191001

Emergency Ordinance

*Authorize a Letter of Agreement between the City, Portland Fire & Rescue, and the Portland Fire Fighters’ Association, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 43 to amend the Collective Bargaining Agreement to outline incentives and other details of lateral firefighter training

Passed

The City of Portland ordains:

Section 1. The Council finds:

  1. PF&R has experienced staffing shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic, retirements, and other factors. Hiring lateral firefighters helps decrease those staffing shortages by requiring less training than new firefighters, thus being able to be used to staff shifts more quickly than new hires.
  2. A class of lateral firefighters was hired on or around May 12, 2022. These lateral firefighter recruits undergo an accelerated, three-phase training program. The current lateral hire firefighters will begin their third phase of training on or around October 13, 2022.
  3. Lateral firefighters are assigned to Field Training Officers (FTOs) during the third phase of training. The FTO training program accelerates placing lateral hires into station positions by allowing the lateral firefighters to continue their training under supervision while working shifts. The FTO portion of the three-phase training program therefore helps alleviate staffing shortages sooner by placing lateral firefighters on duty shifts. Without the FTO program, additional training outside of duty shifts will be required to ensure the lateral firefighters are adequately trained to perform their duties, thus keeping the lateral firefighters off the line for a longer period of time.
  4. The City and the Portland Fire Fighters’ Association (the Union) are parties to a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for the period of July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2023. The Union is the sole collective bargaining representative on behalf of employees working in classifications listed in Schedule A of the CBA.
  5. On or around December 15, 2021, Portland City Council passed Ordinance 190632 which authorized the Director of the Bureau of Human Resources to enter into a Letter of Agreement (LOA) with the Union to incentivize the hiring of lateral firefighters. A lateral firefighter is defined as a firefighter with a minimum of two (2) years paid professional experience as a firefighter with a fire agency outside of Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R).
  6. The City and Union have an interest to incentivize the rate of pay for employees working in an FTO capacity to compensate them for the additional duties they will perform in training the lateral firefighters.  On or around September 6, 2022, the parties reached agreement on the incentives and other details of Phase III training, which are outlined in a proposed LOA, attached hereto as Exhibit A.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs:

  1. The Director of the Bureau of Human Resources is authorized to enter into a Letter of Agreement, Exhibit A, between the City and the Portland Fire Fighters’ Association to address the interests stated in the findings.

Section 2.  The Council declares that an emergency exists because the Letter of Agreement is in effect October 1, 2022; therefore, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect after its passage by the Council.

An ordinance when passed by the Council shall be signed by the Auditor. It shall be carefully filed and preserved in the custody of the Auditor (City Charter Chapter 2 Article 1 Section 2-122)

Passed by Council

Auditor of the City of Portland
Mary Hull Caballero

Impact Statement

Purpose of Proposed Legislation and Background Information

The purpose of this agreement is to outline the Lateral Firefighter Recruit details while in Phase III of training, including address premium pay for Field Training Officers. 

Financial and Budgetary Impacts

The impacts of this Lateral Firefighter class recruitment is anticipated to result in overtime avoidance on the magnitude of $211,000.

Community Impacts and Community Involvement

There are no anticipated community impacts to this agreement.

100% Renewable Goal

Not applicable. 

Agenda Items

788 Four-Fifths Agenda in September 21, 2022 Council Agenda

Passed

  • Former Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty Yea
  • Commissioner Carmen Rubio Yea
  • Commissioner Dan Ryan Yea
  • Commissioner Mingus Mapps Yea
  • Mayor Ted Wheeler Absent

Contact

Requested Agenda Type

Four Fifths

Date and Time Information

Requested Council Date
Time Requested
15 minutes