Firefighters Union

The union representing the county's firefighters has agreed to forgo two grievance victories and accept all changes in health coverage. In return, County Executive Robert R. Neall will reinstate a 6 percent pay raise he had rescinded.All six unions that had challenged aspects of the new managed-care health plan will have a 2 percent raise they received April 21 made retroactive to Dec. 30. That is when the union representing the county's blue-collar workers, who agreed the plan last fall, received its raises.

Anne Arundel County police officers and firefighters have made themselves clear: They don't believe the county's leadership can help their departments solve staffing and technological problems that they say pose a threat to public safety. The county firefighters union's vote this week of no confidence in Fire Chief John Robert Ray is the latest expression of discontent by public safety workers. Following the lead of three police unions that called on County Executive John R. Leopold to step down, the firefighters union has scheduled its own no-confidence vote on Leopold for Tuesday.

Jeffrey DeLisle, the outspoken president of the Baltimore firefighters union and a thorn in the side of city administrations for more than 11 years, has taken a new job as a staff representative with the International Association of Fire Fighters."

When Jodi Ceglia received a telephone call recently with the person at the other end soliciting funds for the "Ellicott City Fire Department", she did not question how the money was going to be used. In fact, she did exactly what the caller asked — she wrote a check made out to "Howard County Firefighters" and taped an envelope with her contribution to her front door to be picked up the next day. "He made it clear that the money was going to 'stay in my backyard,' that it was going to be used in Ellicott City," Ceglia recalled.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Kathleen O'Ferrall Friedman issued an injunction yesterday blocking the city from forcing firefighters and fire officers to forfeit five days' pay as part of Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's budget-cutting plan.The judge based her injunction on an earlier agreement between the city and the firefighters' union.Faced with the threat of 252 layoffs, the union agreed last Nov. 29 to give up a 6 percent pay increase it won through binding arbitration last year.In exchange, the city agreed to shift $3 million it had set aside to pay for the pay increase into the Fire Department budget, thereby avoiding the layoffs.

Anne Arundel County police officers and firefighters have made themselves clear: They don't believe the county's leadership can help their departments solve staffing and technological problems that they say pose a threat to public safety. The county firefighters union's vote this week of no confidence in Fire Chief John Robert Ray is the latest expression of discontent by public safety workers. Following the lead of three police unions that called on County Executive John R. Leopold to step down, the firefighters union has scheduled its own no-confidence vote on Leopold for Tuesday.

Consensus continues to elude negotiators for Anne Arundel County and the union representing 860 blue-collar county employees. Union representatives rejected Monday the county's latest offer: raises totaling 6 percent over three years. "Our members would not have been able to support that," said Scott Harmon, president of Local 582 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union asked for a 3 percent raise next year, with items such as the restoration of longevity pay to pre-1995 levels.

Although Ruppersberger administration officials say they are prepared, Baltimore County's 33 volunteer fire companies may be hit hard by a threatened federal labor law complaint that would have the effect of barring career firefighters from working as volunteers.The complaint, which could be filed within two weeks by Firefighters Union Local 1311, would seek compliance with an 11-year-old federal law requiring local governments to pay career firefighters for their volunteer work or prohibit them from doing it.The action is prompted by union members' anger at Ruppersberger for not financially rewarding their past political support, said Kevin B. O'Connor, president of Firefighters Union Local 1311.

Three city fire companies would be permanently closed at the beginning of the year and firefighters reassigned to other stations under a cost-savings plan endorsed by Mayor Sheila Dixon that is already generating opposition. Closing the companies, which are located in the central part of the city and close to other units, will allow the city to reduce the frequency that remote fire stations are closed as part of a daily rotation to reduce overtime, Fire Chief James S. Clack said on Monday as he announced the proposal.

When Jodi Ceglia received a telephone call recently with the person at the other end soliciting funds for the "Ellicott City Fire Department", she did not question how the money was going to be used. In fact, she did exactly what the caller asked — she wrote a check made out to "Howard County Firefighters" and taped an envelope with her contribution to her front door to be picked up the next day. "He made it clear that the money was going to 'stay in my backyard,' that it was going to be used in Ellicott City," Ceglia recalled.

