ROCKLAND, Maine — The Rockland City Council unanimously approved Monday night a contract with its firefighters that the city manager said will offer the community long-term savings through a shift in health insurance.
City Manager James Chaousis told councilors Monday night that when the city made the first proposal to firefighters earlier this year, an agreement did not look promising. But through negotiations, the members of the union agreed to the change in health insurance plans.
“I want to thank the firefighters for answering the call, literally and figuratively, all the time,” he said.
He said this agreement is a demonstration that the city can find innovative ways to structure wages and benefits.
The manager said the pressure that the economy places on municipal budgets is immense, but the additional pressure of health insurance premium increases was equally daunting. He said the city pays $1,362,000 for health insurance premiums for employees, which represents 13 percent of the entire municipal budget.
He said city employees, management and the council are exhausted in dealing with cuts every year to produce a reasonable tax rate. He said addressing the issue of health insurance will start changing that trend.
The biggest change in the firefighter contract involved switching health insurance coverage from one Maine Municipal Association Health Trust program to a different MMA plan with higher deductibles. The city will create health reimbursement accounts, however, to help cover deductibles for employees. Employees will be responsible for the first $200 of deductibles and $400 if they have children or other family members on the insurance.
The city will continue to pay 80 percent of the premiums and the employee the remaining 20 percent.
The contract also calls for 2 percent pay raises for the firefighters in each of the three years of the agreement that runs through June 30, 2018.
Rockland Mayor Frank Isganitis said Monday that the contract was a win-win.
The nonunionized workers in the city also are switching to the higher deductible Maine Municipal Association insurance plan and health reimbursement arrangements also are being set up for them. That transition of plans will take effect Aug. 1. The manager said the city will save $180,000 over the three years through the change and employees will have more money in their pockets.
The city is still negotiating with the Teamsters union, which represents police officers, public works employees and clerical workers.
Joseph Piccone, the business agent for the Teamsters, said the health insurance provided to its members is far superior to the plan offered by the city through Maine Municipal Association. He said one of the biggest differences is that vision and dental coverage are part of the Teamster package, while with Maine Municipal, dental and vision coverage cost extra for employees.
Chaousis agreed that the Teamsters health insurance is a superior plan for the employees but said it also was a costlier plan.