City Council - Committee of the Whole Hearing on Dockets #0124, #0125, #0126, and #0127

Sounds good.

I can't believe everyone's gone now. That's why they call me a dinosaur

Thank you.

But if you want to get started, I'm ready wherever you are.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Liz Breadon, district councillor for District 9, and I'm the chair of the Boston City Council Committee of the Whole. Today is February 4. 2026, and the exact time is 2pm, 2 minutes past 2. In accordance with the Chapter 2 of the Acts of 25 Modifying Acts of 25, Thank you very much. and physically accessible to the public, the City Council will be conducting this hearing virtually via Zoom. This hearing is being recorded.

and it is also being live streamed at boston.gov backslash city dash council dash tv and broadcast on Xfinity channel 8 RCN channel 82, and Fios Channel 964. Written comments may be sent to the committee email at ccc.hole at boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all councillors. Public testimony will be taken at the end of the hearing. Individuals will be called on in the order in which they are signed up and will have two minutes to testify. If you wish to sign up for public testimony and have not done so, please email our Central Staff Liaison, Karishma Kuhala. Kuhang at karishma.chouhan.gov.

for the Zoom link and your name will be added to the list. We have a letter of absence from Councillor Lucy Louijeune. Dear Chair, Breadon, and committee members, I regret to inform you that I am unable to attend today's Boston City Council Committee of the Whole hearing on Docket 1240125. 0126 and 0127 concerning proposed financial year 26 collective bargaining funding adjustments and supplemental appropriations for the Boston Fire Department and Boston Public Schools. I remain supportive of the collective bargaining process and appreciate the committee's careful review of these matters. These which are critical to ensuring fair compensation for city workers while maintaining fiscal responsibility. I thank the committee for its continued oversight and for providing a forum for transparency and public engagement

I will thoroughly review the video, hearing minutes and public testimony and should you or any member of the public have questions or wish to follow up, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 617 635-4376, or at ruthie.louijeune, L-O-U-I-J-E-U-N-E, at boston.gov. Sincerely, Ruthie Louijeune, City Councilor at Large. Today's hearing is on docket number 10124, message in order for your approval in order to reduce the fiscal year 26 appropriation for the reserve of collective bargaining by $18,118,488.

to provide funding for the fire department for the fiscal year 26 increases contained within the collective bargaining agreement between the City of Boston and Boston Firefighters IAFF Local 718. filed in the office of the city clerk on January 26, 2026. Docket 0125, message and order for a supplemental appropriation order for the Boston Fire Department for financial year 26 in the amount of $18,118,488. to cover the financial year 26 cost items contained within the collective bargaining agreement between the City of Boston and IAFF Local 718.

The terms of the contracts are July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 and July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2028. The major provisions of the contracts include a base wage increase of 2.5% to be given in July of 24 and a base wage increase of 2% and July of each subsequent fiscal year for the contract term. The agreement also includes salary adjustments in January of 2025, starting at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years of service. Doggett number 0126, message in order for the approval of an order to reduce the financial year appropriation for the reserve for collective bargaining by $1,300,000.

$307,901 to provide funding for the Boston Public Schools for the financial year 2016. Increases contained within the collective bargaining agreements between the School Committee of the City of Boston and the Boston Association of School Administrators and Supervisors, BASAS, BASIS. filed in the office of the city clerk on January 26, 2026. Docket number 0127 Message in order for a supplemental appropriation order for the Boston Public Schools Department for financial year 26 in the amount of $1,307,000. $7,901 to cover the financial year 26 cost items

contained within the collective bargaining agreements between the School Committee of the City of Boston and the Boston Association of School Administrators and Supervisors basis. The terms of the contracts are September 1st, 2024 through August 31st, 2027. The major provisions of the contracts include base wage, Base wage increases of 2% to be given in September of each fiscal year of the contract term. The contract also adds a new step in financial year 27 and a new degree to the educational differential. These matters were sponsored by Mayor Michelle Wu and were referred to the committee on January 28th, 2026. Okay.

Today I am joined by my colleagues in order of arrival, Councilor Ed Flynn of District 2, Councilor Erin Murphy, City Councilor at Large, Councilor Weber from District 6, Durkan from District 8. At this moment, I'm going to hand over the meeting to Councillor Ben Webber, as he's been permitted these negotiations. Madam President?

Yes. Yeah, there's an additional few councillors I can consider.

Yeah, Councillor Culpepper and Councillor Pepén have joined us.

Fitzgerald's been here as well.

Very good.

Thank you. In the event that that wasn't said. And Brian Worrell.

I have a list. I can go through it. Madam President, I'll hand it over.

Could you go through the list? Flynn, Murphy, Weber, Durkan, Culpepper, Pepén, Fitzgerald.

Thank you.

I have a slightly, I'm going to go with Karishma on this, who's been updating it live, Madam President. So her order is, first, Councilor Flynn, Then, Madam President, second, Councilor Murphy's third. I'm fourth, but I'll wait to the end. Councilor Durkan, then Councilor Fitzgerald, then Councilor Worrell, then Councilor Culpepper. then Councilor Coletta Zapata, and last but not least Councilor Pepén. So if people have that, I'll call it out. I'll call it a feud. You know, who's on deck so you know to get ready. It's a long list.

Thank you. Thank you, Karishma, for keeping track. This is very difficult on the screen for me to know who's here first. I hand over the chair to Councillor Ben Webber.

Thank you very much, Madam President. I just so we're joined here to identify the panelists. We have two contracts before us. There's the Local 718 Firefighters contract and then the School Administrators contract. I, just for everyone's sanity, think we should start with the firefighter contract, see if we can get through our questions on that, and then we can talk about the school administrator contract. there are two separate dockets so i don't want to mix them up uh hopefully it doesn't delay things too much but just so everyone knows that's the plan uh we're joined by budget director jim williamson Director of Labor Relations, Renee Bushey, Director of Labor Relations for BPS, Jeremiah Hasson, if I'm

Sorry, Fire Department Commissioner Paul Burke, Chief of Operations for Field Services for the Fire Department, Patrick Ellis, Fire Department, Chief of Operations for Support Services, Rodney Marshall, Lou Mandarini, who's the Senior Advisor for Labor. So before we get started with questions, I don't know if anyone from the administration or the fire department has anything And let's just start with the fire department. And for education, if you have a sort of opening statement, we'll get to you next. Yeah, sorry, Councilor Murphy.

Will you be allowing opening statements? I know she read an absent letter in which was equivalent to what would be considered an opening statement.

