The Collinsville City Council will vote Monday on a new contract for city firefighters that addresses the overtime pay issue that caused the union to file 597 grievances against the city.

The city changed the call-in policy in June of 2012 to require firefighters to remain on duty for the entire 2-3 hours of their shift when called in. Previously, firefighters called-in to cover on-duty staff who responded to an emergency were allowed to leave when the on-duty personnel returned.

The old procedure led to instances of a person leaving the station and getting called back within the two-hour period for which they were already being paid. They were then paid for an additional two-hour shift.

After the policy change, members of the firefighters union filed approximately 579 separate grievances against the city asserting that the city had violated the overtime terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the city and the union. The city argued that the old practice, though followed since at least 1977, was in violation of the collective bargaining agreement.

An arbitrator ruled in the union’s favor in July. The city and the union reached an agreement to pay firefighters $103,000 of pay the union members did not receive as a result of the rules change. (see related story)

The prior contract had no language to dictate how call-ins should be handled, other than to set a minimum number of hours of pay. The new call in procedure would provide for a minimum of one hour paid overtime in place of the prior two-hour minimum.

Under the proposed new rules, the firefighter must remain on duty until released. If the firefighter accepts another call-in during the original one-hour window, pay continues from the time of the original call-in. Time worked greater than one hour is rounded to the next quarter hour. A call in for a Box alarm is a two-hour paid overtime minimum.