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Number of days the North Hampton Professional Firefighters have been without a contract and counting...
Union has 'no confidence' in North Hampton selectmen
Lack of cooperation, communication cited
By Tamara Le
hamptonunion@seacoastonline.com
February 06, 2009 6:00 AM
NORTH HAMPTON - The International Association of Professional Firefighters union chapter in North Hampton has issued a vote of "no confidence" in the town's Board of Selectmen.
In a statement released to the press Tuesday evening, Local 3211 President Michael Tully said that, with "reluctance and great deliberation," the union's membership passed a no confidence vote for the first time since the inception of the local union chapter.
The Professional Firefighters cited four reasons for the decision.
First was, "The Select Board's unwillingness to meet in a timely manner for contract negotiations." This has to do with efforts on behalf of the local firefighters union to notify the Board of Selectmen in June 2007, a full year before their collective bargaining agreement would expire.
According to the statement, a meeting between the two parties did not take place until November 2007, because of the alleged "refusal" of the board, making "it virtually impossible to reach an agreement in a timely manner."
In addition, "the Professional Firefighters offered to settle a one-year agreement for a 2 percent increase with concurrent contract language, but was refused by the board," the statement indicated.
Additional attempts through the Fall of 2008 to negotiate, failed. According to the statement, negotiations stalled, "primarily because the Select Board would not accept a one-year deal."
This occurred despite the signing of an agreement for a one-year deal between the board and the police union for a 2.5-percent wage increase.
North Hampton firefighters are currently working without a contract.
Additional reasons cited for the no confidence vote included, "The board's unwillingness to fairly negotiate, their disregard for the safety of its citizens and employees, and statements and actions by the board believed to be unethical."
North Hampton Town Administrator Steve Fournier called those claims "preposterous." He said he was sitting next to board members during the deliberative session and did not hear anything that was unethical.
The statement, provided to the Hampton Union by Tully, stated additional cuts to their overtime budget would force the department to go against "nationally recognized safety standards."
"Despite the will of the people at Saturday's town deliberative session, rules were manipulated to overturn their choice after not returning to the meeting," Tully wrote. "Voters would be disenfranchised because a majority of the board members proclaimed they would refuse to put the money back in the department's budget."
A secret ballot vote at Saturday's deliberative session overturned a previous vote to restore $29,000 to the overtime budget. The vote was 39-37 on the secret ballot.
Selectman Michael Coutu was reached for comment but said he had not seen the IAFF's statement.
Further, Coutu said he could not comment, citing a standing "confidentiality agreement" regarding any and all contract negotiation details between the parties.
North Hampton Town Administrator Steve Fournier, also would not comment on the no confidence vote.
"We don't make a practice of negotiating contracts through the press," Fournier said.
Attempts to reach Board of Selectmen Chairman Emily Creighton were unsuccessful.
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North Hampton Professional Firefighters
