As they beat back challengers to win new terms, fire union leaders Jimmy Kottage and Frank Ricci set their sights on resolving a “critical” staffing shortage and breaking an impasse in contract negotiations with City Hall.
Kottage defeated challenger Darrell Brooks by 156 to 107 votes last week to be reelected president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 825.
Ricci (pictured in the above file photo) faced the stiffest competition: He defeated Kevin Donohue by just one vote, 131 to 130. His official job title is “secretary/treasurer,” but the effective role is vice-president, number-two in charge. Terms last two years.
The election took place on Dec. 10 and 11 by secret ballot.
Paul Bass File Photo
Kottage (center) and Ricci (center-left) at a 2011 campaign event for Mayor John DeStefano.
Kottage reported remarkable voter turnout: 268 out of 274 firefighters cast ballots. The division among the ranks comes as the union seeks to negotiate a new labor contract to replace the one that ended 18 months ago.
Donohue, a 15-year veteran firefighter from East Rock, said he has long been active in his union. He has also been active in politics: He served one term as an elected co-chair of the Democratic ward committee in East Rock’s Ward 10. Donohue, who had previously served on the union executive board, said there was “no hidden agenda” to his campaign. “I’m just a person who wants to take part in the democratic process.” He ran separately from Brooks.
Melissa Bailey File Photo
Ricci testifies in Washington at the the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Ricci, who’s in his 16th year on the firefighting force, is best known as the lead plaintiff in the Ricci v. DeStefano reverse discrimination case. A white man who overcame dyslexia to pass a promotions exam, Ricci argued the city discriminated against him when it tossed out the exam results because blacks performed poorly. He and 19 other firefighters argued the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and won.
Ricci has served one two-year term as vice-president. He said his platform has remained the same: pension, health care, firefighter safety, and staffing.
Kottage has served as union president since September 2010, when Pat Egan left the post to become an assistant chief. Kottage was previously vice-president; he has served in union leadership for 12 of his 18 years on the force.
“I’m looking forward to continuing to lead the firefighters through difficult times,” Kottage said.
Kottage ran on a platform of “experience” — especially in labor talks. He was involved in two previous union contract negotiations. The latest contract expired on July 1, 2011. Firefighters have gone 18 months working on the previous contract, which means no pay raises.
Kottage said his main goal for 2013 is “to negotiate a fair contract.” Negotiations stand at an “impasse” and the contract is heading to binding arbitration.
One other major issue, Kottage said, is hiring and promotions. Except for a small number of paramedics, the city has not hired a new class of rookie firefighters in five years, Kottage said. The fire department faces a “critical” staffing shortage, he said: The department is short about 90 firefighters, or 25 percent of the budgeted force. That means a lot of overtime hours. Because of concessions made in the last contract, firefighters earn regular pay — not overtime pay — for overtime hours.
“We enjoy our job,” so morale is still good, Kottage said, “but there are a lot of sacrifices — not being home on holidays, nights, missing the kids’ birthdays. … It’s definitely a critical situation.”
The uncertainty of operating without a contract is driving even more firefighters to leave the force, Kottage said. “It’s like the fiscal cliff — when there’s no clarity, people get scared. It’s forcing some people to retire.”
Brooks could not be reached for this story.
Elected to the union executive board in the recent election were: Pat Cannon, Tom Neville, Antonio Almodovar, Mark Vendetto, Danny Coughlin and Mike Pozika.