4 Vie For Fire Union Presidency

Firefighters at stations across town begin casting ballots Wednesday to choose among a crowded field of colleagues seeking the presidency of their high-drama union at a time of generational change.

Four candidates in all are seeking the presidency of 360-member International Association of Fire Fighters Local 825. Balloting will take place four times at each of the 10 fire stations as well as the training school and fire marshal’s office through Thursday evening.

Incumbent Jimmy Kottage, who has served as president for the past five years, faces three challengers: Capt. Frank Ricci and Lts. Miguel Rosado and Pablo Melendez.

The president serves a three-year term and earns $37,000 a year above his regular salary. He works three regular day shifts in the firehouse that all firefighters work out of every nine days, then three days in union headquarters rather than a regular night shift.

And he takes a lot of grief. The fire department has long been divided among ever-shifting factions continually getting in trouble or trying to get each other in trouble or getting arrested; union business is no exception.

Ricci has at times been aligned with Kottage. Over the past year they have sparred. Each supported internal union investigations against each other (against Ricci for allegedly making a racist remark about a colleague, against Kottage for allegedly harming the union’s negotiating position when seeking a personal pension benefit during contract-extension negotiations with the city; neither allegation was found to be proven).

And in this union president race, Melendez claimed to have had the support of Rosado, an erstwhile ally of Kottage, who ended up joining the race himself instead. Rosado, meanwhile, is at the center of the latest overtime controversy.

New Blood

Yes, issues are also at stake in the election.

A central issue: the benefits paid to the 122 new firefighters who have joined the department in the past year, marking a generational change in the ranks.

Under the most recently negotiated contract, the union agreed to a two-tier benefits system. Unlike veteran firefighters, all hires since 2013 will have to pay 50 percent for their spouse’s health care when they retire and will not have their children covered at that time.

“The whole department is getting younger. They’re looking for some change,” said Rosado, who has seven and a half years on the job and is the son of a fire department battalion chief. He said he feels he can serve as a ​“middle-ground individual” connecting older and newer firefighters. Rosado praised his three opponents as all ​“bringing something to the table” in the department.

Rosado and Melendez, who is in his 19th year on the job, called for renegotiating that two-tier system to return to one tier. ​“We’re divided. The reason for running is I remember the good old days. I remember when I first came on — we were united,” Melendez said.

Melendez and Rosado also promised more ​“transparency.” Melendez cited memoranda of understanding struck between Kottage and the city’s labor relations chief (read about that here) as well as a general practice of ​“back-door deals.”

Kottage defended his record. He, too, promised to seek to renegotiate the two-tier system. He said he agreed to it in the last contract because ​“we were going through difficult times in the city. Difficult decisions needed to be made.” Since then the department has greatly reduced overtime costs, in part through the hiring spree, from over $300,000 a week to under $80,000. Kottage argued the city can now afford to reverse the two-tier concession.

The union’s current contract doesn’t expire until 2018. Kottage claimed he would have leverage to reopen that issue sooner because ​“i could put roadblocks in the way so they’d be willing to listen.” He cited ​“expensive grievances” the union has pending against the city over matters like violations of contract provisions on health-care payments. ​“I’d be happy to make a very expensive grievance go away” in return for enhanced benefits, he said.

“I’m running on experience. I’ve been involved in four contract negotiations with good, positive results. I fight long and hard” for the members, Kottage said.

He added that he’d like to see through a lawsuit filed against the city over alleged violations of the Federal Labor Standards Act in how the department has assigned overtime. ​“I have some unfinished business,” Kottage said. ​“I believe I have some strategy and avenues to make our benefits stronger and to work together with the city.”

Ricci, who serves as the department’s drillmaster, has been a firefighter for 19 years and been regularly in the public eye. He is best known for changing American hiring practices: He was the lead plaintiff in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Ricci v. DeStefano, which overturned affirmative-action policy. (Kottage, too, was a plaintiff in that case.) Ricci has served as union secretary-treasurer for the past five years.

“I’m running because through the years I’ve demonstrated an ability to work with the city to increase firefighter safety while advocating for our members’ rights,” he said. ​“I’m not going to dignify any of the personal attacks that are going on about me. This is about the members, not about individuals.”

Kottage argued that Ricci’s ​“divisive personality” makes him ​“a very difficult person to work with.”

“I’m not divisive,” Ricci responded. ​“I’m effective.”