August 24, 2018
Woodstock, Illinois - The Woodstock Career Firefighters, Local 4813 of the International Association of Firefighters, ratified a new collective bargaining agreement between the Local and the Woodstock Fire/Rescue District. The membership voted August 23rd to accept the agreement. “I am proud to represent a group of men and women that keep service to the community at the forefront of all their decisions,” said Scott Wessel, President of Local 4813. The new agreement, which was also accepted by the Board of Trustees during their monthly meeting on August 23, 2018, concedes employee benefits and contract requirements that will save the fire district approximately $750,000 over the next two years.
Concessions offered by the Union include a two year pay freeze, forfeiture of an education allowance, reduction in uniform allowance, and forfeiture of a vacation day. Additional savings come in the form of reduced staffing levels that will decrease overtime expenses. “Honestly, the pay freeze was the easy concession to make. The staffing reduction was the hardest. Cutting staffing reduces services to the community, increases our workload, and has safety implications on the fireground,” said Chad Williams, Vice President of Local 4813. “We explored all other options, but couldn’t come up with the cost savings necessary,” Williams said. This is not the first time that the union has conceded contract requirements in the name of saving money for the fire district. In 2016, the Union agreed to a decrease in staffing, a 25% reduction in holiday pay and increased insurance contributions to help offset lost revenue from the cancellation of the intergovernmental agreement with the Village of Lakewood. Additionally, calls for service have increased dramatically over the past few years with revenue increases coming in at a trickle. In 2017, the fire district saw a nearly 13% increase in call volume over 2016, but only a 2.1% increase in property tax revenue. The fire district is currently in the process of developing a strategic plan that determines what the community’s expectations are and sets a plan in place to meet those expectations.
The agreement came after several months of contentious discussions between the fire district and union. “Both parties understand that there is a problem; the disconnect came in how to fix it. Ultimately, our mission is the same – serve the community and keep it safe. I suppose that when there are disagreements bred out of passion to accomplish the same goal, it’s not such a bad thing,” said Wessel. Wessel went on to say, “My biggest concern at this point is letting the community down. They have come to expect a high level of service from us, but that level of service is harder and harder to afford.”
Questions regarding this release can be directed to President Scott Wessel at president@iafflocal4813.org