Menlo Park Firefighters Settle Employment Complains, Reach Deal with Union

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By Bay City News Service

The Menlo Park Fire Protection District announced Thursday it has reached a tentative agreement with its union.

The agreement between the district and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2400 comes after years of protracted and contentious negotiations, as well as two sets of charges before the Public Employment Relations Board in 2014, according to district officials.

The new labor deal, once approved by the district’s Board of Directors, will provide an 18 percent base pay increases over a four-year term, the fire district said.

In return, the union has agreed to increase the employees’ share of pension contributions, spread out pay steps and other changes that will result in cost savings and operational efficiencies for the district, according to district officials.

On July 7, the fire district’s Board of Directors voted 4-1 in closed session to authorize the posting of the tentative agreement between the District and Firefighters Local 2400, along with supporting documentation, for the district’s mandatory 30-day sunshine period.

The board will consider ratification of the final agreement at its regular meeting scheduled for Aug. 25.

Additionally, the new contract will permanently resolve all long-standing issues between the parties and comply fully with the PERB decision, according to the fire district.

The 2014 PERB charges resulted in adverse rulings for the district. The first of those decisions resulted in a payout of $460,968 to 30 represented employees. The second of those decisions resulted in a payout of $1,063,143 to 92 employees, district officials said.

Rather than appeal the decisions, the district moved forward with good-faith negotiations that have ultimately resulted in the tentative agreement and final resolution of the PERB charges, according to district
officials.

“Resolution of the PERB charges has allowed us as an organization to move forward again. The fire board could have appealed the decisions, which would have further delayed a settlement by several years, but they trusted the union, my staff and me to collaboratively work out the details of the settlements and, more importantly, put together a new contract that resolved all outstanding issues and met both party’s needs,” Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said in a statement.

All documents pertaining to the new labor deal will be released Monday to the district’s website, www.menloparkfire.org.