Hoffman Estates firefighters in talks to avoid layoffs

Labor talks between the Hoffman Estates firefighters union and the village appear headed toward arbitration in January.

The sides huddled Wednesday hoping to reach an agreement to avoid personnel cuts with Monday's village board meeting as the looming deadline. That's when trustees are scheduled to vote on the 2010 budget, which, as of now, includes cutting six firefighter positions.

But Wednesday's bargaining session broke down without a new contract. Monday, the village board could determine if layoffs will be made are made before an arbitrator rules on a contract.

"Hopefully, there will be a lot of people on Monday who know there shouldn't be layoffs in Hoffman Estates," union head Dean Slater said.

Village officials asked firefighters earlier this year to make concessions to narrow a projected deficit of $1.2 million to $1.8 million in next year's budget. The village also made the same request to the unions for the police and public works departments.

The public works union agreed on a contract last month that avoided layoffs. Police are also in talks to renegotiate their contract, which was approved last year, though no further talks are scheduled before Monday's budget vote. The village has proposed four police layoffs.

Slater said the firefighters also offered to work unpaid hours, which would have saved $407,000.

"We came to them and offered them several different ways to save money, but no matter how we came up with the number, nothing was ever good enough for them," he said.

Most village employees' salaries are frozen and they won't see raises. But under the terms of their existing contract, if it's not altered in renegotiations, police officers will see 4 percent salary increases annually. Firefighters could ask for a similar deal.

Slater knows the economy is still sluggish but points out that the firefighters union's six-year contract expired in 2008, and the 93 firefighters represented by the union have since been working without a new contract and raises.

"Many in the public sector have gotten raises," Slater said. "If I go across the state of Illinois and look at towns somewhat comparable to us, everyone's gotten a raise."

Adding fueling to the fire were fliers distributed over the weekend by the fire department union warning of service cuts, including a 25 percent reduction in the village's ambulance fleet. That translates to the loss of one of four ambulances, most likely coming from fire station No. 22, which is on Moon Lake Boulevard, south of Higgins Road.

Fewer ambulances would lead to delays in response times in life-threatening and other emergency service calls, Slater said.

The fliers also state Village Manager James Norris told village board members that the only way to get concessions was for trustees to vocally threaten layoffs.

Norris on Wednesday declined to address the fliers, citing ongoing negotiations.