Laid-off firefighters to return
All five laid-off Uniontown firefighters will be able to return to work this week under terms of a binding arbitration award, which includes a new four-year contract and allows volunteer firefighters as substitutes in certain circumstances. The award also calls for Myron Nypaver to be reinstated as fire chief and code enforcement officer with back pay dating to his January 2009 demotion to assistant chief and termination as code officer. Charles Coldren, who was named chief to replace Nypaver, will be re-assigned to his previous position as assistant chief.
Nypaver, Coldren, Mayor Ed Fike and city Councilman Gary Gearing, who is the public safety director, met Monday to work out the scheduling of the recalled firefighters and discuss the federal $632,835 “Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response” (SAFER) grant the city was awarded in May to recall the laid-off firemen.
The contract, which includes 3.5 percent pay raises each year and bars layoffs during the four-year term, plus the recalls that were agreed upon Friday come in contrast to a threat the city made in August to lay off all the firefighters and replace them with volunteers by the end of the year, when the current three-year contract expires.
City Council scheduled a special meeting to consider ratifying the award and accepting the SAFER grant at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“It’s a four-year contract. We’re getting everyone back to work and everybody’s basically happy,” Coldren said.
Nypaver didn’t return a call seeking comment.
Fike said he hadn’t seen the award, but council will vote on it Wednesday.
Council laid off seven of the city’s 13 full-time firefighters and many other employees in two rounds of layoffs in 2008 and 2009 after Fike reported the city inherited more than $1 million in debt from the previous administration.
The seven firefighters were recalled in March 2009, but were laid off again in December of that year. Since then, two of the seven have been recalled, one retired and one accepted a job with the Morgantown, W.Va., fire department.
David Ross, the fireman who accepted the job in Morgantown, has the option to return, Coldren said.
Money from the SAFER grant, which was intended to maintain the complement of 13 firefighters, should allow the city to hire one person to replace the retiree, he said.
“That’s our understanding,” Coldren said “We should be able to hire at least one. That’s a question we have.”
The award states the city may use non-bargaining unit volunteers certified at the Firefighter II level or higher to replace full-time firefighters who are absent because of retirement, resignation, disability or discharge.
The city could schedule as many as four full-time firemen on each 24-hour shift for the rest of this year.
Beginning Jan. 1, when the new contract takes effect, the city must have at least three full-time firemen on each shift, but qualified volunteers may be used if full-time firemen are not available, according to the award.
Beginning on Jan. 1, 2013, the city must try to use volunteers if there are not enough full-time firemen to have three on a shift. If volunteers are not available, full-time firemen can be called to duty until volunteers report for duty, according to the award.
If the city can’t get three firemen on duty and a structure fire has been reported, the city must ask enough full-time and volunteers to respond to the scene to have a total of four firefighters there, according to the award.
In that case, the city’s first request must be made to full-time firefighters, but volunteers who report to the scene will relieve the full-timers as soon as it is practical to do so, according to the award.
The firefighters are excited about coming back to the job and protecting the city of Uniontown,” said attorney Joshua Bloom of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 955, which represents the full-time firemen. “They are happy to focus on public safety rather that litigation and consternation.”
He said the SAFER grant was huge factor in reaching the settlement.
“Without it, I cannot confidently tell you this would not have occurred with current economy,” Bloom said.
He also commended Coldren.
“He did a wonderful job as chief. It’s just the previous chief was wrongfully removed from his position. We look at it as a reassignment. The union challenged that from beginning. Uniontown is very lucky to have two qualified leaders.”
Coldren said he is a bit disappointed with the reassignment, but knew the union would challenge Nypaver’s demotion. He said holds no grudges and wants the fire department to move forward.
“Somebody had to hold this place together. No ill feelings between me and Myron. This place is predicated on brotherhood,” Coldren said. “We were able to function through some hard times. You don’t do this job without feeling for others. The community relies on us to be professional and do our job. I think me and Myron handled it well. Our lives are in each other hands. Can’t let petty stuff interfere with how we do our jobs. It doesn’t matter who sits in this chair. It’s a true brotherhood,” he added.
A firefighter since 1989, Nypaver began performing code enforcement duties in 2002 and was paid $5,800 a year for his that work. However, his pay for code enforcement was eliminated in 2004 when he became chief. Council demoted him to assistant chief and terminated him as code officer after alleging he received $10,000 in pay in 2006 and 2007 that council had never approved.
In June this year, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board ordered the city to reinstate him to both positions and compensate him for lost wages and benefits after the union filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the city.
Council agreed to adjust his salary in 2006 and added the raise into the 2007 budget, which council approved, according to the board’s ruling.