Collective bargaining represents a form of organization, composed of several workers, acting in the name of all the workers of an organization, having the responsibility of negotiating the terms and conditions of employees’ work, which result in a signed agreement attesting the organization’s recognition of the worker’s activities, rights and responsibilities or other negotiated benefits (International Association of Fire Fighters, 1998). Among the activities involved in the collective bargaining and related with the labor law there is also the contract negotiation.
Negotiating the labor contract implies designating a negotiating committee that, based on the general decision of all the organization’s workers, will design a first contract that they will present to the employer within the negotiation meeting (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor, 2008). Depending on the level of disagreement between the employer and the collective bargaining committee on the working contract’s points proposed by the employees’ representatives, there can be held multiple meetings until reaching an agreement (International Association of Fire Fighters, 1998). In fire service domain, the labor contract covers aspects such as the working hours, the wages, benefits, discipline or safety, among other working conditions and once both sides agree on the working contract, a local responsible is assigned for monitoring the contract’s implementation and for indicating when and if violations of the agreement occur (International Association of Fire Fighters, 1998).
Therefore, the collective bargaining’s responsibility when negotiating the labor contract should be aligned to the labor law, but it should also, if the negotiations allow, contain other contractual arrangements, which can refer to, for instance, the number of days off available for workers depending on their seniority or the inclusion of more vacation days for the entire organization.
In fire service institutions, the work contract and the manner in which it is negotiated among the collective bargaining committee and the employer can affect the community in which the fire service activates.
As such, the fire fighters’ wages represent a reflection of the community tax payers and of the tax value, so that when their salaries increase it implies a tax increase also, which might generate in inconveniences from the communities’ tax payers (Antonellis, 2012). In this context, the negotiation activities of fire service representatives in the collective bargaining process is reported to the local budget of the communities in which they activate and the requests stipulated in the contract proposed by the workers’ representatives should take this aspect into consideration in order to be considered a realistic proposal.
As such, the International Association of Fire Fighters (1998) indicates that when negotiating the working contract, the negotiating committee must apply a concise and consistent documentation assessing the financial health of the municipality in which it activates, the economic conditions, wage rates, as well it must provide comparing data of other fire fighter departments, which will confer the committee a realistic context of obtaining its goals.
Similarly, when negotiating the number of the days off of the workers or the annual vacation days, fire services impact the community, as too many days off for many workers in the same time might lead a decreased responsiveness of the fire service to act in an emergency fire cases. Therefore, such a situation affects the community, which entitles the community’s right to participate in the fire service contract negotiation process. However, in the case of a bereavement situation or when losing a coworker as a result of experiencing a traumatic death, the specificities of a fire department impose that the affected worker should take as many days off as needed, either to return earlier to work, either to prolong his/her mourning period through days off, because, although a fire fighter’s prolonged leave might affect the line-of-duty, his/her presence at work might also impact the fire department’s activities, because the individual might not be emotionally prepared to face the duties of the fire service and can produce more damage present than absent (Antonellis, 2012).
The negotiation process of the working contract may be subjected to delays or prolonged discussions and it may even face breakdowns, but in each case, the activity of the fire fighter department should not in any way interfere with the community’s well-being (International Association of Fire Fighters, 1998).
Antonellis (2012) advices that it should be in everyone’s interest and benefit to create working relations with the community and the labor union, framed possibly within a partnership aimed at improving the communication between the actors involved in the bargaining process and also aimed on collaborating for providing “the best possible service for less”.
For strengthening the labor relations between the community and the fire service, it is recommended that the local fire service should get involved in community activities meant to raise money for a community goal or for charity or to generate awareness on the safety procedures or to inform the population on how to act in emergency situations (International Association of Fire Fighters, 1998). Such activities are likely to contribute to an improved communication between the fire service labor union and the community, understanding each other’s needs and how they can each contribute to accomplishing each other’s goals.
References
Antonellis, P., J. (2012) Labor relations for the fire service. Tulsa, Oklahoma, PennWell Corporation.
International Association of Fire Fighters (1998) The collective bargaining process. Otawa, International Association of Fire Fighters.
Pride, W., Hughes, R. & Kapoor, J. (2008) Business looseleaf version. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company.
