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opinion guest_columns
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Union President Worth It
By Lt. Emily Kane
Paramedic Station 15
I am not one to write letters to the newspaper, but the article on the front page of Monday's Albuquerque Journal prompted me to respond with a different perspective, the view of an Albuquerque firefighter and member of the Local 244 executive board. The article was titled “Taxpayers Foot $81K Salary for Union Chief.”
The salary for the Local 244 union president — not union “chief” — was legally negotiated by a team of firefighters, including myself, during our last contract negotiations. This was approved by both our own union members and the city of Albuquerque. In fact, City Councilor Sally Mayer should have been well aware of this when she voted to approve the current contract a year and a half ago.
Negotiating for the city to pay the salary of the highest position in the union, the union president, is a traditional subject of bargaining many years old. The way the current salary was determined went like this: The majority of our members are firefighters in the Albuquerque Fire Department. In the past, the salary for the position of union president was paid by the city at the current rank/pay rate of the person who occupied that elected position. Many were lieutenants and captains when they became union president. They were paid at their lieutenant's or captain's regular rate of pay, to do nothing but labor relations work.
President Diego Arencón was a firefighter when elected. That position earns $51,000 annually. The members believed that a firefighter functioning as their union president should earn as much as the highest rank represented by the union, and thus the proposal was made.
The duties performed by the union president are multiple, complex and demanding of time and energy like no other fire department job. A good union president represents the interests of the majority, protects the rights of all and stands up for fairness and equity of treatment. He or she upholds the contract, knows and understands the department's standard operations and the personnel rules and regulations while mindful that local, state and federal employment laws are followed. Arencón has done a remarkable job and has saved the city thousands of dollars and hours of pay by improving labor relations and conscientiously mediating many settlements and compromises between employees and city management.
It matters not whether Mayer thinks our union president “should” get the salary we negotiated for his position, the fact is he does because we believed it was important, and like him or not, he earns it. By the way, the taxpayers, who incidentally foot the bill for all 5,000 city employees, including the city councilors' salaries, should be very glad and thankful that someone is doing such a great job.
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