Yeah, each counselor will be given ample time to give an opening statement and ask questions after that. So I don't think we're going to do, there's 10 of us here. you know we'll be here for an hour if we just do opening statements so i'm going to consolidate it's important the time shouldn't matter this is

Hundreds of hours of work put in on their end, so I want to- You have time to make your statement and ask questions.

Mr. Chair, I think it is important for city councilors to give opening statements that kind of allows us to focus on certain issues and maybe the administration and fire department can respond in such a way. But I do think it's important for city councilors to give opening statements.

I appreciate that, and you'll have time to give opening statements. We're just going to agree to disagree. On that, I'd like to move forward. Time is an issue. We're trying to get these matters up for a vote on Wednesday. These contracts are agreed to. You know, with the fire department, at least a month ago, and we're trying to get to the point where we can make an educated decision on whether to approve it or not. So does anyone from the administration have anything, a presentation? Jim?

Sure, I'll just speak briefly. We are very happy to be able to present this proposed agreement for vote to the City Council. We're happy to be able to provide these raises to the firefighters, We have a couple provisions in here that really address the longevity and reward members who have been there longer and provided more service to the city. We were able to secure Retirees doing paid details, so there'll be more fire details that are filled and a paid detail increase also for this unit. and an additional line of duty benefit for active firefighters who are killed in the line of duty and we

We're able to get some re-organization on the Marine Unit so that experience as a firefighter doesn't necessarily, we can get the right qualifications for firefighters who are working in the Marine Unit. These were lengthy negotiations. They were tough at times. We were at the JLMC. We're really happy that we were able to come together and make this agreement happen, and we're asking for your vote for it.

Okay, thank you very much, Jim. Did you have anything you wanted to add?

Yeah, just sort of a standard introduction. So, you know, my name is Jim Williamson. I'm the budget director. I'm here to speak to these four dockets in the transactions that they They represent, just pointing back to the council passed a budget in 26 with a central collective bargaining reserve, the total 102.7 million dollars. The City Council has already approved in this fiscal year seven CBAs so far. totaling 65.8 million dollars in this these four dockets across two departments Total $19.4 million. So just here to speak that this is supported within the existing Overall budget of the current fiscal year is just moving the dollars from the reserve into the departmental budgets to turn on the wage increases and other benefits of the contract.

Okay, thank you very much. And I, we had invited representatives from 718 to talk about, just give a brief statement. It looks like So I don't know, if Sam Dillon's here, I think it might be appropriate to hear if he has a statement before we get to questions, might inform our questions.

I think Sam's in now. Thank you.

So Sam Dillon, Representative 718, you have two minutes for what's essentially public testimony, you haven't seen, and you're here.

Thank you, Councilor. Can you hear me? Yeah. I'm not sure why the video isn't loading, but I don't want to belay with any IT issues. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak briefly here today. on behalf of Local 718. As you heard Director Bushy say, these were lengthy negotiations that were difficult at times, but both sides, 718 and the city, stayed at the table, utilized the JLMC mediation process. I think both sides were very happy to avoid arbitration. We join the city in asking the Boston City Council to advance this audit committee and this coming Wednesday vote. unanimously to support firefighters and to support the contract. Our membership, our bargaining team spent over a year Working with the city to get this done.

Our membership overwhelmingly ratified this contract in a general membership vote just prior to Christmas. Some time has gone by. We would like to see this advanced and voted and endorsed favorably.

Okay, thank you very much, Sam. And so you're not on the panel, this isn't questions for you, but I really appreciate your statement. Just for my colleagues, our questions are going to be for the administration. No, thank you for the opportunity. Thank you. Okay, so let's start, Councilor, I believe it was Let me just double check. Councilor Flynn, you're first. I was going to do five minutes for questions, but to allow extra time for opening statements, it's going to be seven minutes for Councilor. Flynn, you're up first. Councilor Brayden, you are on deck.

Thank you. Thank you, Council Weber. To the fire commissioner and the men and women of the fire department that are on, the administration that's on, and Sam Dillon and the Local 718 as well. I had an opportunity to review The contract, and I think it's fair. I'm going to vote in favor of it. I do want to highlight a couple of points that I think are important for me to highlight. As I said, I think this is a fair contract. I don't think the City of Boston is giving the firefighters anything. I think this is a contract that the firefighters earned and their families earned through hard work, through dedication, through service, through sacrifice, through Health issues that they have.

So I just want to acknowledge that it's a fair contract, but I also want to acknowledge that firefighters and their families also have significant Health issues because of fighting fires. And I think that's also a priority for me. I know it's a priority as well for the fire commissioner and for Sam Dillon and the men and women of the fire department. Making sure that we provide firefighters with the best medical care and access to safe Safe ways to fight fires in new firehouses as well. Heart disease, certainly a leading cause of deaths of firefighters and obviously various types of cancers might My uncle, Dennis, who I admired greatly, was a decorated Vietnam veteran firefighter, died too young.

That's why I'm committed to the fire department and the men and women because of their their service to our city, their service to our nation. So that's where I'm at. Let me ask one question. I didn't follow the issue all that closely with the Boston Fire Department Marine Unit. Give me a little bit of background information on that, please. Whoever would like to speak on it.

I can speak on that. The fire department has purchased three new boats for a total of $15 million. And the boats, as in fire trucks, have evolved technologically, so they're more difficult to operate. So we just wanted qualified members to work on the boats. When we put a requirement that people that apply to go on the boat have some type of marine background dealing with ships or boats in some level and they submit a resume. If the resumes are equal, then seniority takes precedent and the senior member is the one that's chosen for the boat but we need to protect these boats they're very important to the city and we wanted the best people on them so that was what we did with the boats we just Required qualifications with some type of marine background.

Thank you, Commissioner. As we go into the budget process now, Are we anticipating, maybe I'll ask this to someone from the city administration, are we anticipating any type of layoffs at all for anyone, any personnel working at the fire department?

I think I can answer that, Councillor Flynn. At this point, we're just in the very early beginnings of budget development we have. Departmental Requests. We haven't gone through all of the I'm not seeing large numbers, particularly at the fire department of layoffs.

So you're ruling that out, Jim. I'm glad you're ruling that out. Is that accurate to say?

I don't, I mean, we haven't filed the budget yet, so it's not final, but certainly not seeing it at this point.

Okay. And then maybe to the fire commissioner. Fire commissioner, what's unique in the contract, maybe as it relates to health and wellness of firefighters and their families?

