Although the council has no authority to change the arbitrator’s decision, it voted it down in the wake of a $2.5 million Proposition 2 1/2 override approved by voters.
NORTHAMPTON – The city and the firefighters union have come to an agreement on their contract dispute, to the tune of $316,394.
The amount is less than the $406,016 awarded Firefighters Local 108 last month in arbitration before the state. Mayor David J. Narkewicz came to the City Council asking for that amount, but the council turned down the request. The dispute harks back to 2010, when then-Mayor Mary Clare Higgins asked the union to forgo cost-of-living increases in its next contract. The contract expired without the two sides coming to an agreement and the issue went into mediation before going into arbitration.
Firefighters contend that they were due those lost wages by contract. Some say they have fallen behind Northampton police in compensation. Last year, several firefighters sued the city over the matter.
Although the council has no authority to change the arbitrator’s decision, it voted it down in the wake of a $2.5 million Proposition 2 1/2 override approved by voters this summer. One councilor accused the firefighters of not being “team players,” an allegation that enraged some members of the union.
Although the mayor insisted that the settlement would not come directly out of the $2.5 million override, others say that is semantics and that the settlement will drawn down city resources, negating some of the override’s benefits.
Narkewicz declined to comment on the settlement Tuesday, saying the two sides have agreed to give their statements at a press conference in his office on Wednesday.