Cops, Firefighters Shouldn't be Excluded from Budget Bill, Johnson Says

Excluding police and fire personnel from the govenor's budget repair bill won't help meet the intended goal of the controversial measure, Shorewood's village president says.

Guy Johnson drafted a letter Thursday to state Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) in which he says if drastic measures are taken to cut spending, then all public employees should be included.

"The bill excludes protective services personnel (primarily police and fire departments). These personnel related costs are 40 percent of the total personnel costs and nearly 55 percent of union personnel costs," the letter said.

"If (the bill) included public safety personnel, it could result in personnel cost reduction of approximately 5.2 percent or approximately $475,000, which, in result, would actually help meet the intended goal of the bill," Johnson wrote.

Johnson also added  that including public safety workers in the bill that would strip public workers of their collective bargaining rights, allowing them only to bargain on wages, would not result in strikes or work stoppages in Shorewood.

"I trust that the men and women who protect Shorewood and the North Shore would not take a job action that would compromise the public safety and welfare of the communities they serve," Johnson wrote.

Steven J. Tippel, president of North Shore Professional Firefighters, Local 1440, responded in , saying the local firefighters have already made concessions including agreeing to an insurance plan with deductibles, co-pays and monthly premium shares and agreeing to a pay reduction in the average amount of $1,100 per member

"These concessions, however, do not reflect savings incurred through minimum staffing cuts (daily staffing from 30 down to 27), but an overall reduction of staff from 105 personnel to 102... they also have put the public and the firefighters that respond at risk. As well equipment has been cut which potentially results in delayed response," Tippel said in an email.

"It is the position of the North Shore Firefighters Union that there are further cost savings to be had in the North Shore, but not on the backs of firefighters."

Fire Chief Robert Whitaker, North Shore Fire Department, said there are still questions as to how the proposed bill would effect state aid for local government, but agreed that public safety is a big part of local municipalities expenses.

"Public safety salary and benefits compose over ½ of most municipal budgets and if local government aid from the State is reduced and protective employees are exempt from the mandate for changes in pension and healthcare benefits, some hard, tough decisions will need to be made by the community about the level of service they desire," Whitaker said in an email.

"Our labor attorney is currently working on an assessment of the bill... I have read the entire bill twice and still have several questions about the specific impact to protective service employees. Until we know the specifics of the bill and know what, if any, changes to state aid to local government, are proposed and passed, we are working with assumptions."

Whitaker added he is confident local firefighters wouldn't take action that would jeopardize public safety.

Thousands of people have descended upon the Capitol in the last few days to , which calls for most public employees to pay higher costs for health care and to contribute more to their pensions. It also eliminates most collective bargaining rights.