Actually, the other members that were negotiating on the city side might have a better memory. I don't have anything in there for health and wellness. Lou or Renee, do you remember anything on health and wellness? What I can tell you about health and wellness is we have a division of health and wellness and the money from that usually comes from grants. So I think there's a very small portion that comes from the budget. I think most of it comes from federal grants. If anybody else could add to that.

There were different going back and forth, but in the final contract, there's nothing that's specific to health and wellness.

OK, what else? What else? Thank you, Renee. What else can you tell me about the budget that impacts that impacts the quality of life or the or the conditions for the firefighters? Those those are Those are some issues that I like to focus on too. But I also know we can also focus on it during the budget process as well.

I can take that one, Councillor.

Okay.

So there's a new benefit that we're calling, well, we're not calling, but it's called the line of duty death benefit for active firefighters and uniformed officers. This provides a benefit for those folks killed in a line of duty, and this includes presumptive conditions, so it isn't merely dying in a fire, but the sort of health conditions that can attend the work of firefighters and uniformed personnel throughout their career. So it just makes it clearer that all of the benefits that are entitled to be paid to the surviving family members after someone passes. There's quite a bit to it, but that's something new that we've enshrined in this negotiation.

Okay, that's excellent. Thank you, Lou. I support that. Thank you for working closely with Local 718. I do have tremendous respect for the fire department, the men and women of the fire department, and for the local 718. They do an exceptional job advocating for firefighters, but also Equally as important, advocating for firefighters' families. Mr. Chair, thank you.

Yeah, thank you very much, Councillor Flynn. Just for my colleagues, what I'll do is, in seven minutes, there'll be, if people have any follow-up questions, I will allow them. You know, at the end for a possible second round, depending on if they're You know, people have one or two questions. But I will shut my camera off and when there's a minute left, I'll turn my camera back on so you get a sense of, I don't know if anyone has as perfect timing as Councillor Flynn does. I certainly don't, so thank you to Councillor Flynn for paying attention to that clock. So, Madam President, Breadon, you are up next, and I'll turn my camera off and turn it on in a minute.

Thank you, Councillor Weber. I think Councillor Flynn has actually asked some of the questions I was going to ask. I was interested in learning more about the marine unit. There's three boats and they're more difficult to operate. Do you have... And this is more of a curiosity on my part in terms of hiring folks that have got some marine background. Would that be... What sort of marine background would you be interested in hiring? And also are there ongoing professional development courses for folks who might need to get up to speed on Working with the marine unit out on the harbour or wherever?

Yes, I can answer that. There's a lot of licenses that they have to have to drive a boat in the harbour. and we would like to see people that already have those licenses. It's based on the weight of the boat that they drive. They're called captains of the harbor. We'd like to see that. What was your second question? I'm sorry, Councilor. About the boats, there was a second. What was your second question, Councillor?

Oh, and just in terms of professional development and ongoing training.

Oh, yes. Yes. So let's say on the boat, there's people that drive it. They're called pilots. So we're offering them to get classes to become pilots. So everybody on the boat can become a pilot, which means you can drive the boat, you get a pay raise, and the responsibility is on them for driving the boat. So that's one of the things we offer is for them to become pilots once they come on the boat. Hopefully they have some marine background. They have some type of boat license that when they come and they just can build on that by getting a pilot's license to drive the certain size boats that we have. That sounds good.

I really like the provision of the death benefits. That's really important for so many of our firefighters. If they lose their lives in the line of duty, it's not just when they're out of fire necessarily, but we're very aware of the health risks and dangers of being exposed to chemicals, et cetera, that have a detrimental Affect on life expectancy. So I'm glad to see that. One question I also had was just in terms of Right at your sort of level of staffing right now in terms of do you have many vacancies in the department at the moment? I'm just thinking about the bigger picture as we think about the overall city budget this year.

We have probably the same attrition rate every year. I'd say about 100 members retire every year. We hire on average 60 to... 75 per year. So in a two-year cycle, which is the civil service exam, there's probably 150 hired. We stay up with it, but we can The way to calculate it is to see the overtime. Every firehouse has to have so many members on duty every day. And when that number drops down, we have to have overtime to cover it. So the overtime is minimal at this point, so we're doing pretty well with the staffing right now. That sounds good.

Councillor Webber, that's all I have for questions. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. You don't have to use the whole seven minutes. So, Councilor Murphy, you are up next. I'm on deck. I have a couple questions, and after that, would be Councilor Durkan. So Murphy, then Weber, then Durkan. So Councilor Murphy. Again, I'll shut my camera off and turn it on. With a minute left, you have seven minutes.

Thank you. I want to thank you Chair Breadon for holding this, making sure we can get this vote to happen on Wednesday. Also want to begin by acknowledging the significant amount of work that I know went into both of these collective bargaining agreements before us today. The collective bargaining is a complex process. It requires time, good faith, and sustained effort from labor, management, and the administration. I want to specifically thank Sam Dillon and the leadership at the IAFF Local 718 for their advocacy on behalf of the Boston firefighters, as well as Commissioner Burke, Chief Pat Ellis, and Rodney Marshall, who I know are on this Call with us today for their leadership and collaboration through this process. Your work and sticking with it matters, so thank you for that. I also want to recognize the administration and labor relations team, who I know were working alongside them through all of this.

I know that we're doing the school basis contract second, but I do just want to include them in my opening statement acknowledge the work of the BASA and the supervisors of the school committee in reaching the agreement before us today. And as a former Boston public school teacher and educator, For more than two decades, I know firsthand how demanding and complex the work of school administrators is. It's critical that we have strong and support leadership and we're supporting them. So looking forward to hearing from them next and have questions for them also. My goal today is to fully understand what these agreements deliver for the workers they cover, how they support recruitment and retention, and what the fiscal and operational impacts are for the city. The hearing is an important opportunity for us to ask these questions, so I'm looking forward to having them answered. I know Councilor Flynn and President Breadon have already asked some good questions, but

I have a few questions for the fire first. With the longevity built into base pay, one of the most significant changes in this agreement is embedding longevity into base pay rather than relying on separate stipends. Can you explain why that shift was important to firefighters and how it affects the long-term earnings for our members with 15, 20, and 25 years of service? My second question, I'll just read them to get them on the record, is the TCAP reform. The changes to the Transitional Career Awards Program tie benefit calculations more closely to a 25-year base salary. Can you walk us through this reform and how it better reflects years of service and supports firefighters as they transition later in their career? and Blind of Duty Death Benefit. I know it was brought up by Councilor Flynn with his personal story about his uncle and also Councilor Breadon. So I understand and just want to just get on record.

