Lt. Joe Iannuzzelli of the Ventnor City Fire Department and president of FMBA Local 38
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
VENTNOR – They say when no one is happy walking away from the bargaining table, a good deal has been struck.
After nearly two years of negotiations, the Ventnor City Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association Local 38 and the city agreed last week to a new five-year contract, which includes wage increases, retroactive pay and incentives. Firefighters have been working under the old contract that expired on Dec. 31, 2020.
Negotiations were “contentious” over the last two years and both sides are not entirely happy about the outcome, but “we never took it personally,” FMBA President Joe Iannuzzelli said. “We are not super-enthused about it and we had to go to mediation.”
The union learned that if a deal could not be struck during the mediation session held Sept. 29, the next step would be arbitration and the mediator would serve as arbitrator.
“He told us that there were no guarantees we would win and we might do worse if we went to arbitration,” Iannuzzelli said.
The tentatively approved Memorandum of Agreement still needs some adjustments to language, Iannuzzelli said, but both parties agreed to raises of 2% for 2021, 2.5% for 2022, 2023 and 2024, and 2.9% in 2025, the final year of the contract.
“A five-year contract is an anomaly for us. We usually do four years, but by the time we catch up, we would have to start negotiating again, so we agreed to a five year contract,” he said.
The contract also provides a $1,000 annual incentive added to the firefighters’ base bay, “which makes it more than a percentage raise,” Iannuzzelli said.
The city also agreed to increase the stipend for obtaining EMT certification to $2,600 and require firefighters to take continuing education and refresher courses to obtain recertification every three years. All of Ventnor’s firefighters are EMT certified, he said.
Iannuzzelli said both sides are not overwhelmingly happy with the outcome of negotiations, but the contract is good for the taxpayers.
“It was contentious negotiating. We tried to be open and flexible from day one, but the city was being a little hard-lined,” he said.
Although the city wanted the contract to be finalized sooner, two of three commissioners said it was a good contract.
Commissioner of Public Works Lance Landgraf called it “an excellent contract for both sides,” and Mayor Beth Holtzman said it was “fair for workers as well as the city and taxpayers.”
The Board of Commissioners approved the memorandum of agreement 2-0 following an executive session held at the head of its Oct. 13 meeting. Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Kriebel was absent.
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