From Staff Reports
The
APFA released the following statement on its Facebook page:
"Today marks a historic milestone in the long history of the Apopka Fire Department. Over the past two days, your Apopka Firefighters have cast their votes and officially fulfilled their part in ratifying the first-ever Collective Bargaining Agreement for the Apopka Fire Department since its founding in 1882.
If ratified by the City Council on September 18th, this agreement will bring our firefighters' wages and benefits up to competitive levels with those of surrounding communities. Before this, our base wages had remained stagnant for five years, and our paramedic incentive had not been improved in over 20 years. Our firefighters have faced challenges, watching other departments make steady progress, and we have, unfortunately, lost excellent firefighters to those municipalities. We aim to reverse this trend, ensuring we retain our best and attract the highest quality personnel to serve our City.
Reaching this point has been a challenging journey, requiring years of effort to create something so important from scratch. As your Union Board, we are incredibly grateful to our brothers and sisters at AFD for their trust, patience, and solidarity throughout this process. We also owe a debt of gratitude to many others who supported us along the way.
First, thank you to our current and former members, and to our contract committee members, with special recognition to Pablo Echevarria for his early contributions. We are also deeply grateful to the community members, Apopka news outlets, and the Duran family, who spoke on our behalf, met with council members, and sent emails in support. Thank you to interim Fire Chief Sanchez for allowing a smooth and professional voting process.
A special thank you goes to the exceptional leadership of the State and International Union, including Adam Seithel, Walt Dix, and Wayne Bernasoka. We are also incredibly appreciative of our amazing and patient attorney, Rich Siwica. Our heartfelt thanks extend to our brothers and sisters who helped us along the way, including Ron Glass, Jimmy Reyes, and all the Union leaders from Orlando, Orange County, Reedy Creek, Ocoee, Seminole County, Winter Park, Osceola County, Volusia County, and beyond.
There are so many more who helped us along the way, if we missed you we apologize and know that we are thankful.
Onward and upward! We look forward to the City Council's ratification vote on Wednesday, September 18th!"
The highlights of the contract include:
- Pay ranges increase:
Firefighter: 50,960 - $85,605
Engineer: $59,369 - $93,726
Lieutenant: $64,866 - $102,658
- Paramedic pay: $4/hr
Ambulance incentive: $1/hr
Inspector/Instructor/FTO/SHOT incentive pay
- Training allotment $1,200/year
- 14-day pay cycle
- Working out of class pay
- Nine paid Holidays
- Pension contributions decreased from 9.3% to 8%, with medical disability increased from 2.4% to 3.6%
Interim Apopka Fire Chief Wil Sanchez was pleased with the progress of the contract.
"All of the Apopka Fire Department members are excited to move this contract forward and request approval from the council to approve the CBA," Sanchez said. "The Apopka Professional Firefighter Union put in hard work and dedication to deliver the first contract for our department members. Labor and management will use the agreement and the conditions it put in place to work for the betterment of our workforce. I want to thank everyone who came to the table and worked respectfully with each other over the last two years to make this possible."
Apopka Vice Mayor Diane Velazquez was also happy to see the long process concluded.
"Congratulations to Apopka Firefighters," Velazquez said. "It was a long process of negotiations. This was not a one-sided issue. The council worked collaboratively with the President of Apopka Firefighters to learn and understand their needs. The council worked with the Attorney representing the City. There were plenty of negotiations throughout the process. Arriving at this juncture where the rank and file have Voted in Favor of the Union Contract is a success for everyone involved."
The final step in the ratification process is the City Council's vote on September 18th to approve the contract.
