City of Henderson approves union contracts, avoids layoffs

By Erin Dostal

Thursday, July 8, 2010 | 10:28 p.m.

The Henderson City Council approved three union contracts Thursday night, none of which included base wage increases. The agreements between the city and the unions avoid layoffs.

The four council members in attendance voted unanimously to approve the contracts. Councilman Steve Kirk was unable to attend because he was in a car accident Wednesday.

The Henderson Police Officers Association, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1883 and Teamsters Local 14 presented their negotiated contracts before the council.

The unions represent 1,253 employees, officials said.

Dan Pentkowski, president of the firefighters union, said he was glad negotiations in Henderson appeared smoother than fire union negotiations in other parts of the valley.

“It has done nothing but degrade their relationships,” he said. “The approach that’s worked here is positive collaboration.”

“I’m very pleased with how my members have stood up when it was necessary for maintaining service in our community,” Pentkowski said.

The firefighter’s union agreed to a two-year contract extension with the city. Firefighters waived their base wage increases for 2010 and 2011, but six fire employees, all of whom are senior ranking, will receive two annual lump-sum payments of 1.25 percent of their annual base wage.

The fire department also will create 12 new “floating positions” that will decrease overtime, he said.

The approval of the firefighters agreement will save the city about $2.9 million through 2015, officials said.

Henderson’s Teamsters union, which has about 800 members, eliminated its 1 percent base wage increase for 2010 and a 1.25 percent increase for 2011.

The city is contractually obligated to pay a 1.25 percent base wage increase for 2012, Calhoun said, adding that it is the only increase in the Teamsters’ agreement.

The Teamsters signed a two-year agreement with the city, with the ability to return and negotiate again next year if the economy improves, said the union’s secretary-treasurer, Larry Griffith.

Griffith said he was pleased Henderson began negotiating with the unions in 2008 because it helped stabilize the city and avoid layoffs.

“It’s happening all over the valley,” he said. “For this to get where we’re at today, we had to start two years ago with a hiring freeze.”

As a result of the negotiations, the Teamsters will get 100 more hours of sick leave that can be accrued and paid out to employees when they retire and an additional floating holiday.

The modified Teamsters agreement and concessions should save the city $9.3 million through 2015, officials said.

The Police Officers Association, meanwhile, voted to extend the wages and benefits in their current agreement, which included a waiver of its 1.25 percent increase in base pay.

The increases would have cost the city about $1.4 million each year through 2015, City Manager Mark T. Calhoun said.

The police union agreed to a three-year contract with a condition that in two years the group will renegotiate wages and benefits, said Gary Hargis, the union president.

Interest-based bargaining, in which both the city and the union present all information in the open during negotiations, was key to the agreement’s success, Hargis said.

“My membership did the right thing,” he said. “Our job isn’t to bankrupt the city; it is to work with the city to maintain our jobs.”