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REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 22, 2008
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<br />doing, they simply went on their way. He has had this concern for several weeks and
<br />have expressed it the best he knew how to every Councilmember.
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<br />Kenneth Marks, President, Local #362, 4025 Lincoln Way West, South Bend, Indiana
<br />spoke in favor of this bill.
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<br />Mr. Marks commended those folks from the City that worked with them. Mr. Marks
<br />advised that under no circumstances did the Members of Local #362 approach this
<br />negotiation thinking that they would get their pockets fatter. Face it they are firefighters,
<br />they don’t make a lot of money and they knew coming in here that they would not get
<br />rich doing this job. But it is a job that they all feel committed to; the biggest commitment
<br />for any firefighter is that community that he/she serves. A 1.65% increase for the
<br />members isn’t a lot, but it was something that they could take back to the members a way
<br />to decide if they were going to have stake on Monday, bologna on Wednesday, with
<br />cheese on Friday. That’s fine, they chose that, under no circumstances do they want the
<br />citizens of South Bend to feel that they are trying to get more by giving them less, under
<br />no circumstances. They will continue to do their job the dog honest everyday, every
<br />hour, every second, that’s what they are all about. First and foremost the citizens of South
<br />Bend, they come first, its how they make their peanuts, this is how they feed those
<br />peanuts to their sons, daughters, and make their wives a little bit happy when they bring
<br />those home. These teams did a really excellent job; it was not easy, because it was a very
<br />difficult three months. He did not like it most of the time, most of the time he would
<br />have felt better if they would have just put them all in a big pit and let’s beat each other
<br />half to death, and see who walked away! That’s how he felt about a lot of the process, it
<br />was not a friendly process, but they were professional about it and remained professional
<br />about it. That 2% that the members will be receiving in January, it’s not going to benefit
<br />those folks that are still doing a lot of the job. Ever person working is working to do one
<br />thing if he lives to do it or she lives to do it “retire.” That 2% going on the pension base
<br />means a lot to those pensioners. That determines whether or not that they are going to
<br />take their medication today, whether they will eat today, or whether they will pay their
<br />NIPSCO bill today. Those things are extremely important. They are not getting rich
<br />trying to do this thing; they knew that, they knew that they were not going to get a whole
<br />lot of money. They did not push for a lot of money. What they did was, use a strategy
<br />that all could walk away from the table agreeing that they had done their best for the time
<br />and will see what happens in the future. They know that HB 1001 in 2010 is going to be
<br />difficult, but let’s not continue to hide behind 1001. Those things that are necessary to be
<br />done will be necessary to be done today, necessary to be done tomorrow. Being upset
<br />about the process won’t make anyone feel any better, it just won’t and there is no two
<br />ways to say that. But these folks did, they committed, they were there everyday, they sat
<br />down and got angry everyday, they took breaks, came back and put their shoulders to the
<br />grindstone and push forward. Mr. Marks reiterated that they are not trying to get rich
<br />under any circumstance. They took what they could get to continue to do the job that
<br />they have been sworn to do and that is to protect the citizens of the city. They do that day
<br />in and day out and they will do it for 1.65% of a wage increase and would have done it
<br />had they only walked away with 1% unfortunately, that is the way the game is played
<br />sometimes, but they do what they need to do to get the job. Mr. Marks commended them
<br />first and foremost and thanked everyone that put in all the hard work this summer.
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<br />Mr. Todd Skwarcan, Vice-President, Local #362, 425 Lincolnway West, South Bend,
<br />Indiana, echoed what President Marks stated and thanked all the Council Members who
<br />participated this summer actively. Mr. Skwarcan addressed President Rouse’s comments
<br />on the bonuses. He stated that when he got on the Fire Department 14 almost 15 years
<br />ago, when the City was in the low 90’s as Mr. Ruszkowski stated for pension base, is
<br />because bonuses were offered and taken and that is what happened. A bonus is not a
<br />sellable negotiating option. He addresses Councilmember LaFountain’s comments. He
<br />pointed out that the members of Local #362 are being recruited. He gets mailing to his
<br />house as a paramedic, he could move to Texas and bring a friend and get a signing bonus.
<br />He was born in South Bend and staying in South Bend, but that is not the case for all of
<br />the members of Local #362 any more, the labor force is more mobile. The package that
<br />was put together was designed to retain the highly trained personnel.
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