Councilors Meet Tonight For Vote On New London Firefighters' Union Agreement

The City Council will hold a special meeting tonight to again consider a tentative agreement with the New London firefighters' union that Mayor Daryl Finizio says is necessary to avoid layoffs.

The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at . Councilors will meet in executive session with representatives from the law director's office and mayor's office to discuss contract negotiations with New London Firefighters Local 1522. A public vote will decide whether to approve the agreement.

Council President Michael Passero said he scheduled the meeting at the request of Chief Administrative Officer Jane Glover after she informed him that the administration had reached a new tentative agreement with the union. The conditions of the agreement formerly considered by the council included:

• Reducing staffing levels per shift from 18 to 16
• Rescinding a decision to defund , which would include 24 layoffs, and the promise that no layoffs will occur in the during Finizio's first term in office.
• Transferring all bargaining unit members from a 401(a) retirement plan to the Connecticut Municipal Employees Retirement System, with the agreement that the processing period for the transfer to such a pension plan is usually about six months
• Having firefighters forego two scheduled pay increases amounting to 4.25 percent
• Permanently eliminating one fire inspector's position through attrition
• Setting up meetings between the union and city to discuss issues of hiring levels, with an agreement that no labor or legal actions will be filed by either side until at least six meetings have taken place
• An agreement that the union will support the city in the budget process and any referendum

The council on a vote to approve the agreement on July 2, and decided on July 16 to . Opponents said they had not had enough time to review the agreement and wanted assurances that a transfer to CMERS would result in long-term savings. Council President Michael Passero has recused himself from the votes, since he is employed as a firefighter.

Passero said he will not be attending the meeting and that Council President Pro Tempore Wade Hyslop will be leading the meeting.

Finizio after the July 2 vote, but said they would have to take place to ensure a balanced 2013 fiscal year budget after the July 16 vote. The layoffs were again postponed until after Aug. 6 after the union in the challenging the layoffs. A hearing on the injunction has been on Monday at the court.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.