Council rejects Stratford fire union contract

STRATFORD -- The Town Council rejected the fire union contract Monday night, citing ambiguity surrounding the term "compensation."

Historically, the term "compensation" in the contract has excluded heart and hypertension awards, Town Attorney Tim Bishop said. But a recent claim brought by former Assistant Fire Chief Thomas Murray and his attorney argues that heart and hypertension awards are included in the term, bishop said.

Daniel Hunsberger, a Ridgefield-based attorney representing Murray, said he and his client are contesting the workers compensation component of Murray's pension amount as calculated by the town.

The town said Murray is entitled to a $122,850 annual pension. That's nearly 36 percent higher than the $90,598 base salary he was earning before he retired from the Stratford Fire Department in February after 25 years.

But Hunsberger said his client is entitled to more.

Whether or not "compensation" includes heart and hypertension awards could affect future pension payouts for firefighters, including Murray.

"The term compensation has always been interpreted to exclude heart and hypertension awards," Bishop said in an email. "Mr. Murray and his attorney recently claimed differently. Although the Town is fairly confident the historic interpretation of the term will prevail, it wanted to make it clear that both sides understood the term to mean the same thing and to possibly modify the terminology so that future retirees would not misinterpret it."

Apart from the confusion over the term "compensation," Bishop said council members appeared to be in agreement with the contract.

Bill Hansen, president of the Stratford Fire Union, declined to comment on the situation while contract negotiations are under way.

The Stratford Fire Department is currently the only town department operating under a contract in which all employees are eligible to receive a pension calculated from base pay, overtime and unused vacation. Assistant chiefs can also cash in on up to 80 unused sick days.

Last year the town reached an agreement with the Police Department to institute 401(k)-style retirement plans for all new hires. Town negotiators have been pushing a similar plan to the forefront of the bargaining table with the Fire Department.

By maintaining current obligations to employees and instituting defined contribution packages for new hires, the town hopes to address its underfunded pension system.

More than 10 percent of the 2013 town budget will be funneled toward pensions.

Among the 71 town employees who retired between 2006 and January 2011 and for whom human resources officials provided data to the Connecticut Post, more than half are earning more or nearly the same amount of money in retirement than they did from their former base pay. Pensions exceed former salaries for 74 percent of the top-earning pensioners in this camp.

blyte@ctpost.com; 203-330-6426; http://twitter.com/blyte

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