Township and firefighters agree on new contract
Agreement gives raises, increases insurance co-pays
BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer
Contract negotiations between the Edison Fire Fighters Association (EFFA) and the township have concluded in a manner that both sides have hailed as fair and equitable.

The new contract, which should last until the end of 2009, guarantees pay increases of between 3.75 and 3.95 percent for Edison firefighters and greatly increases the amount they will pay for health insurance.

The terms were hammered out not through direct negotiations between the township and the union but through a neutral third-party arbiter from the New Jersey Public Employee Relations Commission, a state agency.

Robert Yackel, president of the EFFA, said he feels that arbitration was the fair way to go about the matter.

"I think it was a very fair and equitable arbitration award. I think the public was served well by it and the membership was served as well. It's fair," said Yackel.

He went on to say that neither the township nor the union got everything they wanted, and that concessions needed to be made on both sides, but that this was to be expected. He said that some of the things the mayor had wanted, such as cutting money for emergency medical technicians and scaling back overtime pay, were denied as well.

Yackel said the major difference in favor of the firefighters was the adjustments to the pay-raise scale. Under the new agreement, employees hired as far back as 2005 will have their pay retroactively increased. Workers hired between 2005 and 2006 will receive 3.95 percent raises. Workers hired in 2007 will receive 3.85 percent raises. Workers hired in 2008 will receive 3.8 percent raises, and workers hired in 2009 will receive 3.75 percent raises.

The raises will apply to those already employed by the fire department as well as disabled or retired workers collecting pensions.

Also, new hires will be paid an additional $1,500 in order to entice new firefighters to fill the ranks to replace ones who have retired.

"[Edison Mayor Jun Choi] wanted the raises to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.2 [percent] and we wanted 4 [percent], and we got 3.8 on average," said Yackel.

The mayor reacted very favorably to the changes in the pay scale as well, saying that in the past, fire contracts would typically yield raises of 7 or 8 percent, and that the current set of raises stands as an example of a changing tide. He said it "breaks a pattern" and "emphasizes fiscal responsibility," as well as helps him keep his goals of improving the township's infrastructure and lowering property taxes.

Meanwhile, the union made major concessions on sick days and health insurance costs, moves that were viewed as a victory by Choi and the administration, with the mayor stating that they set a precedent for future fiscal responsibility for Edison's public workers.

"It's fairly historic, because it sets a new direction for fiscal responsibility. … You can expect this can have broad ramifications across the board," said Choi.

In particular, the mayor was eager to draw attention to the fact that under the old contract, prescription drug co-pays were zero for generic medication and went up to $3 for brand names. Under the new agreement, the co-pay is now $7.50 for generic medication and $15 for brand names. The bimonthly contribution toward the major medical and hospitalization plan, meanwhile, will also rise, from $29 in 2008 to $35 in 2009 for the non- PPO or POS plan. The deductible also went from $100 to $300 a year for a single person and from $200 to $600 a year for a family.

Yackel said he had anticipated concessions on health care, given the rising costs throughout the country for both the public and private sectors.

"We knew that this was coming," said Yackel.

Firefighters will also no longer be able to cash in as many sick days as they used to. Like many other public employees, firefighters are able to bank unused sick days over the years and then cash them out upon retirement, which Choi said can sometimes lead to tens of thousands of dollars.While Choi said that the township would have preferred a cap on sick days, the new agreement, where firefighters can only cash in half of their banked sick days, is still a positive.

Choi said that the administration needed to "expend an enormous amount of energy and political capital" but that in the end, "hard work, perseverance and aggressive negotiating" resulted in the concessions he was looking for.

He wanted to stress that the firefighters themselves work very hard and said the township has done much to improve safety in Edison, such as making capital improvement purchases, a new public safety center, and improving coordination among emergency responders.

"We respect the hardworking firefighters who work to protect Edison. … But there's got to be basic fairness," said Choi, who noted that Edison firefighters are some of the best paid in the state, with many making about $80,000 a year.