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(NEW YORK) The union representing 8,900 city firefighters declared an impasse Tuesday in its long-standing-still contract talks with the city, announcing it was ready for binding arbitration in the dispute. "We're not making any progress,'' said Steve Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association. ``We've gone (too long) with an expired contract. Guys can't pay their bills. The city's offer is outrageous.'' The city's contract with the UFA expired May 31, 2002, and fire union officials said their workers last enjoyed a pay raise 51 months ago. In June, a state arbitration panel awarded the city's police officers a retroactive pay raise of about 10.25 percent over two years. Over the past century, police and firefighters had parity in their contracts. Cassidy said he expected the arbitration ruling to jump-start negotiations with the city, but he charged that the Bloomberg administration declined to match that salary hike and asked for additional concessions. James Hanley, commissioner of the city Office of Labor Relations, offered a different take on negotiations. ``Labor contracts are best settled at the bargaining table, and the city has been and continues to be ready to negotiate any time,'' he said. Cassidy said the UFA would have a better sense ``in a couple of weeks'' about the timetable for arbitration. According to figures provided by the International Association of Firefighters last year, the base salary for a 20-year veteran of the Fire Department of New York is about $2,400 less annually than that for a firefighter with one year's experience in neighboring Yonkers. Firefighters in New York make about 27 percent less in total compensation than their neighbors in other metropolitan area departments, the figures indicated.
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