Pennsylvania Local Stands Ground Against Act 47

July 9, 2007 – The members of New Castle, PA Local 160 have dodged the state’s Act 47 bullet – for now. The state-appointed financial recovery coordinator had proposed reducing full-time fire department staff from 24 to four and then supplementing the remaining four with volunteer fire fighters. However, New Castle Mayor Wayne Alexander and the City Council have agreed to extend Local 160’s contract for seven years through 2013. Because the state cannot override existing contracts, the 20 fire fighters will stay on the job.

Act 47 became state law in 1987 to help financially distressed municipalities. The law allows for a state-appointed recovery plan coordinator to make budgetary cuts wherever he or she sees fit to assure the distressed city gets back on a financially solvent path. However, Act 47 does not allow for the overriding of existing contracts, but it does prevent the creation of new ones.

“One of the unique things about New Castle’s situation is that City typically requests financial recovery assistance through Act 47, but this time it was a citizens watch group that asked for help,” says Dave Eckman, president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association (PPFFA). “This is the first time a Pennsylvania municipality has been declared financially distressed in this manner.”

Unfortunately, enacting Act 47 is not unique in Pennsylvania. The PPFFA has created an Act 47 Strike Team comprised of six IAFF members, each located in a different area of the state. All Strike Team members live and work in Act 47 municipalities and, therefore, have experience in preventing drastic cuts to fire departments.

“The Strike Team encourages extended contracts, municipal financial analyses and political action,” says Eckman.

“We are fortunate enough to have a union friendly mayor,” says Richard Johnson, president of Local 160. “Knowing this and knowing that to protect our members it would be impossible not to give up something considering New Castle’s economic hardship. So we met with Mayor Alexander and asked him what he needed from us in order for him to agree to an extended contract. He told us he needed 10 percent of our operating budget. We agreed.”

Since Local 160’s contract is not set to expire until December 31, 2013, the City has more than six years to financially recover while fire fighter jobs remain secure.

“We are number-one per capita in the state for structure fires,” reports Johnson. “Public safety depends on us staying on the job.”

The IAFF is reviewing and providing comment on the state’s recovery plan released June 29 in preparation for a mid-July public hearing at which members of the Strike Team will offer testimony.

Meanwhile, an AFL-CIO coalition -- of which PPFFA is a member -- has been formed to amend Act 47. The group is not asking to repeal the law altogether, but rather allow collective bargaining during the Act 47 process. In addition, the coalition is seeking an oversight provision to ensure that municipalities do not remain financially distressed in order to avoid contract negotiations with employees and other obligations.