Retroactive Raises OK'd for Ann Arbor MI Firefighters

ANN ARBOR, MI – Ann Arbor firefighters are getting retroactive raises going back more than two years.

The City Council voted 9-1 to OK a three-year contract with the firefighters union Tuesday night, Jan. 22.

The last negotiated collective bargaining agreement expired at the end of 2016. The new one runs Jan. 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2019.

Per the negotiated terms, firefighters will get a 2.5 percent retroactive raise for 2017, a 2.5 percent retroactive raise for 2018, and a 2.5 percent raise for 2019 retroactive to Jan. 1.

The city’s contribution to retiree health reimbursement accounts for eligible firefighters also is increasing from $2,500 to $3,500 per year, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2017.

The city’s staff provided the following chart showing the raises for other city employee groups in recent years.

Ann Arbor employee raises from 2017 to 2019, broken down by city employee group. The "assistant chiefs" are the assistant fire chiefs and the "deputy chiefs" are the deputy police chiefs. AAPOA is the police officers union. COAM is the command officers union. PSS is the police services specialists union. (City of Ann Arbor)

Council Member Jane Lumm, an independent from the 2nd Ward, cast the lone dissenting vote on the firefighters contract.

The raises are appropriate, she said, but she has concerns about the pension plan structure for new firefighters.

Since 2017, newly hired non-union city employees and new hires in most of the city’s union groups, including AFSCME, have been on a new hybrid pension plan structure, Lumm said.

“It’s important to remember that existing employees were not impacted by this change, just the new hires,” she said, noting the new plans are half defined-benefit and half defined-contribution.

“Although I believe the city should have transitioned fully to a defined-contribution plan for new hires … the move to a hybrid structure was a significant step in the right direction,” Lumm said, arguing defined-contribution plans reduce the city’s pension volatility and risk, an important protection for taxpayers.

“This new contract proposal with the firefighters does not make the same pension structure change for new hires,” she said. “That’s disappointing. We talk a lot about the city’s financial challenges and risk, and this is a situation where we can mitigate that risk.”

Council Member Jeff Hayner, D-1st Ward, shared Lumm’s concerns but still voted for the contract.

Council Member Jack Eaton, a retired labor attorney, argued it’s unrealistic to expect the city could prevail in arbitration over the pension issue. That’s been established already, he said.

The council also voted 10-0 to approve four $25,000 distributions from the city’s Police and Firemen’s Relief Fund for the widowed spouses or orphans of Police Lt. Lyle Sartori, Police Officer Jason Zogaib, Police Officer Vada Murray, and firefighter Daniel Armitage.

Council Member Chip Smith, D-5th Ward, was absent.

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