The Martin County Commissioners will probably vote to ratify the IAFF contract
proposal.  If they do, they will cast a vote against the taxpayers and ignore the
recommendations of County Staff.  What motive would the Commissioners possibly
have, but a political one?

The contract proposal calls for a 5% "merit" increase complemented by a 3%
across-the-board wage adjustment, for a whopping total of 8%.  In reality, the merit
increase is a "step" wage adjustment automatically awarded to any IAFF employee, on
the anniversary date of hire so long as he'she is currently employed and not on probation.
Does that sound like "merit" to you?

In future negotiations, this automatic step should be adjusted to a lower figure (3%) to
allow for more latitude in rewarding merit and to make selective spot adjustments to
achieve parity with neighboring or competing jobs.

The MCTA is of the opinion that the commission should follow staff's recommendation
to award the 5% step, plus 1% merit, plus adjustments of specific entry-level wages to
achieve balance in our marketplace.  Such adjustments are management's way to correct
specific pay deficiencies gleaned from wage surveys.  The union's approach typically is to
negotiate all pay adjustments across-the-board, which in this contract means increasing
the pay of people at the top end of the payroll (already judged to be adequate) as well as
the pay of those employees at the bottom end or entry-level positions where the real need
exists.

The difference between 6% and 8% does not sound like a lot of money, but in the case of
this contract, the impact is approximately $330,000 per year compounded over a
three-year period, increasing out already fat budget by another million dollars.

Taxpayers are not satisfied with Commissioners' platitudes, such as "When I call 911, I
want to be sure my call is answered by a skilled person".  Our emergency staff is skilled,
and will continue to be well-compensated for their work.  However, when other county
employees ponder the excessive contract awards by our Commissioners to the IAFF, they
may be getting the wrong message.  This is especially true with the Sheriff's deputies
who will soon vote whether or not to stay independent or join with the PBA.

It should be remembered that a union won't get what management is unwilling or unable
to give.  Also, an employee can represent him/herself  better on an individual basis than
through a union spokesperson, and only if management takes the time to listen.  Good
employee relations and dialogue with management saves each affected employee one to
two hours pay per month in union dues.  That explains why increasingly smaller portions
of the work force have chosen to be unionized.  Finally, although it is assumed that each
successive contract will be better than the last, this just isn't so.  Each time a new contract
is negotiated, all elements of the existing contract are "on the table" and at risk.  These
are the facts of life. 

Martin County has a compensation policy designed to attract and retain qualified
employees to provide taxpayers (customers) with an acceptable level of service.  To do
any more or less is unacceptable.

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Martin County Utilities, in need of office and systems electronic controls space that is
hurricane resistant, decided they could use an obsolete water storage tank at the north
county plant, which was built of 24" reinforced concrete rather than build a new building
at considerable cost savings.  It is under design now.  The Utilities Director will provide
us with cost comparisons soon.  Occasionally we have reason to applaud some creative
cost saving ideas, and we enjoy bringing them to your attention.