That doesn't need to be answered again, but how it's important that this change strengthens the protection for our firefighters and provides greater security for their families. So thank you for putting that in there. And the last one that would be a question is from the department and union perspective, how does this agreement position the fire department when it comes to recruitment, retention, and morale over the next several years?

I can take an initial answer of these and if anyone else from the department wants to jump in. I think the longevity and the TCAP changes were proposed by the union. I think what they reflect is There was somewhat of a We really focused on that with both of these. The length of service as you have more experience with the city, you're better rewarded. So I think that does reward length of service and long-term service members with the fire department. The TCAP changes, it was from a third-year firefighter. So for a five-year, it's based on a five-year salary. And then over that is the lieutenant salary. So again,

A little bit smaller change on that, but same idea rewarding those who've been with the city longer. And I think that was what the union sought to accomplish and we were able to come together on those two And what was the question about the line of death benefit? Just how it works?

No, just acknowledging that I also wanted to talk about it, but I didn't need it to be a question because Councilor Flynn and Councilor Breadon brought it up also. So just thanking you for putting that and increasing that support for families. So no question there. I understand that one. Thank you. And the last one, I don't know. Commissioner Burke, but I can assume the answer to the morale, but I do hope I'm looking forward to voting in support of this. But what are you hearing and hoping that the members are happy with this agreement?

They seem to be very happy with it. It's a good raise for the life of the contract. We never have problems recruiting. Everybody in the city wants to be a firefighter. Money's a part of it, but people really want this job because of the Camaraderie, the team, team groups and everybody. We work together. It's just a desirable job. So I think morale is at a high point right now and hopefully it stays that way. Money never hurts that. It increases morale, so they're happy with it.

Thank you. So thank you to your team. Also, Sam, I know you're on in the city because looking forward to supporting this and getting this to our members. Thank you, Councilor Weber.

Okay, thank you, Councilor Murphy. So in terms of track and field, you announced the next three. So I'm up, and then Councilor Durkan is on deck. Fitzgerald was in the hall is what they say track and field field events but um so uh I just maybe this is for um Renee or For Lou, we bargained a little differently with police and firefighter unions through the JLMC. Can you just explain how we got to this point? Choose the voluntary binding arbitration or were we sent there? Just a little background and appreciation.

Yeah, we had a few sessions with 718 and I mean, I don't want to go too deep into it, but 718 filed at the JLMC and the city remained hopeful at that time that we wouldn't have to go through the arbitration process that we could come to agreement and you know we at the same time we were going through that process we continued we had some off the records with them we had some on the records with them and so we kept bargaining at the same time we were going through you know mediations and we were we were at the 9a hearing when we finally settled this So they were sort of parallel, both bargaining and going through the JLMC process.

Okay. And then just in terms of background, like the way The base rates, so we have TCAP and then the adjusted, the longevity base rate sort of increases. Can you just explain how those two things work? What the TCAP does, how that functions, and what this change means, and then the same For what, a base salary? What is a strip base? I just, I don't even know. So basic, just background.

I mean, it's a pretty complicated contract, so I wish I had someone from finance here to, but... So we took it down to a base pay rate and we have the increases listed in the contract for each of those years. And then there's a bunch of other components that are added on additionally. So yeah, and that's just something that specifically, it's the most specific thing on the longevity to give for the 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25-year period. for the pay structure.

I guess TCAP sort of looks similar to me. I just, I realize they're different things. Can you just explain the difference?

Yeah, so TCAP, or you want to go on, Luke?

Yeah, I was going to say, I could give a little. Here I think. So TCAP is something that's been around since Councilor Flynn's put it in place in bargaining in 1987. So basically It's a complicated system and how it works. And I, now having done this for four years, still don't think I could do it justice. But what it amounts to is that it's a longevity program, but What was different here is that most of the benefits of the program land in the first pay period of the fifth year of service. So what we've done here is change that. So it isn't pegged to a third year firefighter anymore. Now it's pegged to this 25 year. That's the change we made. But the other reality is the two things are sort of interrelated in the sense that most of the benefits, as we say, landed in the first pay period of year five.

So what this longevity benefit does is sort of actually add longevity at various choke points in a firefighter's career. So the strip base, a percentage of which sort of gives them The further they go in their career, the greater financial benefits for reaching certain checkpoints. That's basically what it comes down to. And that's something that the TCAP didn't really do. So the TCAP, most of the financial benefit, as we say, landed in year five. and then it continued to provide benefits each year for the rest of your service but not like this. So this is sort of enshrining longevity much more as a concept. That's really what this does and that's how the TCAP and the longevity The payments that we've established here interrelate.

OK, thanks a lot. And then, sorry, so on the line of duty death benefit, at section 6, it says, so I understand we're expanding the sort of line of duty Deaths could include not just you know being injured in a fire but you know having these health consequences down the road that's and we're adding is we're adding that to line of benefit in my To basically understand that, you know, if there's related illnesses that occur in the line of duty, even though it doesn't affect the person till later.

Yeah, their statutory presumption benefits are also included in the line of duty death benefit.

Can you just, in section six, it says eligible employees shall receive the following line of duty death benefit. I just I'm assuming the employee is not you know the the person who's who's killed in the line of duty is not getting I just don't understand how that is this

So it would go to their family or their estate. That's where it would go to.

Okay. I didn't know how to read that section. And... I guess, okay, I think that is, that's it for me. I may have a follow-up question too at the end of this. So thank you very much. Councilor Durkan, you're up. Councilor Fitzgerald, You're on deck. Councilor Worrell, you're in the hole.

Thank you so much, Chair Weber. And as a former discus thrower, I appreciate the analogy to track. So I am grateful to the collective bargaining team and and the local for coming to an agreement. I think this is great and I support union organizing and I support collective bargaining. I'm prepared to vote yes on this contract at the next meeting. I did want to ask if there are any parts of the contract that are not yet operational and just and an idea of when those would become operational. Obviously reading through this CBA, it's one of the longest CBAs that we have been given for a hearing. So there's a lot there. And I'm just curious sort of what the fiscal impacts, obviously you negotiate one Contract and we're obviously always, the city is always working on another.

So just curious sort of the direct financial impacts of this contract. and just curious what challenges and ambiguities sort of existed within the potentially the bargaining to I know having read through some of this, not all of it's Not every, you know, it's a lot of legal language. So just curious if there were any sort of disputes within the collective bargaining process that the city council should be aware of. The other question I had was about vacation time and just making sure that members and firefighters are able to access there. I saw that there was something in the contract about if there was a public safety emergency They might have to change their vacation plans.

