City unions agree to no pay raise

Dave Wordekemper is used to putting out fires.

But when the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters in Fremont got with leaders of the three other unions representing city employees, they realized they faced a fire of a different nature.

“We started discussing this in early June, end of May,” Wordekemper said.

This fire, he said, was the economy.

Because the leaders of the four unions (also the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1536 Unit 5, Fraternal Order of Police and Nebraska Public Employees Local 251 American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees) realized that “we’re all struggling in this tough economy,” Wordekemper said they decided to offer to take no pay raises and no increase of benefits for the upcoming fiscal year.

Fremont City Council members approved the proposal at their regular meeting Tuesday night.

Wordekemper said it wasn’t a tough decision at all, especially as they watch Omaha publicly struggle through financial hardship.

“The economy was the driving motivator,” Wordekemper continued. “Everybody is affected by this, and we realize that no one is immune to it.

“Nobody wins when the city has depleted all of its money and resources,” he said, adding the decision was not a unanimous decision by the unions’ members.

There was one concern.

“We’re going to fall behind other cities (in wages and benefits),” he said. “This will put us behind comparability with cities our size. We’ll have to catch that up eventually. But this wasn’t that much of a concern.”

Attempts to reach the leaders of the other three unions were unsuccessful by press time, but they each did make comments that were released in an official statement by the city.

“We want people to understand that we are all aware and sensitive to the effects of the national recession within the community we work,” said Steve Boothe, chairman of the IBEW, the city’s largest union. “All four unions responded to the city’s budget concerns with a tremendous show of solidarity in making this offer with overwhelming support from all of our membership.”

“The members of the Fraternal Order of Police union is aware that �- city revenues have diminished significantly,” said FOP president Sgt. Bob Buer. “Therefore, the FOP membership is willing to forgo a wage increase. We are willing to do this because we want to be part of a team effort with solving any city issue.”

“While working hard to provide the best possible contract for our members in Fremont, we also understand that in these tough economic times that by working together �- the citizens of Fremont will continue to receive all of the city services that they expect,” said George Forst, vice president of Nebraska Public Employees Local 251.

City officials said they were pleased with the offer.

“This response from our employees shows how those working for the city are genuinely civic minded,” said Mayor “Skip” Edwards. “I continue to be impressed with their dedication to their jobs and sensitivity to our community’s needs.”

“We are looking at a difficult budget this year,” City Administrator Bob Hartwig said. “The labor unions really stepped up to help us out. We still have a 4 percent gap in the general fund, but it’s a lot more manageable as a result of this effort on their part.”

Essentially, the agreement means the current contracts are extended for another year, information from the city stated. City staff will need to find other areas to cut in order to “close any gaps” between expenses and revenues for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.