage
rate. For 1983 the
increase.
tration.
the
known settlement pattern is 7.5%.
Because of the indeterminancy of
cities
in the Seattle-Bellevue metropolitan area that surrounds Mercer
Island:
The adjustments in these three
cities average just under 5%.
The Arbitrator concludes that the City's offer of 6%
falls in the
mid
range between the two most comparable cities increase and the
immediate
labor market rate. He does not find any
compelling reason in
the
evidence of this proceeding to award a greater increase. Accordingly,
the
Arbitrator will award a 6% base salary increase effective retro-
actively
to
The
reflect
the added responsibility exercised by lieutenants in Mercer
Island. The union argued that in the average
comparable department
|
|
Monthly Salary |
Weekly Hours |
Hourly Wage Rate |
Monthly Lieutenants Pay (Top) |
Sick Medical & Dental a |
Leave b I ------ II |
|
Mercer Is. |
$2,127 |
48.0 |
$10.23 |
$2,390 |
100% Med cap $140 |
8 8 |
|
|
$2,056 |
48.0 |
$9.89 |
$2,209 |
100% |
0 12 |
|
|
$2,254 |
50.6 |
$10.28 |
$2,548 |
100% |
10 12 |
|
|
$2,125 |
54.0 |
$9.07 |
$2,313 |
100% $75 cap/dep. |
8 24 c |
|
Average |
$2,145 |
51.2 |
$9.75 |
$2,369 |
|
|
a Employee and all dependents.
b Hours per month for LEOFF I and II.
c To 12 after 42 months.
that
captains handle many of the duties handled by lieutenants in Mercer
Island
which has no captains. The
Arbitrator finds their arguments per-
suasive and accordingly will award a differential
adjustment in their
salary
comparable to lieutenants in Kirkland where lieutenants are in
command
of all three of its stations one third of the time.
In 1982 Kirkland lieutenants received 15% more than fire
fighters;
in
Mercer Island the comparable figure was only 12%. Accordingly, the
Arbitrator will award an
additional 3% salary increase for lieutenants.
Acting Lieutenant Pay
Currently the City pays acting lieutenants at the
probationary rate
even
after they have worked an equivalent amount of time to the 3 months
required
before a new lieutenant can move to the "thereafter" rate. In
the
Arbitrator's view the parties have already agreed that a lieutenant
with 3
months experience is worth more than one who is just starting.
lie
finds no equitable reason why a lieutenant who works the equivalent
of
those 3 months in an "acting capacity" should not also receive the
thereafter
rate. Accordingly he will award language
that provides that
an
acting lieutenant will be paid at the thereafter rate if he has
worked
more than 24 shifts as an acting lieutenant.
Medical and Dental
Currently the City pays medical premiums for a fire
fighter and
his
dependents up to a maximum of $140. The
Union argues that the
pattern
in the Puget Sound area is for no cap.
In the three prime
comparison
cities two have no cap, one does.
The lack of price and coverage data in the comparison
cities makes
it
difficult to assess what 100% payment is costing these cities, or
alternately benefitting their fire fighters. However, the Arbitrator
through
involvement in other proceedings like this one is aware that
Bellevue's cap is currently
$130 for fire fighter medical and in Seattle
where
the City pays 100% the maximum cost to the City was $165. In
light
of this data it is clear to the Arbitrator that the $140 cap
requested
by the City is not unreasonable and will order its maintenance
in
1983. Since this is a two year contract,
however, he will provide
for
the cap to rise to $150 for 1984.
Sick Leave
Currently both LEOFF I and II fire fighters earn 8 hours
sick leave
for
every month worked. The Union requested
that LEOFF II fire fighters
earn
24 hours. In the three prime comparison
cities they have varying
plans. In Lynnwood LEOFF I personnel receive no sick
leave and II's
receive
12 per month; in Kent LEOFF I personnel receive 10 and II's
12 per month; in Kent LEOFF I
receive 8 and II's receive 24 for their
first
42 months of employment and 12 hours thereafter.
The pattern revealed above is for LEOFF II to get more
sick leave
than
LEOFF I. Equity also suggests a
differential system is reasonable.
Accordingly, the Arbitrator
will provide that LEOFF fire fighters will
accrue
sick leave at the rate of 16 hours per month for their first 30
months
of employment with retroactive coverage for already employed
LEOFF
II fire fighters to their date of employment. After 30 months
the
rate will be 8 hours per month.
Overtime
Currently premium pay for overtime is calculated on the
basis of
an
annual work year of 2,496 hours. The
Union requested that it be
figured
on a standard work year of 2,080 hours
The practice in the
three
primary comparative cities is not uniform.
Kent and Kirkland
currently
compute on the basis of 2,808 and 2,632 respectively. Only
Lynnwood uses 2,080
hours. The Union did not provide data on
this point
for
its other comparable cities. However,
among all the cities used
by
the City only Lynnwood uses the 2,080 approach. Accordingly, the
Arbitrator finds the clear
pattern in the fire service to be overtime
compensation
based on normally scheduled hours. In
contrast to arbi-
trator Gillingham's
opinion cited by the Union, this Arbitrator places
more
emphasis on comparisons with other fire fighters than with Mercer
Island's
police.
AWARD
Duration: 2 years January 1, 1983 to December 31,
1984.
Salary: Retroactive to January 1, 1983, a 6%
across the board
increase for fire
fighters and a 9% increase for lieutenants.
Effective January 1, 1984 a 5% increase,
provided that
if the CPI-W for
Seattle-Everett area increases less than
4% or more than 6% then salary rates for 1984
will be
opened for
negotiations.
Medical: For 1983 no change in medical. On January 1, 1984 the
lid on medical will
be raised to $150.
Dental: No change from current provision.
Acting Add new section to Appendix A reading:
Lieutenant
"Fire fighter's who have
worked as acting lieutenant
for more
than 24 full shifts shall be paid at the
thereafter
rate of lieutenants pay. II
This provision shall become
effective March 1, 1983.
Sick Leave: Add new section to Agreement reading:
"LEOFF II employees shall
earn sick leave at the
rate
of 16 hours per month for their first 30
months of
employment. After that time the rate
shall
be 8 hours per month."
Overtime
Pay: No change in current practice.
All other issues previously
agreed to by the parties prior to arbitration
shall
be included in the 1983-84 Agreement.
Other requests for change
not
specifically discussed above are denied.
Philip Kienast
February 8, 1983
Seattle, Washington