New Hampshire Firefighters Trade Columbus Day for 9/11 Pay

With little fanfare or public outcry, firefighters in Derry, N.H., officially received Sept. 11 holiday pay in an Oct. 7 vote.

While Peabody police officers ratified their contract days earlier on Oct. 2, they still await City Council approval.

Derry's seven-member town council approved the firefighters' contract two weeks ago, certifying the holiday before their counterparts 40 miles south.

Details of Peabody's police contract were made public last week. Among the perks, officers received a 13 percent pay increase over four years and increased bonuses for longevity, while agreeing to pay a larger portion of their health care costs and submitting to random drug tests.
The most controversial aspect of the contract was approval of Sept. 11 as a holiday. The decision gave Peabody officers their 14th holiday.

Unlike Peabody, Derry firefighters gave up Columbus Day as a holiday in exchange for Sept. 11.
"It was explained to us up front that it was a swap," said Kevin Coyle, Derry's council chairman pro tem. "I don't really have a problem if they take one from the others."

The New Hampshire firefighters receive 10 holidays in all, according to Garry Williams, president of the United Professional Firefighters of Derry.

He said holiday pay equals 30 percent of a week's pay for firefighters who work a holiday and 20 percent for those who don't.

Coyle said he had problems with other areas of his firefighters' contract, but not holidays, since the number didn't change.

He thought the town council's approval of Sept. 11 would have been a bigger issue if Derry firefighters had added the day rather than exchanging it.

"In (Peabody's) case, money was an issue," he said. "For us, it was a wash, in effect."
Derry firefighters and the town negotiated their contract over 18 months, according to Williams. Union members ratified their contract Sept. 9.

He said the idea of giving up another holiday for Sept. 11 went over well with fellow union members.

"They were 100 percent in agreement," Williams said. "They thought it was great."
While their counterparts in New York City may not receive Sept. 11 as a holiday, he hoped they would eventually. He also thought the nation should commemorate the day.
"I think the nation should celebrate it," the 29-year veteran firefighter said.

STACIE N. GALANG The Salem News, Beverly, Mass.

Exchange Students from China visit the Derry Fire Department, IAFF Local 4392

The China Exchange program began at Pinkerton Academy in 2004. We believe that China is going to have a major impact on our students lives and that the best way to educate students is to have an exchange program.

Not only does the program affect the students who actually travel to China but also their families, the entire school and as you found out with their visit, the local area as well. We have a sister school arrangement with Tanggu No. 1 School in Tianjin China. Tianjin is a city of 11 million people and is the major port city near Beijing. The program has been a huge success and has grown every year.

We send a group of Pinkerton Academy students over to China each April and they attend school for a week at our sister school, staying with Chinese host families, then they tour Beijing seeing the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Ti ananmen Square, Summer palace, the Great Wall and other sites; they also visit the city of Xian and see the TerraCotta Warrior museum and sights there.

Each fall our sister school sends a group of students here to Pinkerton Academy for a week where they go to our school and live with host families here. This years group was the largest so far with 16 students and two administrators and two teachers. In fact this recent group was the fourth Chinese exchange group to visit your Firestation and it is always a big hit with the Chinese. They usually do not have the opportunity to visit their fire stations like we do in America.

Lieutenant Ryan Ridley, with his daughter Meredith was a host student and his family had a young lady by the name of Wei Yue stay with them.

While here they visited Pinkerton Academy, the Derry Fire Department and the Derry Village Rotary. They met the Governor and toured the State house in Concord, visited the White Mountains, took the Cannon Mountain Tram and they also toured Boston and visited Harvard and MIT. The exchange students saw and did a lot while in our community. After the finished in New England they left for a tour of NYC, Philadelphia, Niagara Falls and Washington DC.

Local 4392 in action, reported by the Eagle Tribune

DERRY — A crash on Hampstead Road during the afternoon rush-hour sent three people to the hospital and closed a section of the busy road for more than an hour and a half yesterday.

The three people, a young boy and two women, were taken by ambulance to Parkland Medical Center, said Derry Fire Battalion Chief Jack Webb.

Although the victims' names were not available from police or fire officials last night, a Parkland nursing supervisor confirmed that Erin Manning, 30, of Danville was going to be transported to a Boston hospital for treatment of her injuries, including a broken leg.

She also said the boy was doing fine, and the second woman was treated and released. said the child's mother rode to the hospital with him.

