Following months of negotiations between the city and its emergency responders, Mayor Paul Soglin announced Monday a tentative agreement with Madison police officers and firefighters to contribute more of their income to retirement plans in order to help offset a hefty city budget.
Soglin said Madison Police Department and Madison Fire Department workers agreed not only to shoulder a greater portion of their retirement funds, but also to bear the entire cost of their uniforms.
These measures, Soglin said, would allow the city to go forward with no cuts in basic city services.
“It means we will have no layoffs,” he said. “We are virtually assured of no furloughs.”
Under the agreement, Madison police officers and firefighters will be making 3 percent contributions to their retirement funds.
Soglin emphasized the cuts were something the two groups were not required to do.
“It takes into account their coworkers and the people they serve,” he said.
He said it was “unusual” to open up an established contract in this manner. He also said that they have created a service package that citizens of Madison deserve.
Soglin said that although he is still millions of dollars away from having a budget ready for submittal, he feels confident that such a budget is now achievable. He said that it was a significant achievement that both police officers and firefighters should be proud of.
Soglin said he would not release further details about the agreement because it still has to be ratified by both unions.
Joe Conway, president of the Madison Firefighters Union, also spoke at the conference. He said firefighters marched with public employees back in February when Wisconsinites came from all over the state to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill that effectively ended collective bargaining. He said this agreement took into account these other employees.
“We decided long ago, both of us, that this isn’t a time that you can stand on your own,” he said. “You have to work with everybody.”
He said both groups had been discussing the agreement for several months. He also emphasized his firm belief in the importance of collective bargaining in Wisconsin.
In Walker’s budget repair legislation, he excluded firefighters and police officers from the provisions limiting collective bargaining.
“When you treat your employees with respect, they get things done,” Conway said.
Brian Austin spoke on behalf of the Madison Police Union. He said the agreement was a “truly collaborative effort,” and also expressed his support for collective bargaining.
“The city came to us with a crisis. We responded to help, and that’s what we’re doing here today,” he said.
Two other officers spoke favorably of the agreement. They said that they hoped to make their department even better through it.
Soglin also agreed the negotiations were a prime example of the importance of collective bargaining in Madison and in Wisconsin.
He warned that if officials did not respect public service employees, they may leave the state or seek early retirement. He also said this workforce was filled with “fewer people of higher quality.”
“The notion that everyone has to suffer is misguided when we say that public employees are overcompensated,” he said.
He also expressed hope that this agreement might lead to “reconciliation and understanding as to how government works.”
