Details on mediation agreement between Morgantown and firefighter announced

William Dean, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
·2 min read

May 14—In a joint statement the City of Morgantown and the International Association of Firefighters Local 313, Morgantown firefighters' union, announced details regarding the mediation agreement over the shift differential pay dispute.

Firefighters will not normally be entitled to shift differential pay—a small hourly bonus for those who work the afternoon or evening shifts—but will receive a proportional increase in their base pay, so there should be no change in the firefighters' pay with minimal or no change in cost to the city, according to the statement. If firefighters are called for unscheduled duty starting during the hours in which shift differential rules apply, they will receive it as the rules are applicable to all city employees.

The terms are to the "mutual satisfaction " of both firefighters and the city and were "amicably agreed " to. City administration will recommend the solution for approval by Morgantown City Council at its next meeting on May 18, according to the statement.

"IAFF Local 313 and its members are pleased with this outcome, " said Teresa Toriseva, the union's attorney.

Morgantown recently undertook efforts to clarify and enforce its personnel policies to follow through on a city-wide employee compensation study and to reorganize city operations for greater effectiveness in delivering services, according to the statement. That study revealed "issues and inconsistencies " with firefighter shift differential pay under the rules.

For as long as anyone in the department can remember, firefighters have received the shift differential pay. "The city has paid, and, therefore, the firefighters have come to expect, shift differential as part of the firefighters' historical pay package, " the joint statement said.

The resolution was initially announced on May 7—three days after Morgantown filed a lawsuit in Monongalia County Circuit Court in an attempt to stop an evidentiary hearing by the fire civil service commission May 12 over the issue.

When the change in rule application was announced in an internal memo in early March, firefighters believed it was retaliation because weeks before they a rejected settlement offer in a still ongoing holiday pay compensation lawsuit filed in June 2019 and the change only effected firefighters as they are the only city employees that work 24-hour shifts.

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