After dozens of public safety workers testified in front of the Anne Arundel County Council Tuesday night, the panel delayed a vote on legislation that would end the practice of binding arbitration in labor disputes. The bill, sponsored by Council Chairman Richard Ladd at the request of County Executive John R. Leopold, would give the County Council the last word in labor disputes between the county and its public safety employees. Currently, a neutral third party issues opinions when disputes arise, and the county must abide by those rulings.

Saying that Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold wants to punish them for not endorsing his re-election by moving to restrict a key contract negotiation provision, a coalition of public safety unions plans to marshal its members to fight an administration proposal to curb binding arbitration. Leopold maintains that binding arbitration is tantamount to giving an outsider control over the county budget — down to the need to raise taxes — and that the proposed change is needed to give elected officials control over budget decisions.

The city's police and fire unions plan to picket a national convention of mayors to be held in Baltimore in June, in an effort to force a compromise with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake over furlough days and pension benefits. Fraternal Order of Police President Robert F. Cherry said Monday that he was inviting police and fire unions from across the country to join the protest, which he hoped would spark a "national discussion about prioritizing public safety. " The police and firefighters unions have been sparring with Rawlings-Blake since last year, when she pushed through an overhaul of their pension system that saves the city money but cuts benefits.

The pair of five-alarm fires that ripped through downtown Baltimore in a 12-hour span left behind charred century-old buildings — and forced business owners in Mount Vernon and The Block to confront closing for days or even months. A fire across from the historic Mount Vernon Plaza early Tuesday reduced restaurants — including Donna's Cafe, a neighborhood fixture — to sopping, smoldering messes. Shattered attic windows framed views of gray sky, as flames appeared to have consumed the building roof.

Baltimore County voters will consider a referendum next week to require the county to change the way it determines salary increases and benefits for up to 3,000 employees, including emergency call dispatchers, health inspectors and code enforcement workers. The county firefighters and police are entitled to binding arbitration, a process that requires both the county and the union to abide by the decision of an independent third party on labor disputes. The ballot question would expand eligibility to "general" employees, a move that would make the county unusual among Maryland's jurisdictions.

Firefighters battling a blaze in a southwest Baltimore house early Saturday found a lifeless body inside, and the city firefighters' union said the closure of a nearby fire station affected the department's ability to respond quickly to the incident. In a statement e-mailed to reporters shortly after 12:30 a.m., Baltimore Firefighters Union Local 734 said fire and rescue crews had encountered heavy fire and smoke at the two-story brick dwelling on the 1900 block of Griffis Avenue.

The Baltimore County firefighters union assailed yesterday the promotion of two top-level firefighters with ties to County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger, fraying the union's strained relationship with the executive.The union -- which in recent years has picketed Ruppersberger over his salary offers and fought his efforts to restructure the department -- said qualified candidates were unfairly shut out of consideration for the $80,000 deputy chief jobs because the administration made its choices months before the official selection process began.

Baltimore County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger III has agreed to give pay raises to nearly the entire police force, angering two unions whose members are not faring nearly as well in his budget. The disgruntled unions, the firefighters union and the Federation of Public Employees, plan to picket the Towson courthouse Monday while Mr. Ruppersberger is presenting his second annual budget to the County Council -- his first major break with employee groups that all backed him in his 1994 campaign against former Executive Roger B. Hayden.

The Baltimore County Professional Fire Fighters union announced its endorsement of Kevin Kamenetz for Baltimore County Executive Thursday. Kamenetz, the Democratic nominee for county executive, beat out Joseph Bartenfelder in the primary and will face Republican candidate Kenneth Holt in November. Several organizations and politicians who backed Bartenfelder in the primary have announced their support for Kamenetz, a county councilman, including the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 4, which represents county police retirees and officers up to the rank of lieutenant.

Baltimore Fire Chief James Clack will seek pay increases next week for his top commanders, arguing that he is struggling to attract and retain leaders. Clack said he is proposing a formula that would make pay for his eight deputy chiefs and one assistant chief 15 percent more than the pay of battalion chiefs, who are unionized. Because top commanders cannot earn overtime, some earn less than battalion chiefs, he said. When two deputy chief positions opened recently, there were no internal applicants, forcing Clack to hire civilians.