KOOTENAI COUNTY - There is good reason that all local fire districts belong to the International Association of Fire Fighters union, according to Jim Washko.

"It was developed to protect the firefighters, to make sure we're covered in labor and health and wellness," said Washko, commissioner of Northern Lakes Fire Protection District.

All 30 paid employees at his district who are eligible for the union are members, he said, as are the six employees at Timberlake Fire district, which Northern Lakes manages.

Union membership is not required, Washko said. Idaho is a right-to-work state, meaning that union membership is optional.

The union is popular, Washko said, because of its focus on improving safety measures and staffing.

"It (the labor agreement) states how many people will show up to work, and a certain amount of people every day," he said.

For instance, Northern Lakes' 2008-2011 collective bargaining agreement - which is in effect until Sept. 30 this year - calls for a minimum of eight firefighters/EMTs or firefighter paramedics on shift.

It also protects firefighters against potential abuse from district commissioners, Washko said.

For instance, the agreement establishes management rights and a grievance policy where employees can request for the union to appeal commissioners' conduct.

"There have been cases over the years where commissioners try to run the department - I'm not saying Northern Lakes specifically, but they'd really damage the ability to serve the citizens and the public," Washko said. "This has protection for all sides. It protects the guys to make sure they're treated fairly, and the citizens, to ensure they're hired to provide services."

Firefighters are looking to the union to push for more safety standards, Washko added, like increasing the number of staff that mans fire engines.

"Going from two to three people is almost a 65 percent increase in the ability to do the job," Washko said. "The effectiveness increases quite significantly."

The district hasn't had to consider making any recession-related cutbacks in its labor agreement, he added, thanks to the foresight of putting money away for big projects before the economy floundered.

"We're pretty much holding status quo. We have some major needs in the future for more capital expenditures," he said. "Right now we're in the process of building a new station 2, and the reason we're able to do that is we got a grant for 51 percent of the money, and have the other moneys in savings."

Firefighters work 56-hour weeks, Washko said. At Northern Lakes, that is divided into daylong shifts - working 24 hours on, then 24 hours off, another on, off, on, and then four days off.

Three groups of firefighters work these shifts on rotating days.

"That allows us to provide coverage 365 days a year," Washko said. "You need a pretty understanding wife or husband to do this. Sometimes you're away from the family during special times."

He added that Northern Lakes averages 20 calls a day - sometimes up to 50 or more during a storm or emergency situation.

It's a myth, Washko added, that firefighters sit around when they aren't responding to calls.

There is usually an hour or two between calls, he said, during which firefighters are keeping up equipment, studying for mandated continuing education for paramedic and EMT skills, and training to meet insurance rating standards.

"Everybody thinks they're playing checkers," Washko said.

Union dues are about $66 a month, Washko said.

The union is paid solely from dues, he added, and not with taxpayer money.

"Employees get paid by taxpayers, so if you look at it from a big picture, taxpayers pay for all of it," he said. "These guys get a wage and choose to be in the union and so they pay for it from their paycheck, post tax dollars."

Northern Lakes' union has existed since 1999, Washko said, adding that the fire district has only recently switched from a volunteer to paid employee district.

Participating in the union is worth affecting employees' bottom line, he added.

"It creates a safety net for firefighters," he said.

The annual salary base wage for district employees is:

* $62,522 for a captain

* $59,545 for a lieutenant

* $49,222 for highest level firefighter

There is a paramedic stipend of $5,900 and an EMT license stipend of $7,015.

Vacation is accrued at 24 hours a month after five years, to a maximum of 312 hours.

Employees have 11 paid holidays, and are paid 6 hours per holiday.

The district pays 100 percent of medical and dental insurance premiums for employees and dependents.

TIMBERLAKE FIRE DISTRICT

The Timberlake Fire district agreement requires two full time employees to be on duty at all times.

Dues are $50 a month. Its union is four years old, as it also just switched to professional firefighters.

District hourly wages are:

* $11.30 for senior firefighter

* $12.06 for shift officer

Overtime pays time and a half after an employee works in excess of 212 hours in any 28-day work period. Employees have 10 paid holidays.

Serving for 60 months accrues vacation at 204 hours per year.

The district pays 100 percent of an employee's health care premiums, and 65 percent of an employee's dependent premium. The district pays 100 percent of an employee's dental premium.

KOOTENAI FIRE & RESCUE

At Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, the IAFF has helped to achieve better staffing, said spokesman Larry Sande.

"When I joined the department, we had a total of six personnel, with two on shift at a time," Sande said, adding that there have been no suggestions to suspend the union during controversy over teacher unions' bargaining rights. "Now we're up to 14 personnel staffing three stations. Having the union gave us the opportunity to work with admin and the elected officials to make decisions about staffing."

While they didn't gain any wage increases this year under the four-year collective bargaining agreement signed in 2010, Sande added, the employees were glad to be part of the discussion and understood that sacrifice was needed.

"At the end of the process, we said, 'OK, fine, we see your concerns and those concerns have some validity in this climate. How would it look to many people if we were getting pay raises when everybody else is out of work?'" he said. "We happily agreed to no increase."

A pay increase is scheduled for the next year, he said, and the fire district can ask to amend wages at any time.

Like Northern Lakes' and Timberlake's labor agreements, the KCFR version has a no-strike clause.

It's worth giving up, Sande said.

"Anything in our labor agreement can be opened by either side if necessary," he said. "If we did hit a financial bump in the road, they could say 'Hey, we want to get together to discuss wages again. We can't even afford what we're paying now.'"

All 46 employees eligible for the union are members, he said, adding that employees like the four chiefs, administrative clerks, mechanic and logistics manager are not eligible.

The union has existed since about the late '70s, he estimated.

Dues are about $45 a month, he said. None of the union is funded by tax dollars.

The hourly wage rate for 40-hour employees at KCFR, which includes administrative staff and public education staff, is:

* $25.29 for a firefighter with five years' experience

* $22.98 for an EMT with five years service

* $37.11 for a captain with 10 years service

* $40.82 for a battalion chief with 10 years service

All these employees are entitled to time and a half for overtime.

Hourly rates for 56-hour employees:

* $17.01 for a firefighter with five years' experience/ $18.75 after 10 years

* $24.97 for a captain with 10 years experience

* $24.74 for a battalion employee with 10 years service

KCFR pays 100 percent of all health care premiums for employees with no dependents. Those with one or more dependents pay $20 a month, covering medical, dental and vision.

Each full-time employee gets nine paid holidays per year, plus an additional personal leave day for a total 10 paid holidays.

Employees who work 56 hours accrue 12 hours of sick leave per pay period. Five hours are accrued per pay period for 40-hour employees. After 1,440 hours, employees get one additional hour of vacation for every three hours of sick leave.

Washko hopes folks think of firefighters as an insurance policy.

"Nobody calls us to say 'hi.' They call us because they've got a problem," he said. "People call the fire department for everything nowadays. It's a huge list of what we actually do for the public. This is what we chose to do, what we train to do, and we do it aggressively and to the best of our ability."

Why aren't school districts

part of this series?

n The Press published a separate series Feb. 13-15 about Kootenai County's three school districts and the Idaho Education Association, including a look at wages and benefits. Here are links to those stories:

http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_da2907d5-b5c1-5284-baab-6447fe938032.html

http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_ed2ca840-e543-5889-ac86-c8ba6fd9736e.html

http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_fc2da579-5e7b-5111-ae15-389ad2471a5d.html