On August 31, 2012 the labor contract between the City of Lincoln and the Firefighters Union expired. As negotiations for the new contract move forward, LIBA calls upon the fire union to be reasonable and receptive to the elimination of “sweeteners” or contract perks. Many of these sweeteners go far and above what other city of Lincoln unions receive. Here are some examples of employee benefits and sweeteners that taxpayers provided in the 2011-2012 fire union contract:

• The city must pay 100% of an employee’s Health Care plan.

• The city must pay 100% of an employee’s Dental plan.

• The city must deposit $1,304 per employee, per year, into an account to pay for the employee’s POST-employment health care.

• The city must pay a 2% bonus every year, to every employee who has worked at least 5 years.

• Employees receive 12 sick days every year. Accrual of unused sick leave is unlimited and the city must pay the employee 60% of accrued sick leave upon retirement.

• The city must pay capped tuition reimbursement for courses in criminal justice, natural science, law, business administration, English, speech, computer science, and humanities.

• The city must allow union officials 1,500 hours of paid time off to conduct union business.If union negotiations took eight hours a day, this is equivalent to 187 days off with pay. (Other city of Lincoln unions average less than 200 hours)

• The city must facilitate and pay for the collection of the unions dues.

• The city must pay on-call employees for two hours of work, even if they don’t receive a call.

• Retired employees must be allowed to participate in the city’s health care plan. They must pay the city’s premium, but may use money deposited by the city into the employee’s account.

• If the Fire Chief is going to terminate an employee, that employee must be given 10 days’ notice prior to the firing.

• If an individual is assigned an official car, he/she cannot be required to wash it.

• If an employee is reprimanded, the reprimand must be removed from his/her personnel file after one year.

• The Fire Union controls the number of staff on duty each day. This was added to the contract just three years ago.

If these perks existed to make up for low salaries, one might not be as concerned. However, the average wage of a Lincoln Fire & Rescue employee is $75,750. This does not include the city’s contribution to the defined benefit retirement program or other benefits. By comparison, the Lincoln Police Department average wage is $63,888. Our Fire & Rescue employees deserve a fair salary and benefits package, however, we wonder if these contracts have become more than the community can afford.


LIBA studies and promotes these types of issues that are important to businesses and our community. If you have an interest in joining LIBA, please call me at 466-3419. LIBA membership is not restricted to just businesses.  We also have “individual” memberships for those who want to help influence our local government decisions.