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Decatur firefighters union blamed by city staff for spike in legal costs(Herald & Review (Decatur, IL) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 18--DECATUR -- Conflicts between the city of Decatur and labor groups have racked up court costs over the past year and a half, according to a memorandum the city disclosed to the Herald & Review. Between court costs associated with arbitrating the contract of the city's fire department union and the city defending itself from unfair labor practice suits filed by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Decatur paid nearly $156,000 since February of 2007, as of last month. In the memo from interim City Manager John A. Smith to Mayor Michael Carrigan, Smith said city staff was "appalled" that such expenses could not be avoided, calling the unions uncooperative. "It is city staff's opinion that these expenses would have been largely unnecessary, but for the lack of union cooperation to resolve recent labor relations and employment practices disputes in a straightforward and expeditious manner," Smith said. Smith said the reason for spending the money to retain Chicago law firm Seyfarth/Shaw was to make sure the city had a strong defense in court. "It is only to ensure that the city's representation has been adequate before impartial arbitrators that these expenses have been in;curred, since there has been no real opportunity afforded by the unions to avert these expenses through earnest dialogue," Smith said. Most of the expenses have focused on the arbitration of the fire union contract, Smith said. Lt. Adam Ruderman, a Decatur firefighter and president of the fire department's union, said the amount firefighters are expected to pay for health insurance is unacceptable. The union's complaints come after previous years in which the union voluntarily gave up part of their pay increases to keep health insurance costs from increasing, Ruderman said. Smith said the increase in the union's contribution to their insurance costs offsets a necessary hike in property taxes as health care costs continue to increase. "The city is already contributing to the cost of health care to control those costs, and I'm not willing to go before the public and say to the public, 'Well, we need to increase property taxes to pay for the cost of health care that have been going up every year,'" Smith said. "As city manager, I have an obligation to protect the interest of the taxpayers." Ruderman said the legal costs the city has incurred could have been avoided. "What was spent in representing the city was unprecedented and completely unnecessary," Ruderman said. "In the end, the question is, what did the taxpayers get for their tax dollars?" Kenneth Lowe can be reached at [email protected] or 421-7985. To see more of Herald & Review, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald-review.com Copyright (c) 2008, Herald & Review, Decatur, Ill. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |