CITY OF DEKALB, ILLINOIS: A proposed four-year collective bargaining agreement between the City of DeKalb and IAFF Local 1236

By Press release submission

Dec 25, 2020

City Of Dekalb, Illinois issued the following announcement on Dec. 24.

A proposed four-year collective bargaining agreement between the City of DeKalb and IAFF Local 1236 will bring firefighter staffing in line with dramatically rising ambulance calls and today’s fireground standards. The agreement would extend four years from Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2024 to gradually enhance minimum shift strength as the City recovers from COVID economic impacts.

The number of EMS calls handled by DeKalb firefighter/paramedics has been increasing 10% per year apart from COVID-related calls, which represented less than 20% of the overall calls in 2020.

To maintain adequate minimum shift staffing in the context of regular, simultaneous ambulance calls, firefighters have to be called back to fill stations and provide necessary personnel for the next ambulance call or fire call. Such overtime increases have particularly accelerated as local residents rely increasingly on the City’s paramedics and the hospital emergency room to provide for basic health care needs. Further aggravating the overtime costs are the personnel cuts needed to balance the city’s 2019 and 2020 budgets.

“The proposed contract offers a gradual, long-term path to remedy the staffing shortage,” said City Manager Bill Nicklas. “It will result in a dramatic reduction in annual overtime.”

Under the proposed contract, projected overtime would fall from almost $1.3 million this year to as low as $500,000 in 2024 as staffing increases from the current 48 members (excluding the chief and deputy chief) to 60 by the final year of the contract. This would effectively establish a minimum shift of 16 members in FY2024 (it is currently 13) regardless of time off for vacations, illnesses, etc. That threshold just ensures the minimum fireground staffing established by the National Fire Protection Association and OSHA.

Local 1236 has agreed to no pay increase in 2021 to help pay for the additional staffing. The city will also work collaboratively with Local 1236 and other City unions to reduce health insurance premium costs.

“The proposed fire contract offers a bold design built on a unique labor-management collaboration over multiple years,” said Nicklas.

The proposed contract is just one way the Local 1236 has helped the city wrestle with the financial impact of COVID-19.

Local 1236 and the city’s fire administration expedited the filing of patient care reports and ambulance billing, resulting in the return of more than $1 million in the summer of 2020. Also, Local 1236 has uncovered a revenue source to cover the gap between the city’s billable time for ambulance service under Medicaid regulations and the actual cost to transport patients. The funding from the state’s Ground Emergency Medical Transport program is expected to generate up to $400,000 in new annual revenues beginning in 2021.

The collective bargaining agreement will be considered at the City Council’s Regular Meeting at 6 pm on Monday at the DeKalb Public Library. The full agenda can be found at https://tinyurl.com/ybzwe526. The Committee of the Whole meeting has been cancelled.

Original source can be found here.