City refuses to negotiate in good faith with unions
By DEREK TISINGER / In his May 27 Community Voices article, Bakersfield City Councilman Zack Scrivner stated that he is working to put more police officers on the street. That's an interesting statement coming from a career politician who, just last December, was instrumental in helping to reduce the authorized strength of the Bakersfield Police Department by 29 officers.
In fact, during Scrivner's watch, both the Bakersfield Police Department and the Bakersfield Fire Department have been methodically reduced to some of the lowest staffing levels in California.
This not only compromises the ability of the two public safety agencies to accomplish their respective missions, but the associations representing the employees of both agencies are now concerned that the situation will create serious safety concerns for our employees. Where is the leadership that this city really needs? How can we cut fire and police positions when Bakersfield City Manager Alan Tandy and his managers took an 8 percent raise? The council and the citizens should be demanding that Tandy and his managers return their raises before any other city-staffed position is cut in Bakersfield. That would show real leadership. Taxpayers are screaming for cuts at the top, not from the rank-and-file service providers.
Scrivner has stated that he supports firefighters and police, but not "the union's decision makers." He would have you believe that the Bakersfield firefighters' labor organization is somehow disconnected from the firefighters that it represents. I can't let that go.
The Bakersfield Firefighters Labor Organization is not "Big Labor." We are your local firefighters. The members of your fire department elect fellow firefighters to represent them in various dealings with the city. As the president of the Bakersfield Firefighters' labor organization, neither my board nor I receive any additional salary or benefits. We are all front-line firefighters, representing firefighters. Our board regularly polls our members, and decisions are made based on the majority votes of the Bakersfield firefighters.
It is unbelievable that some of our politicians are trying to portray your firefighters as the bad guys. Scrivner and Tandy have attacked us as part of their political agenda, a clear attack on our organization. They have already proven that it has nothing to do with saving real money, after they rejected our last proposal that would have saved the city over $1 million.
We have countered by offering a variety of money-saving solutions which either lower the cost of our benefits or increase the degree to which we share their cost.
We are not the greedy and self-serving people that both Scrivner and Tandy have been miscasting us as; we are a group of dedicated, professional and innovative public servants. If we can get the city to actually meet with us in a cooperative, good faith manner, we can and will find solutions that truly benefit the people of Bakersfield.
There is some good news. Congress has voted to allow the use of federal funding to rehire laid off firefighters and prevent staffing reductions. The new rules for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) allow these grants to be used to save jobs, prevent layoffs and restore cuts. The bill is now on its way to the White House. Congress has appropriated $210 million for the SAFER grants. Firefighters and true public safety-minded officials all know that adequate staffing is critical for firefighters and other public safety workers to be able to respond effectively.
Bakersfield City Fire Captain Derek L.Tisinger, president of Bakersfield Firefighters Labor Organization Local 246, served as a deputy fire chief during his 32 years in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.
