The complaints were filed amid negotiations between the city and the union over health benefits.
Northampton Fire Department ambulance.NORTHAMPTON – The city and the firefighters union are locked in a legal battle that could cost all sides money in the long run.
In March, Northampton Fire Fighters Local 108 filed a fair labor complaint with the Massachusetts Division of Labor Relations claiming that some firefighters were forced to do work outside their prescribed job duties when they were ordered to salvage items from the Laurel Park home of John Masloski. The house had collapsed under heavy snow and Building Commissioner Louis Hasbrouck asked Fire Chief Brian Duggan for help retrieving the 77-year-old Masloski’s possessions and loading them into a U-Haul truck, according to the complaint.
“This work activity is not included in the job duties of a Fire Fighter,” the complain states.
In a separate action, the union last month filed a grievance with Duggan, complaining that the city improperly transferred some $60,000 out of the Emergency Medical Services Fund, which supports the ambulance service, to pay overtime costs for firefighters. The fund is replenished by ambulance fees and should be used solely for that program, the union argued. Duggan denied the grievance and it is now before the human resources director.
Assistant Fire Chief Duane A. Nichols said Tuesday that the salvage operation at Laurel Park was consistent with the department’s normal practice.
“The chief and I believe that was within the realm of what we do,” he said.
He also affirmed the city’s right to transfer money from the ambulance fund for overtime.
Michael Hatch, the president of Local 108, had a different take on both matters. According to Hatch, Masloski’s home was condemned in 2008 and had been unoccupied for a year before that. Although he agreed that firefighters often do salvage work in situations where property is in imminent danger of damage, Masloski’s situation did not fall under that category, he said.
“We can’t do this for everybody,” he said.
Hatch suggested that the engine crew was summoned to Laurel Park to appease Masloski and noted that Hasbrouck and Mayor Mary Clare Higgins both live in the complex of cottages.
As for the transfer from the ambulance fund, Hatch said the money is contractually targeted for expenses on the ambulance side and cannot be used for overtime on the fire side. He noted that the salaries of eight members of the ambulance crew are paid by federal grants that are scheduled to expire and said diminishing the fund could endanger their jobs.
“We need to make sure the money is here so we can have people to do the job in the future,” he said.
Mary Clare HigginsHiggins said the Laurel Park salvage mission was simply coming to the aid of a Northampton resident in need.
“He’s an elderly gentleman who had paid taxes to the city for a long time and he needed help,” she said.
She dismissed Hatch’s suggestion that Masloski was given preferential treatment because she and Masloski are neighbors.
“So what?” she said. “I don’t know the guy.”
She also disagreed about the use of the ambulance fund and said the transfer was necessary because of the tough fiscal times.
“We needed to do that,” she said. “I’m not going to be apologetic about it.”
The complaints were filed amid negotiations between the city and the union over health benefits. Higgins has asked all unions representing city employees to switch to a less expensive health plan with higher co-payments for some services. Fire Fighters Local 108 is the only union to reject the plan. According to Higgins, the premiums on the current plan are set to rise by 9 percent, making it more expensive than the new one.
Higgins was not surprised at the timing of the complaints.
“I do think it makes a difference that we were in contract negotiations,” she said.
Hatch emphatically rejected the inference.
“These are all issues we would have taken up regardless of if we had a brand new deal,” he said.
Higgins estimated the legal costs of addressing the complaints at $12,000. Fire Fighters Local 108 includes 67 of the 72 Fire Department members, according to Hatch.