MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Morgantown Fire Civil Service Commission heard about six hours of testimony Wednesday in the retaliation claim by city firefighters against the city.
The hearing is in response to a legal fight over pay, benefits and holiday compensation that has been going on since the summer of 2019.
“We want to work with the city to get some solutions here, so we don’t just continue the legal battles” president of the International Association of Firefighters Mitchell Beall said. ” Nobody wants to be here.”
Attorneys for firefighters told the commission the new pay policy eliminates the master firefighter, a pay grade earned at the ten year service mark, hazard pay, longevity pay and shift differential pay. Firefighters also said the plan severely reduces their paid time off and questioned how the base pay rates in the study were calculated.
Kathy Pineault, Morgantown payroll manager, could not explain where the base rates to compute firefighter salary came from, but confirmed the rates were used to calculate pay for the GovHR study for payroll changes that went into effect July 1, 2022.
She acknowledged the new policy eliminated sick time and merged vacation and paid time off into a “Unified Paid Time Off (PTO) system. The new policy also caps PTO at 360 hours.
According to Beall, firefighters work a 56 1/2 hour week while regular city employees work a 40-hour week. Beall believes firefighters should proportionally be able to earn more PTO, but that’s not the case. An employee working 40-hours can earn up to 240 PTO hours each year and can bank another 80 hours to carry into the next year. Beall said firefighters can earn up to 360 hours, but must use all the hours in the current year.
Assistant City Manager Emily Muzzarelli also acknowledged the changes to the payroll systems questioned why other city employees are not offered hazard pay. She said other city workers like at the Morgantown Municipal Airport and Public Works employees removing homeless encampments work under similar conditions. Additionally, she pointed out that workers from Code Enforcement and the Parking Authority are increasingly faced with threats of violence.
Bill Kawecki was mayor when council passed the master firefighter pay class in 2017, an extra $1.09-per hour recognizing ten years of service. During testimony Wednesday Kawecki referred to the move as a way to make the city an “employer of choice.”
“Everybody else before July that was at 10 years got the $1.09-per hour,” Beall said. ” Now, a firefighter that was hired the same year as me does not get it. How is that fair?’
Prior to July 1, firefighters received 14 paid holidays over the course of the year that were “floating” days off. Because some firefighters are required to work holidays the time was portable. A firefighter could redeem a Christmas holiday in 2022 for a day off in February of 2023- that is no longer offered.
Kawecki said in his testimony that the hearing was the first he had been informed the master firefighter pay class was no longer being offered.
“Now, they’ve taken all that time away from us and they’re saying we’re going to pay you a premium for that time,” Beall said. “which I understand under state code you can do that, however you’ve always historically given it to us.”
Along with Beall, there were about 25 retired and current firefighters at the hearing.
“It’s sad, we go to the city and we try to talk them about it,” Beall said. “You go into these hearings and all you hear is, “I’ve never heard that, this is the first time that’s been presented to me.”
According to Beall, each Morgantown firefighter has made a commitment to the city and in turn they have asked for stability and a retirement.
“If I leave before 20-years all the years I’ve spent I don’t get a cent of it- I don’t get my pension,” Beall said. ” The only way I get a pension is if I stay 20-years, so we are here and we want to be here.”
The hearing will resume on Dec. 8.