Politics & Government

City Seeks Ruling Requiring Union Firefighters to Pay Pension

The city filed a petition asking the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission to rule that firefighters hired after July 1 must contribute to their pensions even before their union contracts expire.

The City of Brookfield has asked for a ruling on whether newly hired firefighters must contribute to their pensions before collective bargaining agreements expire.

Police and firefighters were exempted from the sweeping changes under the Act 10 budget repair bill, including contributing to their pensions. But the state's biennial budget extended the Act 10 rules on police and firefighters hired after July 1.

The city hired two firefighters after July 1 and has not paid the employees' portion of their pension contributions, prompting the Brookfield Professional Firefighter Association to file a grievance Sept. 9.

Find out what's happening in Brookfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Unable to come to an agreement with the union, the city filed a petition Thursday, asking the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission to rule on the pension question.

Brookfield caught the attention of local governments last month when the city's labor attorneys argued that having a union contract in place before Act 10 became law .

Find out what's happening in Brookfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

That is, the city argued, if those union contracts have what is commonly called a severance or savings clause. Brookfield, which has savings clauses in its union contracts, argues the clause essentially requires the city to abide by changes in state and federal law during the term of that union contract.

"I think this has the potential to become a big issue," Jim Zwerlein, Brookfield's human resources director, said last month. "The belief has been as long as we have a contract we don't have to worry about anything."

In the petition to WERC seeking a ruling, Brookfield's labor attorney James Korom said for years the city has relied on that savings clause to provide employees with better benefits than the contract provided when state and federal law increased benefits, such as giving greater uses for sick leave under the Family Medical Leave Act or allowing dependents to remain insured until age 27 rather than 25.

"Employees in this bargaining unit, having received the benefits of the language in the savings clause over time, must now accept the burden or this same language where the statutory changes are not an expansion of their legal rights, but rather a contraction," Korom wrote.

Brookfield's petition, however, only asks for a ruling on the savings clause as it relates to firefighters hired after July 1. The petition does not seek a ruling on union contracts for all other firefighters, police, fire clerical, library and public works employees. Each contract's savings clause has slightly different wording.

Asked why the petition was narrowed to newly hired firefighters, Zwerlein said, "We are awaiting guidance for the WERC before taking contributions for non-protective service unionized personnel."

Attorney Timothy Hawks, representing the firefighter union, could not be reached for comment. He said last month the city's interpretation was "quite wrong, and we'll have to see what's necessary to make sure those contracts are enforced until they expire.

"It's important to keep in mind that the city entered into these agreements less than six months ago in some cases, and it would be disappointing to see the city not honor its work," Hawks said at that time.

The fire union contract expires Dec. 31. The city's other union contracts do not expire until Dec. 31, 2012.

In the petition, Korom also argued "a legitimate legal question" could be raised that employees hired after a union contract is approved are not automatically covered by that contract. Brookfield's firefighter union contract was approved months before the two firefighters were hired this summer.

"As a matter of routine, but not necessarily as a matter of law, employers and unions simply choose to have those new hires receive all the provisions of the existing collective bargaining agreement between the parties that was negotiated before those new employees were hired," Korom wrote to WERC.


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