I wasn't clear exactly how that got negotiated and if that had been in the contract for a long time. Those are basically my questions, so I'd love to hear hear more about how some of those things got worked out.

So generally, we don't implement any of the economics until it's funded by the city council. So none of the economic things have been implemented yet. And I We wouldn't have, until it's funded, we probably wouldn't have implemented the details on retirees either. I'll maybe let someone from the department talk about the vacation blackout period and if there was a Emergency, how that would be dealt with. Commissioner, do you want to take that or Chief?

Chief Ellis, you want to take that one?

Hello. Yeah, sure. So, uh, The vacation blackout period, we have like in our vacation periods, like prime vacation period, which is usually the late spring, summer, early fall, and then the other times of the year, were non-prime. And so the contract allows for rank for rank coverage when the officers take vacation, they're covered by overtime. We were making all the officers do their overtime during the prime period. So you might have plans to go on vacation down the Cape for the first two weeks of July, but also that's the time where we're mandating you to do O'Neill.

Thank you for joining us. More leeway on when they can work their overtime. And you mentioned something about an emergency. I'm not quite sure what you're referring to. You might have misread something there.

Yeah, to be honest, I had never read through the whole CBA before, and I was scanning through to figure out some of the aspects. Personally, I've heard a lot of anecdotes of firefighters, that scenario where they're planning to go on vacation and then asked to come back. So I appreciate that. That was what I was getting at is will people be able to take their vacation and Obviously, I know that firefighters work really hard and they deserve the best and so do their families, so I just want to make sure that we're solving that issue. And yeah, I just want to thank you all for all the work that you do throughout the year, even as we move to the next contracts that are being worked on.

I really think the City Council's role is to respect the collective bargaining process so I'm prepared to vote yes and if I have any additional questions I will go through the chair to receive those but I plan to vote for this at the next council meeting. So have a great day. And I hope if I don't see all of you, I just want to thank you all for your service and all that you do for our communities.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Okay, thank you, Councilor Durkan. So, Councilor Fitzgerald, then Councilor Worrell, then Councilor Culpepper. So, Councilor Fitzgerald, you got seven minutes.

Thank you, Councilor Weber, and thank you to all my colleagues for their previous questions as well. Respect the process, respect the firefighters. I have no questions at this time and happy to move forward. Thank you.

Councilor Fitzgerald, thanks. I did say seven minutes.

Sorry, I thought you said seven seconds.

Good job. Okay, Councilor Worrell, you're up. Councilor Culpepper, you're on deck. Councilor Coletta Zapata is in the hole. Councilor Worrell.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the department here for coming to an agreement on a contract. I also just want to just give a big shout out to Commissioner Burke. I know you're approaching Thank you for your years of service. I saw in the contract It's stated $93 million over the four years. Is that broken out evenly? How is that $93 million, the cost of the contract, how is that broken out?

Jim, do we divide it by four? Is that where you're getting the 18?

No, the benefits and wages are implemented in each year, and there's sort of that compounding effect in that $93 million is the cumulative impact over the four-year period.

Can you provide us with the cost per year, Jim? Sure. And then, in the past, we've seen Overtime, go over what's budgeted. Is there anything that we've looked into in this contract that kind of addresses the overtime, trying to rein it in?

Well, I think the one thing that always helps the overtime is to continue hiring every year. We're very dedicated to hiring a class to replace the retired members and to keep the overtime down. If you don't hire and people always retire, you have to pay overtime to cover the minimum staffing on the fire truck. So you're going to have to cover them with overtime. Just the fact that we hire every year, if we try to do two classes, that helps the overtime.

All right. I think that is all my questions. Again, thank you for your service. Thank you for your time on this and looking forward to voting yes. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, thanks, Councillor Worrell. Councillor Culpepper, then Councillor Coletta Zapata, then Councillor Pepén, and then we'll see if anyone has a follow-up question, you can raise your hand. Okay, so Councilor Culpepper, seven minutes.

Mr. Chair, I want to extend my full support for the Updated Boston Fire Fire D.E. contract how fire fires risk their lives on a daily basis to keep our community safe. They respond to emergencies, protect our neighborhoods, and serve with courage and dedication. This contract reflects the respect The fair compensation and the resources they deserve for all the vital work that they do. And when you think about our first responders, it's not just about honoring their service, it's really ensuring the safety and the well-being of every resident in the city of Boston. By investing, and really investing in our firefighters, we're investing in the strength and the resilience of our city. I want to thank our Chief, Chief Burr.

I went to that Cadet Penning. I want to commend the Chief. I was excited to see the young cadets that were getting their pin on that day, how excited they were. I just wanted to commend the chief for that. And I really applaud the The hard work of the Boston firefighters, you know, I've got some, some of the firefighters are very close to me in the ministry perspective. You know, they come after working all night. after working those four day shifts. So I really respect the leadership. I respect the city and the firefighters for reaching this agreement, both as our heroes and sheroes. that are on the front lines and continuously on day out day in 24 basis

protecting our community. I have no questions. I'm ready to vote for this contract when it comes to Forest Wednesday. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Okay, thank you very much. Councilor Culpepper, I just want to thank you for coming to the Cadet Finning and thank you for your support of that program and welcome to the Council.

Okay, and so we have a couple more councillors, Councillor Coletta Zapata and Councillor Pepén. I remind my colleagues that we also are here to discuss the school administrators and supervisors contract, which we will have that conversation after this. And also Lou Mandarini has a prior engagement. He's got to leave at 3. He'll be gone for about 20 minutes and come back. So if somebody has any specific questions for him, He'll be returning if no one else can answer them and we'll ask and wait. So, Councilor Coletta Zapata and then Councilor Pepén. Councilor Coletta Zapata, you have seven minutes.

Thank you so much, Chair. I'm grateful to all firefighters, the labor relations team, Commissioner Burke, local 718, and everyone involved in the collective bargaining. I'm going to jump straight into questions. I'm really pleased to see the Marine Unit operations and the expansion of that program. Just curious to know, just given that there have been a couple of boat fires or waterfront fires, just how this is going to be determined between your marine unit, the BPD harbor unit, Massport Fire and Rescue, like are there any The Boston Fire Department is the primary

Firefighting Force in the Boston Harbor. The Massport unit would be for Massport property. Also, we would have the help of the Coast Guard. Chelsea Creek, On the jurisdiction, I believe we go part way up to Chelsea Creek, but we are the primary firefighting force for the Boston Harbor.