Police closed a section of Hampstead Road, a busy shortcut road used by many motorists, near Warner Hill and Floyd roads for more than an hour and a half after the 4 p.m. crash. One vehicle, a blue sedan with heavy front-end damage, remained in the middle of the road while the other two had swerved off the road into the woods, a Volvo van flipping onto its side.

A sand-like mixture was spread across the roadway to soak up vehicle fluids. Car parts, including headlights and bumpers, were strewn across the road.

Kerry Vidnovic, 29, of Derry, a passenger in the white Hyundai driven by Manning, said her friend knew instantly she had broken her leg.

Both were wearing seat belts and their air bags deployed in the crash, Vidnovic said.
Vidnovic stood on the side of the road wiping a bloody nose as she waited for her boyfriend to pick her up.

"It was unbelievable," she said, describing the head-on accident between the other two vehicles that pushed the Volvo into their car. "There was no way we could avoid crashing into it.
No details were available from police on how the accident occurred.

"I'm counting my blessings that I wasn't seriously hurt," she said. "Thank God for the air bags and the seat belts we had on. But when the air bags opened up, it was like being punched in the face."
Anne Boule, 94 Hampstead Road, who lives near the corner where the crash took place, said accidents take place there often, especially during the winter when the road is slippery.

She said she and her husband heard a "loud boom" when the crash occurred.

Open Forum

IAFF Local 4392 are here to answer any questions the public may have. Please feel free to ask, we will try and answer any reasonable question with an open an honest answer.

The Town Council approved two contracts with fire department employees after an hour-long debate where the majority of residents questioned whether taxpayers could afford the deal in the current economic climate.

The public hearing was the first on a union contract to come before the Town Council, spurred by what many councilors and residents have labeled as a lavish deal when it comes to benefits and vacation time.

"I don't see how you can approve a multi-year contract on today's situation," said resident Joseph Dichiaro.

Fire Chief George Klauber and Human Resources Director Larry Budreau, the town's negotiators in the deal, defended the proposal, saying it fell under the parameters set by the council in 2006.
Gary Williams, president of the two fire unions, said he was relieved to have the debate come to an end after months of negotiations and one failed contract that the council denied in February.
"I'm pleased they stood behind their negotiating team," Williams said.

Councilors Kevin Coyle and Janet Fairbanks voted against both contracts with Councilor Brent Carney voting against only the contract with the fire officers.

Carney said the firefighters contract is more in line with town employees in other departments than the officers contract, which he classified as the most expensive contract to Derry residents. He said he would never vote for a contract that protected an entire union from layoffs.
"We need to have more flexibility in our budgets and that can only happen when personnel becomes a smaller percentage of budget, Carney said.

Budreau, the town's lead negotiator, said he received directives from the Town Council in 2006 prior to negotiations that included limiting cost increases to 3.5 percent. The current contract met those goals, according to Budreau.

"Though not every town councilor will be happy with every phrase of these contracts, I believe they meet the goals of the entire Town Council," Budreau said.
The two councilors who voted against the contracts disagreed, saying Klauber and Budreau didn't accomplish all of the goals.

Coyle said other parameters were discussed and not met, such as decreasing the insurance buyback and offering similar benefits as town employees in other departments.
He criticized the contracts for not allowing the town to subcontract services without union approval, offering employees too much earned time and proficiency pay.
Fairbanks said she had tried to become a part of the negotiating team and was discouraged from participating.

Many residents criticized the proposal for including an insurance buyback, but Williams said that only 12 employees accept the deal and it saves the town $12,000.

Barry Philips, a retired firefighter who spent 17 years with the East Derry Fire Department, said a contested agreement that gives employees hired prior to July 1, 2005, the guarantee that they can't be laid off is left over from the consolidation of the two departments.

Only one person is still employed with the town who was hired under the now defunct East Derry Fire Department.

"That was a major component in the consolidation," said Philips, who emphasized that the agreement doesn't cost taxpayers a dime.

Chairman Rick Metts, who supported both contracts, said he understands that times are tough for people, but the town has a responsibility to bargain in good faith by the parameters agreed upon by the 2006 council. Metts, who said he can't even afford health insurance for himself, said the deal contained items he was unhappy with, but that he would support the contract because it was the right thing to do.

Councilor Neil Wetherbee cautioned that if the council didn't approve this contract, the next deal could be even worse.

"At some point, you have to go back to June 30, 2007 and renegotiate a new deal," he said.