Contract offer has firefighters ready to halt initiative effort

Seattle firefighters may call off a ballot initiative planned for this fall after getting a contract offer from the city that commits to hiring up to 50 new firefighters and delivers other concessions sought by their union.

The proposed contract would give firefighters a 2.5 percent raise this year, and cost-of-living increases equal to inflation in each of the following three years. It also would offer better seniority raises for firefighters who serve at least 15 years.

The offer would placate a union that has relentlessly criticized Mayor Greg Nickels over fire-station staffing and other issues over the past few years.

The union ran full-page newspaper ads in December depicting Nickels as "the Grinch who stole public safety," and union leaders said they would campaign for a "Ready 4 Rescue" initiative this fall that would force the city to hire additional firefighters.

It appears the city's proposed new contract gives firefighters much of what they'd demanded, according to a summary in the May edition of "The Third Rail," the union newsletter.

Writing in the newsletter, union President Paul Atwater urged members to vote for the offer and said that if it is ratified the union will discontinue its planned initiative, which would amend the Seattle City Charter to require four-person crews on all fire engines.

The proposed contract would commit the city to 10 additional firefighter positions by 2008, enough to provide the four-person crews. That was a concession the union has long sought, citing national firefighter-safety recommendations. Because it takes five people to staff each position at a firehouse, the city could have to hire up to 50 new firefighters to meet the contract's requirements. The city has estimated the cost of the additional firefighters at $4 million a year.

Atwater would not comment on the proposal yesterday. Marianne Bichsel, spokeswoman for Nickels, would say only that the city made a "fair offer" to the union and was waiting to see whether it would be accepted.

Squelching the union initiative would be good news for Nickels, who is running for re-election. Given the firefighter rhetoric of the past several months, as well as Atwater's acknowledged political strategy, the union campaign likely would have included a hefty amount of Nickels-bashing throughout the year.

Instead, Nickels may wind up being lauded by his erstwhile firehouse critics. In the newsletter, Atwater said the new contract could "signal a new, more cooperative stage in our relationship with the Mayor's office."

The proposed contract also would raise the "longevity" raise paid to firefighters after 15 years to 9 percent, up from the current 6 percent.

In exchange for the new benefits, firefighters would have to work two extra shifts a year for no additional pay — a notion that fire-union leaders have vehemently opposed in the past.

Atwater said in the newsletter that the tradeoff was worth the extra pay and other benefits being offered by the city. And he predicted that the union could get the two extra shifts dropped when the next contract rolls around.

The new contract also would include 90 percent pay for firefighters who are deployed to military service as reservists. Two Seattle firefighters are currently deployed, according to Helen Fitzpatrick, a Fire Department spokeswoman. Seven others recently have served in the military and returned.

The union's 970 members will vote on the contract offer beginning in late May and continuing until the second week of June. The previous firefighter contract expired Dec. 31. The new offer would extend through 2008.

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628