Trenton Firefighters Avoid Layoffs

Three seasoned firefighters have sacrificed a year-and-a-half of retirement to save the jobs of three younger firefighters.

After meeting in closed session for about 40 minutes Trenton City Council members approved a one-year extension to the Trenton Firefighters Union's contract Monday night at . Also, an agreement made it possible for three firefighters to retire early, so three firefighters with the lowest seniority could keep their jobs.

The contract approved by council members is the same as last year according to Rick Benedetti, engineer with the and president of the Trenton Firefighters Union Local 2701. Last year the union agreed to a one-year, 5 percent reduction in salaries, health care and retirement.

In order to avoid the layoffs of three firefighters, as proposed by , council members agreed to allow three firefighters to retire early. Each firefighter has 23.5 years on the job and will be allowed to retire a year-and-a-half early. The minimum years allowed before retirement is 25.

The men are to receive pensions only for the number of years in which they worked for Trenton. They will not get the full 25-year pension.

There were four firefighters eligible for the early retirement option, but only three have agreed to retire.

The firefighters retiring in June are Capt. Alec Lesko, Capt. Dave Michalak and Capt. Jeff Bonkoski.

The cost to the city to allow the three captains to retire is about $13,000, but City Administrator Bob Cady said it was a small cost to pay to save three firefighters' jobs. The money is paid to the retirement system to make up for the three men not paying into the system the remaining year-and-a-half.

The men do not lose anything in their retirement plan except the remaining time on their pension after they retire.

"They are serious about negotiations and what’s best for the community,” Brown said. “They are the first group to agree to a settlement.”

Trenton Police Department contracts are still being negotiated.

“We think it’s something that we can deal with,” Benedetti said. “The biggest hurdle we are going to have to overcome is keeping a seven-man minimum staffing.”

There are no contractual agreements that require a minimum amount of firefighters working at any given time.

Brown said city administrators can choose to go to six men if, for instance, overtime becomes too costly to the city.

Benedetti said he wants to ensure that seven firefighters work each day. He added there would be three men at Station 2 and four at Station 1. Trenton has two fire stations to provide faster service to different parts of the city.

“The more (firefighters) you have the better service you can give,” Benedetti said.

Councilwoman MaryEllen McLeod thanked the firefighters union for bargaining in good faith.

“They are a very reasonable and very cohesive group,” McLeod said. “We all admire them.”

Trenton Patch will be blogging live tonight from a special budget session at 8 p.m. at City Hall. Be sure to check it out at www.trenton.patch.com.