Firefighters agree to postpone pay raise

Acting Mayor Matt Claman and Capt. Tom Wescott, president of the firefighters' union, announced the potential give-back a couple of weeks ago. Tuesday, Wescott said union members have voted to approve the concession.

"It didn't sail through," Wescott said. "Anytime you try to reduce somebody's paycheck, there's obviously going to be some opposition to that. ...

"But in the end, a majority thought this was the right thing to do to help the city out."

The Anchorage Assembly still must approve the new agreement.

Such wage concessions are unusual but not unprecedented for city employees. In 2003 and 2004, firefighters and members of several other bargaining groups agreed to wage freezes to help then-Mayor Mark Begich close a $33 million deficit. In return the employees got wage increases in future years.

This time, firefighters are agreeing to forgo a 3 percent pay raise for 2009 that was part of a five-year contract approved by union members and the Anchorage Assembly in December. At that meeting, Wescott told the Assembly his members would be willing to consider concessions if city finances soured.

On Tuesday, he said he hadn't expected that to happen so soon.

"Absolutely not," he said. "I certainly did not anticipate it this early and I think it was a shock to everyone."

Two weeks after the 2009 contract took effect, Claman said poor returns on city investments left the city facing a $17 million budget deficit this year. He opened conversations with firefighters and leaders of other city bargaining groups, hoping to achieve wage concessions.

The firefighters are the first union to agree to do so.

Wescott said the new deal, if approved by the Assembly, means firefighters will be paid according to their 2008 wage scale. Wescott and the mayor's office said the concession will save the city about $1 million this year, and the union says the savings over the life of the contract could be $4 million to $5 million.

The city has an option to recoup some additional savings in 2010, Wescott said. Starting in 2011, firefighters would get one-third of this year's 3 percent concession added to scheduled raises that year, and another one-third added the following year.

The original contract also would be extended a year, but Wescott said there are no numbers tied to that. Whatever happens in that last year would have to be negotiated then, he said.

Wescott said he hopes the savings will encourage Claman and other city officials to reconsider a budget cut the acting mayor announced in February -- a decision not to hire 12 additional firefighters this year.

Those positions were intended to create a manpower cushion in periods where an unusual number of firefighters are sick or off duty. Without them, Claman and Fire Chief Craig Goodrich said there may be times when some fire engines are shut down, or a new fire station in Southwest Anchorage might close temporarily.

That happened for the first time only a week after the cut was announced.

Mayor's office spokeswoman Jenny Evans said there are no plans to reconsider that cut this year.