Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Union bargaining unit vote for LL firefighters expected Oct. 2

Duane Barbati News-Bulletin Staff Writer; dbarbati@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas The Village of Los Lunas fire fighters and emergency medical technicians will hold an official election to determine their union bargaining unit on Oct. 2.

An election date was determined after the Village of Los Lunas Labor Management Relations Board heard arguments in a public hearing on Friday.

The hearing was held to determine whether to allow incident commanders, captains and lieutenants to vote in the village's fire department's International Association of Fire Fighters union election.

The election is being held to determine whether the IAFF will be the official bargaining body for the village's fire fighters, EMT's and incident commanders.

The board determined that incident commanders are allowed into the union under the village's management ordinance, but captains and lieutenants are not allowed to join the unit. The labor relations board came to its decision after hearing arguments brought by the IAFF and the Village of Los Lunas.

The village's collective bargaining ordinance states that supervisors and management personnel are excluded from joining a bargaining unit of a union with workers they have to supervise.

"It (the ordinance) comes from the private sector to keep people who are truly supervisors from being in the bargaining unit," IAFF representative Emily Kane said. "It's to keep workers from having to deal with their own supervisors within the bargaining unit with any conflicts of interest."

Kane said she believes that, within fire departments, the ultimate authority and supervisor is the fire chief.

"The union is strong already," she said. "There are about 14 members in the union now. They're going to now effectively limit the size of the bargaining unit to eight. They're hoping to discourage their people in participating in the IAFF."

Kane said she strongly believes the firefighters in the union will hold strong.

"It doesn't mean the people in the union are going to quit," she said. "They're totally invested to continue and work as a team."

Los Lunas Fire Department Lt. Tommy Madrid, who testified before the labor board on Friday, said the village is reluctant to allow the fire department to unionize because it's unfamiliar with the IAFF.

"I think the village is unfamiliar with bargaining because we're one of the first to present this with them," Madrid said. "I strongly believe both the village and firefighters will benefit in the long run. If having bargaining units wouldn't work, why do all the big fire departments across the U.S. have them?"

He said he knows the fire department has some staffing issues that could be resolved for firefighters through the union.

"I want to be part of the bargaining unit so our fire department employees have a stronger voice," Madrid said. "It could help with our staffing and personnel issues. I think it could get resolved with the help of a union."

He said he knows it's about staffing and safety for the firefighters and not about money for captains and lieutenants to be represented by the union.

"Right now, sometimes we get caught out in the field with just one person on a rescue or fire calls because the other two people are tied up on calls," Madrid said. "It's hard to keep up with the village's growth and number of increased call volume."

He said he works with his fellow firefighters a schedule of 12 hours per shift with three people on a shift.

"We want to condense it to a 24/48 (hour) shift," Madrid said. "It would dissolve one of our shifts. Instead of having four shifts, we would have three shifts with a standard of having a minimum of four people on a shift."

He said he believes it will better serve the department and citizens of Los Lunas.

"In the event of a fire, we will be able to put the minimum of four staffing on an engine," Madrid said. "We will have the proper personnel to initiate a structure fire."

Dina E. Holcomb, who represented the village in the hearing, said under the ordinance it's not the municipality's choice not to allow captains and lieutenants to join the union.

"The law specifically excludes supervisors, managers, confidential employees and probationary employees from being in any bargaining unit," Holcomb said. "The village really doesn't have a choice. It's the ordinance and law that states it. Our position is that our captains and lieutenants are supervisors. Under the law, they're excluded."

She said she believes the union representative was arguing that some of the captains and lieutenants do some of the firefighter duties but are supervisors.

"We heard in testimony and documents that 95 percent of the time, they were supervising," Holcomb said. "Captains and lieutenants can be a member of the IAFF. Anybody can be a member, according to the union's rules and constitution. It's different than if they're in the bargaining unit."

The village will have to post three separate notices for 10 days prior to the bargaining unit election being held on Oct. 2. The notices are to give notice to other unions that might want to represent the firefighters.

"What happens when they go away and we start talking to the village — usually, over time, the village will see it our way and the bargaining unit gets bigger and bigger. We know we will have to bear with it for now," Kane said.

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