St. Johns County Firefighters At Odds With County

Firefighters Maintain County Is Not Honoring Their Contract

St. Johns County, FL – As the time nears for cost of living increases, St. Johns County Firefighters are once again going toe to toe with county administrators. The firefighters maintain that they have a contract in place and the county is not honoring it.

The county has asked that firefighters fore go cost of living increases for the second time in two years, citing budgetary constraints and the poor economy. Firefighters went without a cost of living increase last year, with the cost of living percent figured at -.4%, firefighters that were not due step increases and only eligible for the cost of living increase took a loss in their pay as a result. This years increase on average would be 2.7% increase in income.

The county has voiced their intention to IAFF Local 3865 officers to not give those increases this year. While this is a decision that was made to withhold those increases for all county employees, the contract that the county administrator agreed to contains an article that addresses this increase as well as other pay concerns. County administrators requested that the union lock this article out during contract negotiations to not allow modification by either side. The union maintains that this denial of cost of living increases is a modification of the contract by the county.

With the contract between St. Johns County and the IAFF Local 3865 coming to an end this year, union officers and firefighters alike fear that this is just the start of an up hill battle when negotiations begin for the new contract.

This decision by administrations comes on the heals of a statement by Doug Timms, director of the Office of Management and Budget, “Too many local governments are draining their reserves right now,” Timms said. “We’re not doing that.”

The county boasts reserves of nearly $137 million that they call a “rainy day fund” yet they feel the 2.7% cost of living increase for firefighters who risk their lives daily is not warranted. One has to wonder what county administrators feel would warrant the increase.

We will be following this and the contract negotiations and will bring you the news as it becomes available. In the meantime, if you know or run into any of the administrators in St. Johns County, why not give them your opinion of the situation and remind them how they got their job.

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