Sagle firefighters, district approve labor contract

SAGLE - The Sagle firefighters union has negotiated a new contract with the Sagle Fire District.

The district's four-year labor agreement with Sagle Firefighters Local No. 3724  covers wages, benefits and working conditions. It took effect earlier this month.

Negotiations lasted a little over a month, which Sagle Fire Capt. Reny Hansen said was a relatively short period of time given the union's entire contract, instead of just wages, was negotiated.

"Usually we negotiate wages, but this time it was the whole contract," she said.

New features of the contract included a merit-based system which steps up a firefighter's pay upon completion of training and education programs. Hansen said the step program effectively holds firefighters to a high training standard, which she said was welcomed by district administrators.

"It kind of shocked them because we are holding ourselves to a very high training standard. We wanted to be above and beyond," Hansen said.

Firefighters are also adopting a new work schedule which Hansen said would reduce sick days and vacation usage while increasing morale and the amount of time firefighters can spend with loved ones.

The new schedule calls for firefighters to be on duty for 48 hours and off for 96 hours. It replaces a 24 hours on, 24 hours off scheduling format, Hansen said.

"It was kind of a crazy schedule," Hansen said of the former routine.

The union and district also agreed to change officers' ranking. The district used to have two lieutenants and a captain, all of whom had roughly the same job responsibilities. The district has opted to do away with the lieutenant rank and retain the captain rank, which the two former lieutenants will now occupy.

The district is also on the hunt to bolster its volunteer roster. More information about volunteering and the district is available on the Web (www.saglefire.com).

Firefighters receive grant

SAGLE - Firefighters Union No. 3724 has been awarded an $800 grant from the Idaho Fire Chief's Association.

The grant was funded entirely from the sales of Idaho's firefighter license plates. The money will be used to replace an aging laptop computer with a new one, which will assist with firefighters' training programs and other functions.