Okay, thank you for that. So can you all confirm whether or not, so BFD, are you all excluded from the city's general paid family leave policy due to your collective bargaining status? This is something I honestly don't know.

No, they're covered with the paid parental. Is that what you asked?

Yes, ma'am. Yeah, they get paid parental leave. Okay, thank you. So consistent with the same parental leave that everyone gets in the city? Yes. Okay. And is it... Is it a tiered structure where for, I mean, this is what the police department does, but is it a tiered structure in which the longer you're out, the less you are paid?

Well, you get certain weeks covered at... I think it's 150. No, is it 70? Yes, it's a tiered structure for four weeks. I don't have it in front of me, but then you get 12 weeks of it. And then if you stay the whole time, it is less.

Can you just walk us through that? But... maybe it's something that I just recently learned about where if you are out for a certain length of time on maternity leave you only get 75% of your benefits and then it goes down to 50% it's just not something that was ever on my radar before and I think it should be at 100 the entire way through, but if any clarity that you can provide on this for me right now would be helpful.

I don't have the numbers in front of me. I think it's 100% for the first four weeks. 75 for the second four weeks and then 50% for the last four weeks. If I'm wrong, I will give you the policy after this, but yeah, so it does, you don't get full pay for the whole time period.

Okay, thank you. I think that is something long-term we should change, but that's another conversation for another day. So I do want to go to staffing levels, I think, and just the annual cost of paid details. These are definitely... Questions that we may need information follow up on. So in the budget hearing last year, I talked about baseline staffing per firehouse per tour and how often Staffing fall below minimums required by overtime. Is that something that anybody can talk to or has information on now?

Well, every day, The day prior to today, let's say yesterday, they find out the attendance for today, and they have to meet a minimum number for the two divisions, which the city is split in two divisions, Mass Ave is the dividing line. So they look at the numbers, they compare. If they're below the minimum staffing, they were higher over time. A lot of times in the summertime with vacations, they're below. on an average day they'd be below not that much but they would have to fill those spots so if a firehouse had extra people we would send them to a firehouse that was and many more.

Thank you. And do we have an annual cost of paid details?

Well, paid details are different than what you're talking about for staffing in the firehouse. Paid details are for construction sites and other purposes. So the annual costs, I don't know. There's an increase. Thank you. Thank you. They don't go unfilled because we feel that safety is in jeopardy when they go unfilled and they're voluntary so they're not mandatory so they do sometimes they do go unfilled Renee, what's the increase on them if you know off the top of your head for the pay details?

Is it $10? It was $14. So that is not paid by the city. That's paid by the vendor who hires the firefighter to do the detail. The net, I mean, as far as I know, it doesn't have any cost to the city. I don't know, Jim, if you have any, maybe there's some administration or non-pay fees, but

No, I think you have it right, Rene. It's paid by the third party who's building it.

Okay, thank you for that one. I do have a question as relates to fire versus medical response. Do we, and this is something that I asked in last year's budget, but what percentage of BFD calls are directly related for fire suppression? versus EMS and medical response.

Pat, you got an estimate on that? Rodney? Well, I don't have the exact numbers right in front of us, but like, you know, the fire calls includes the alarm calls for fire, okay? You know, you might only have 10% that are actually fires, but... Add on another 25 to 30 percent are calls, you know, your central station, your manual poll station people. So those calls, I would say, run up to like, you know, 40 percent. and then our medical calls probably another you know 40 percent over that and then you know miscellaneous the other 20. You know actual fires 10, Response to Investigate Fire, probably 30%, Medicals, 40%, and then, you know, say, Tech Rescues or anything like that would round us out to the other 20%.

Okay, so we're looking at 40% fire-related, either investigatory or fire suppression, and then the other 40% EMS or medical response?

That'd be about right, counsel, yep.

Okay, can I just formally request those numbers again?

Sure.

Chair, thank you. Thank you. I think that's it for me right now on the fire contract. Thank you so much, Chair. Thank you everybody for your time on this and for your work every day to keep our city safe. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. So, Councilor Pepén, you are up. And then if anyone has a follow-up question, just after seven minutes, or when Councilor Pepén is finished, just raise your hand and I'll call you in the order that you arrived. So, Councilor Pepén.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you, Mr. Chair and Madam President for holding this space. But Commissioner Burke and President Dillon know both very well how I feel about the fire department and the amazing work that they do. My first term, I had the opportunity to tour every single firehouse in my district and be able to just I don't have any questions. Councilor Coletta Zapata brought up a point that I really am passionate about which is parental leave as you can see and making sure that our firefighters are paid adequately when and if they have a new family member I do look forward to voting in support of this. Our firefighters are heroes in our city, so you have my full support. Thank you.

Okay, thank you, Councillor Pepén. Very nice seeing your new arrival. I had a question for the commissioner. I don't think it's related to this and let me know. In terms of like the hybrid pathway, I don't know what the recent developments are in that. I know the state has given Some authority for fire departments to deviate from civil service. What's the status on that? And does this contract have any impact on that?

The contract has no impact on it, no. There was state legislation. It's up to the municipality if they want to exercise it. We've chosen to. It takes 50% of every drill class is a hybrid. It gives the city a choice to pick the members that are going to be in the drill class. They have to go through interviews, testing. They need three-year residency. And that's how we're doing it. We also have the cadet program, which It's into the 50% of the hybrid. So the disabled vets still have 50% and the other 50% goes to the hybrid and the cadet program combined.

Okay. Yeah. Thanks a lot. I know You know, in my experience, sometimes there's issues with lack of diversity in hiring at different public safety agencies, departments across the state, and then people will point to the civil service law and say, you know, my hands are tied. I appreciate your support for the hybrid pathway and its mission. Glad to hear it's something to be impacted by.

Just to finish up, the cadets and the hybrid, they... We have a diversity officer, Michael Gaskin, that has and a team of people that look at every individual and pick very fairly. And it's working out well to this point. I'm very excited about it.

Okay. Thank you, Commissioner. So that's it for me. I'm just, in terms of follow-up questions, I see Councillor Glynn's hand is up. I don't see anyone's hand is up. So, Councilor Flynn, if you have like one or two follow-up questions, we have the school administrators, you know, have been patiently waiting. So you're up, Councilor Flynn. I'll give you two minutes if you need some extra time. Thank you.

Thank you. I want to focus on two quick points. I worked for eight years trying to get an EMS station in the South Boston waterfront. We're getting that. Commissioner, I've worked with you on a fire station as well, fire presence in the South Boston waterfront as well. Just wanted to ask you if you have an update, any status, but thank you for working with me for a number of years. You're welcome, Councilor.

