HARRISBURG — For years, members of the Emmaus Fire
Department have staffed shifts at the borough-owned fire station and have been
paid with tax dollars earmarked in the borough's budget. It was a way to ensure
fire protection at a time when the number of volunteers continues to dwindle.
Some of the roughly 30 firefighters, who say they receive
paychecks and tax forms from the borough and have been issued
employment-related policies from the administration, say they are borough
employees who should have the right to unionize.
The borough's administration is challenging those
contentions, saying that while the borough provides funding to the nonprofit
organization, it has no control over the department's members or operations.
Borough attorneys say the firefighters are and always have been volunteers.
It will be up to a Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board
hearing examiner to weed through those arguments and decide a complicated case
that could have costly implications for the borough and for communities
throughout Pennsylvania that have similar arrangements.
Attorneys for the two sides — the borough had a team of
three lawyers — squared off in Harrisburg during a more than six-hour hearing
Thursday, after which hearing officer John Pozniak said he would issue his
ruling at a later date. He'll have to decide if the firefighters are borough
employees. Attorneys from both sides plan to file written arguments within the
next two weeks.
The hearing came as a result of the Pennsylvania
Professional Fire Fighter Association's petition to the Labor Relations Board
seeking certification to represent the firefighters based at the Emmaus
station.
Matthew Areman, a Philadelphia attorney, who represents the
union, argued that the Emmaus firefighters are paid rates set by the borough,
have their taxes withheld by the borough, and are issued W2 forms from the
borough each year.
His case was pinned on the testimony of two firefighters —
Shawn Lubenetski and Troy Raab — both of whom detailed the general operations
of the department, based on Sixth Street in the borough, and how the members
are paid.
"It's quite clear that the borough is the employer of
these firefighters," he said.
Borough attorneys Jeffrey Dimmich and Thomas Dinkelacker
argue that the borough merely distributes a lump sum to the fire department
each year to use at its discretion and that Borough Council has no control over
the department's operations.
They suggested a borough-based volunteer firefighter
organization set up to accept money that the state issues to volunteer fire
organizations would no longer be eligible for those funds if it becomes a
unionized and paid borough department. The local organization received about
$82,000 last year.
"The fire department is a private, nonprofit
corporation," Dimmich said. "It has its own rules and regulations,
bylaws and officers. The borough has nothing to do with setting wages for the
firemen."
The borough earmarks a little more than $500,000 in its
annual budget for firefighting services. Of that, about $269,000 goes toward
stipends for firefighters.
Even if the firefighter union gets the approval to represent
the firefighters, a union isn't necessarily a slam dunk. The firefighters still
would have to get a majority to vote in favor of the move.
Borough Manager Shane Pepe testified that the department
chooses and disciplines its members, arranges schedules and has its own bylaws.
He said neither he nor council members have a key to the fire station. He said
he is involved "very little" with the department.
The fire department has two members — Chief James Reiss and
secretary Victoria Schadler — who are employees of the borough and answer to
the borough's administration. Reiss works 25 hours as a maintenance worker and
serves as the department's administrator. Schadler handles payroll, scheduling
and other duties. The borough owns the fire station property and some of the
equipment firefighters use.
Firefighters are paid based on the number of shifts they
work. They typically request certain days each month and Schadler arranges the
schedule. They use time cards to punch in and out and each month receive a
check for the time they put in.
The firefighters testified that members apply and are
selected by a committee of the fire department. Borough Council eventually
takes official action to appoint those members. The pay varies and depends on
the amount of training firefighters receive in a particular year.
They said the borough issued to them personnel policies,
light-duty policies, and policies related to sexual harassment and use of drugs
and alcohol.
Pepe said all people who work in and volunteer for the
borough and use borough property are given those policies. He said the borough
was forced to enact a light-duty policy by its insurance carrier, which
threatened to drop its workers' compensation coverage because of a large number
of claims.
It's not clear what financial impact a unionized fire
department would have on the borough. Wages and benefits could be determined by
an arbitration panel. The borough's unionized police department, which has 18
officers, costs about $2 million annually.
Source: Morningcall.com
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