Kissimmee firefighters, officials still at impasse over contract

After another bargaining session Thursday, the Kissimmee Fire Department and the city remain at the impasse on a new compensation contract.

The Kissimmee Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 4208 union declared an impasse in the negotiations back in July.

“We were at the table for about three hours, it was positive for us to come back and meet,” said Kissimmee Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 4208 President Steven Gonnella, a KFD lieutenant, said this week. “We’ve moved closer (to an agreement).”

That meeting came days after the city released a statement calling the impasse choice, “disheartening.”

In negotiations focused on wages and benefits that were to be earned starting Oct. 1, cost of living increase (COLA). But Gonnella said that action would create compression among responder salaries, with years on the job would be making nearly the same wage as a new recruit.

“We wanted to add a salary step, to take care of the veteran guys,” he said. “Those are the same guys who are trying to leave.”

The city’s release noted that only two positions are vacant out of 105 KFD certified positions. Gonnella counted that the number is firefighters leaving to work at the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, St. Cloud and Reedy Creek departments. The city is also slated to open Station 15 on Martin Luther King Boulevard near Kissimmee Gateway Airport, creating a number of openings. Add that to at least two promotions, and the number grows to 20.

In a June email from city Fire Chief Jim Walls to department officers, he noted that 12 officers and a new engine for Station 15 will be in the city’s next budget.

“If the city manager told Jim Walls that the new engine was a go, why are we being told otherwise?” Gonnella asked.

The union rep also said that, with the promotions and attrition, KFD isn’t finding new firefighters to fill them because of the hours and low pay. A Kissimmee firefighter starting salary is at $43,860; Gonnella said Osceola County Fire Rescue starts new recruits at $50,000, and more staff at a better salary could lead to better call response times.

The city is also asked for spirometry respiratory testing, which evaluates a firefighter’s lung function and capacity. Gonnella said the union already allows for mandatory medical exams, something no other city employee — including police — is subject to.

“We just don’t want the city to have the carte blanche to add other things. If they need medical treatment, our guys should just be able to go see their primary doctor,” Gonnella said.

In the city’s release, Steigerwald noted, “It’s difficult to understand why the union is taking a hard stance on not allowing a test that has been used for decades within the department and ensures our firefighters can safely perform firefighting and life-saving measures under strenuous conditions.”

According to the city, the proposed budget adds another fire engine and the necessary personnel for that apparatus in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, 2023. That’s the next budget that will be approved by the Commission. The City also placed an additional rescue into service in January 2023.

“This rescue, which provides emergency medical services and advanced life support care to those in need, has already reduced the workload on department personnel,” the city said in Friday’s release.

“We try hard to remain competitive with our public safety departments. In only a few weeks of negotiation, we tentatively agreed to a significant raise for our police officers. That contract will be sent to the City Commission soon, and we hope we can quickly wrap up negotiations with our firefighters so we can remain competitive with them as well,” said Steigerwald.