Firefighters Organize New IAFF Locals in Clinton, Raymond & Sabattus as More Rural Departments Professionalize

Firefighters in Clinton, Raymond, Sabattus and elsewhere have recently organized new unions with the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF). Brandon Hale, President of the Clinton Professional Firefighters (IAFF Local 5412), said a major reason he and his colleagues supported unionizing is because their compensation package is not competitive with other departments.

“We organized our new union to fight for better pay and benefits,” said Hale. “Right now our pay is half-way decent, but we really didn’t have a pay structure. Our biggest challenge in hiring is our lack of adequate health benefits."

Hale said if he put his daughter on his current insurance, it would cost him $1200 a pay period. One of his colleagues in the department put his family on his insurance and was only able to bring home a paycheck of $200 every other week once health insurance costs were taken out.

Union leaders say the bargaining so far has gone very smoothly in part because management is sympathetic to their situation. The fire chief is a full-time firefighter inanother department and the Clinton Town Manager is a former firefighter/paramedic, so they understand the needs of firefighters and the necessity of staying competitive with other departments in order to recruit and retain the best firefighters.

Expediting the process is a 2019 state “card check" law the that requires municipal employees to recognize unions if a majority of the workers in a bargaining unit sign union cards. While there are only four union members at the Clinton Fire Department, the Professional Fire Fighters of Maine’s constitution allows the union to organize departments with three or more members.

More Rural Fire Departments Professionalize

The recent organizing comes as more and more departments that were previously staffed with volunteers are professionalizing due to difficulties recruiting and stronger federal safety and training mandates that require more of a commitment from volunteers than before.

“They’re becoming professional because of the need for staffing,” explained Ronnie Green, 4th District Vice President of PFFM. “Nothing against volunteers whatsoever — that is where most of us started —but the commitments of people today with work and family make it much more difficult for people volunteer. People are working outside of town and employers are not letting them go. Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 coverage is when everyone is at work, so more and more communities are hiring full-time staff.”

Firefighters who were getting paid per diem are seeking more of a full-time schedule and want to be paid competitive wages and benefits. Some professional departments have also expanded, including Waterville, which organized with IAFF three years ago. Since then, the number of firefighters in the bargaining unit has more than doubled from 16 to 38.

Senators Susan Collins and Angus King have been very successful at securing millions of dollars in federal SAFER grants to help departments upgrade equipment, pay for training and hire professional firefighter/paramedics. Since 2017, Maine fire departments in Sabattus, Bucksport, Bangor, Ellsworth, Westbrook and other towns have received over $4 million in grants.

In April, the Senate passed the Fire Grants and Safety Act, led by Senators Collins and Gary Peters (D-MI) and co-sponsored by Senator King, to extend federal programs that support local fire departments across the country. Last month, King and Collins announced a grant of $2.5 million to the Augusta Fire Department to hire eight new firefighters.

“A lot of these new departments that are operating overtime with per diem employees have taken advantage of the SAFER grants. And when these smaller communities apply for those grants they’ve been getting them thanks to Susan Collins, Angus King and the rest of the Congressional delegation,” said Michael Crouse, President of the Professional Firefighters of Maine. “Hopefully if the community saves some money on other expenses with these grants then we have a shot at getting some better wages.”