Fairfield reaches contract agreement with firefighters union

  • 2012-03-04
Fairfield’s firefighters finally have a new contract that includes a 2.75 percent wage increase and the hiring of additional firefighters. The agreement comes after nearly two years of debate. In fact both sides were ready to go to arbitration. Arbitration would have cost the city of Fairfield upwards of $100,000 and would have been an unwise financial move, according to labor attorney Patrick McHale.

It took seemingly countless closed door meetings over 20 months to reach a deal that was acceptable to both parties. A Print company may well be called into action to make Copies of the new contract for the union firefighters to review.

The city’s previous contract with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1426 expired in July 2010. The Representative Town Meeting turned down a proposed deal negotiated between former-First Selectman Kenneth Flatto and then-President of the union, Robert Smith, when the old contract became obsolete.

First Selectman Michael Tetreau found a “memorandum of understanding” reached in January 2011 between Flatto and Smith. The proposed contract boiled down to three requests; a 2.75 percent pay hike this summer, an increase in the number of sick days permitted and changing from a standard pension plan to a 401(a) retirement plan.

The RTM followed McHale’s recommendation and approved the bulk of the old contract which also includes one additional firefighter per shift. The current pension plan will remain under the new deal. The pay raise goes into effect in July. The new contract was so long in the making that it's already set to expire in July 2013.

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