It's been a pleasure. I do have an update where I spoke to the developer, and I think you were aware that it was going to be a lab project. and this developer told me that the labs, the popularity and the return on investment is not working out that well. So he's trying to develop a different land usage for the building, which houses a firehouse. And he promised me he'd get back to me. I think he had 36 months total. His clock is ticking pretty quickly now. I think it's November of this year. So he has to make a decision, but he has to put a firehouse in the first two floors, whatever he chooses above. He just wants to make sure it's profitable for his investment.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner, another question a neighbor of mine asked me in the south end. Return of Ladder 13 to take the pressure off the force surrounding Ladder companies, all very busy. What do you think, Commissioner?

I think I'd love that, but I think it's very expensive at this time with the budget constraints we have. That would be a great addition to that. I'd like to see that firehouse in South Boston. That would be a great... I don't know if they we could do both because it's it's a million dollars a year for a new fire truck to be staffed but it'd be nice but I don't know that would

Yeah, thank you, Commissioner. And I know this is something I worked with you on for a number of years, my good friend Michael Flaherty as well. You know, getting a fire presence in the waterfront, getting a fire presence in the four-point, either or, including EMS. I want to say thank you to you, Commissioner. I want to say thank you to all of the firefighters that are on here as well. I want to say thank you to Local 718, Sam Dillon, effectively advocating for their members but also for their families as well. Thank you, Councilor Weber.

Okay, thank you. Councilor Worrell, I saw your hand.

Yeah, thank you, Chair. And Jim, just a quick, I guess, Thank you. Thank you. How the cost over time felt for wages. They showed what the cost would be in FY25, FY26, and then they showed total cost over the contract term. So that is something that We can see going forward on these CBAs. I think that would be extremely helpful. Thank you.

Yep.

Got it. Jim, do you think we could get that before our Wednesday meeting? I think so, yeah. If there's an issue, yeah, just let me know. I don't see any other hands. I want to thank everyone from the fire department, and our Labor Relations Office and our Budget Management Office for all their work on this. And it's been, I think as Sam Dillon highlighted, it's been a long Time negotiating this and we're going to bring it up for a vote on Wednesday. It sounds like generally folks support it.

Okay, so I would like to get to the other contract before us today, which is the Boston Association of School Administrators and Supervisors, or BASIS. We have Mr. Hassan. Is it Hassan? Am I close?

Yep, Hassan.

That's correct. So before we get into questions, do you have anything you'd like to... Present to us, and then I also think, do we have Diane Hauser? Is Diane here for Public Testament? I don't know if she's from... affiliated with VASA. So, Mr. Hassan, if you want to give us a brief presentation on what this contract is doing and why we're here, and then Diane Houser can also give a statement before we get to questions.

Yes, just a real quick overview. First, thank you, Chair, for having me this afternoon. We appreciate you squeezing us into your agenda. Councilmembers, thank you for being here. We appreciate your time. So I am excited to present the recent agreement with BASIS, stimulus to the fire department in the city. We worked a long time on this, but we Thank you for joining us. They are critical members of our administrative team. So specifically, they represent assistant principals, directors in special education, and assistant directors, program directors, field coordinators in food and nutrition, Food and Nutritional Services. So it's a wide variety of supervisors and administrators across the district.

I believe today that there's currently approximately 150 members across the district. And so I think President Breadon had broken down some of the highlights of the recent agreement, but 2% across each year, and then an additional salary step built into their current salary grid. So step nine at 2.5% above the current step eight. Then there's some differential language, additional benefits to the employees include an increased Paid Parental Leave Component. So similar to what the managerial folks in BPF get, this would extend paid parental leave to up to 18 weeks. and that would be unpaid unless a member has accrued unused sick and personal time which they could use to supplement the city's paid option to bring their compensation up to 100%. So that's it.

Kind of the main highlights. We also codified a few things that are kind of already in practice that I'm happy to take you through, but I don't know if we need to. I know it's been kind of a long afternoon for folks. I'm happy to go into more detail as questions come up. But again, I see Diane's here. I can turn the mic over to her, but I want to thank Diane and her team for their advocacy for their members, but for also their professionalism, both in negotiations and throughout the course of the school year. We have a fairly strong relationship with our basis Bargaining Partners, and I expect that to continue. So thank you, Diane.

Okay, thank you very much. Don't leave, Mr. Hassan. We've got some questions.

Yes.

So just before Diane speaks, I don't know if there's anyone from Labor Relations. I know Lou had stepped off. Looks like Renee has also I don't see Renee. Maybe they can speak later. So, Diane, this is public testimony. It usually comes at the end. You have two minutes. More sense to hear from you now before we get to questions from the administration. Ms. Hauser, if you have two minutes to let us know whatever you want us to know and how you want us to act.

Great. Thank you very much. Thank you, Jeremiah. Good afternoon, counselors. My name is Diane Hauser, president of the Boston Association of School Administrators and Supervisors, BASIS. I'm here today on behalf of our 340 members to respectfully request the approval of the appropriation of funds for our school year 2427 collective bargaining agreement. This contract that was ratified by our membership already received the unanimous approval of the school committee and the full support of Superintendent Mary Skipper. Our members, both school-based and central office leaders, ensure that our buildings remain safe, that our staff is supported and that our students succeed every day. We have worked without a contract for over a year.

While we respect the Council's oversight process, any further delay to authorize these funds directly impacts the financial stability of our members. These are hard-earned wages increased Thank you for watching. Authorizing this appropriation today allows us to move forward and return our full focus to the critical work of running our schools. Waiting for over a year for finalizing our agreement has been a challenge for morale. Now that agreement has been reached and ratified, we simply ask the Council to complete this final procedural step. Please authorize these funds so we can receive our scheduled pay increases and work with the school department on the retroactive pay as well. I'd also like to take a moment to thank the Council for your responsiveness.

While I'm not new to union leadership, this is the first contract that I am leading through the final stages of the legislative process. And I appreciate the partnership and the open lines of communication that we have started over the past week as we work to support the educators who lead our schools, our city schools. Thank you for your time today. I look forward to collaborating with you in the future.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it. So I guess, Jim Williamson, do you have anything you'd like to say before we get to questions?

Nope, no, I just, I covered all the BPS dockets at the beginning, so I'm good.

Okay, thank you very much. So we'll just get to questions then. So we're going to start with Councillor Flynn, followed by Councillor Breadon, and then Councillor Murphy. You know, I guess if you want to make an opening statement, I'm going to put it at six minutes. Again, there will be a second round just because you have a lot of counselors and We've already been through one contract, so maybe we'll see how this goes. I'm saving time for six minutes, and I'll come on with one more minute.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Diane. To you and your team, outstanding work. You deserve a fair contract. I think this is a fair contract. I look forward to voting in favor of it. I'm going to encourage the Chair to bring this forward on Wednesday. I think it's important. I know that it's important for the members as well to bring this forward. Mr. Chair, so I have a question on labor relations, but I don't know if anyone from labor relations is here, though.

Lou Mandarini, Renee stepped off. They will be back. Let me get in touch. I will, if you have questions for Labor Relations, we'll just... When they come back, you can ask them. What we can do is Yeah, I'll leave it up to you. I mean, you'll have to ask some questions.

Well, Mr. Chair, so obviously I'm 1,000% in support of this contract, but this is not the contract also for... Bus Monitors is not included in this. What union includes the bus monitors?

Now, Councilor, the bus monitors, and I can answer questions for the district, the school committee's labor relations team. So the bus monitors are represented by the United Steelworkers. We actually recently came to a tentative agreement with our bus monitors unit. I know it's scheduled for ratification, I believe, on February 7th. from the union, and it'll be presented to school committee soon after, so I believe on the 12th. So we've made significant progress with that. But I do know that's different.

Yeah, no, I know it's different. I just want to advocate for... For them also, they deserve a little bit of respect as well. So bus monitors are important, as is this current contract we're going to be voting on on Wednesday. So I'm looking forward to voting on this contract Wednesday. So let me ask you then, Jeremiah, as it relates to BPS, where are we in terms of budget cuts, potential budget cuts? Or Jim? Either Jeremiah or Jim, I did see the statement put out by the BPS superintendent, as you know, I have great respect for. But I did see her statement that we're looking at significant budget cuts at BPS. Where are we, Jim?

So BPS Finance will be presenting the preliminary budget that's called for by statute this coming Wednesday at the school committee meeting. So they will be providing the status of the preliminary budget for BPS.

So what are we looking at in terms of potential budget cuts, Jim?

I don't want to speak for the district, but there are sort of an adjustment that's forthcoming to some enrollment changes in the district. in budgetary pressures that not unlike some of the same budgetary pressures we're facing at the city, particularly around employee benefits, health insurance being the leading one. So it's trying to get it all to fit within

I heard they want to cut stipends that teachers get whether the stipends might be for some type of after school program, might be for a A sports, teaching sports, coaching sports rather, but that has a huge impact on our students, their overall health of the students. Why are we cutting those programs, Jim?

Yeah, I defer to the BPS team on that for those specific questions about changes.

Yeah, so, Councilor, my understanding is that the, any, stipends are being reviewed, but they, There's a real strong attempt to minimize any impact on direct student services that would be impacted by the stipends.

Well, that would have a major impact on students. So when you cut the stipends of a teacher and they're not getting paid for their after-school program and they're not getting paid for teaching sports, That has a huge impact on the students though.

No, I would certainly agree, but I'm just not aware of any athletic stipends that are being eliminated. And again, we probably would need somebody from our budget to say definitively, but I'm not aware of any sports Stipends or teams that are being cut as a result of the current budget review process.

Okay. In terms of this current contract, what is in the contract that is supportive of these Administrators ensuring that they're able to continue working at BPS, especially during challenging and difficult economic times. What is in there specifically that will support them and their families?

Well, so this agreement, we have a couple of things that I think are favorable for our membership here in the agreement and the employees. Obviously, the wage increases, the additional salary step, which is Specifically intended to both reward and increase retention of longstanding BBS employees and specifically BASIS members. So now, rather than capping out in your eighth year, there's another year where your salary will increase into that ninth step. Additionally, while There's not necessarily like additional job security built in to this contract. The basis contract itself does have language that protects the most senior members in the event that positions have to be cut across Like district-wide, what we have done in this...

But Jeremiah, you guys aren't cutting positions, you told me. Is that right? Or Jim, you mentioned you're not cutting positions, so...

Well, I think every year schools go through what they call the process to evaluate the positions needed at given schools. and they fluctuate based on student need, programmatic changes. So I guess like a position being cut from a school doesn't necessarily mean a lay. because you might have one less assistant principal needed at high school A and then high school B needs an additional assistant Assistant Principal or same thing goes for any of our other basis job titles.

I want to know where the cuts are going to be made if there are going to be any cuts. That's what I'm looking for, specific data on where those cuts are going to be made, because this will provide city councils with an opportunity to go to school, see how they're operating, but also to Fight and advocate for various programs that are important to them and their constituents, the BPS family. So, you know, I'm not blaming you, but that's the information I would like to get.

No, and I appreciate that question. And I think it's a little bit beyond the scope of this collective bargaining. And I think you will hear more from our budget folks when that budget is ultimately presented before school committee. I know our schools, our central office departments are going through the process right now of evaluating what the budget proposals are for the upcoming fiscal year and how that fits within their current position allotment and any changes that might be. either needed. Based on service needs or obviously the fiscal reality that we're facing next year. So I think that information will be presented more district-wide at the upcoming school committee.

Okay, okay, now that's fair. That's why I've been advocating for a critical role of Council Mejia on the Education Committee, that these are critical discussions, these are critical issues. So, Mr. Chair, I have no further questions. Thank you.

Okay, thanks. Do you have any questions for Labor Relations? I know they're still not here, but... Mr.

Chair, in the interest of time, I'm going to pass on that. I don't want to take any more time.

Okay, okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, so, Councilor Brayden and Councilor Murphy, followed by me, Councilor Brayden, you have six minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm curious, BASIS, I'm looking at what grades, I'm looking at the grades that BASIS covers. It doesn't cover principals of schools? Do they have a separate bargaining agreement or are they subject to collective bargaining?

No, by statute they are excluded from collective bargaining. I think it's chapter 71, section 41 specifically says that school principals cannot be Unionized. And I think that was part of the Ed Reform Act of 93, I believe.

Did they have any form of protection against hostile They have absolutely no protections, is that correct?

No, I certainly wouldn't say that. They do have protections under the statute, provided they've been in that position, as a school principal for more than three years. And they are each under their own individual contract. So they have contractual protection individually, but they also have the right to arbitration under the statute.

Okay, very good. You know, I think Councillor Flynn raised some of the issues. I think the concern we have around stipends and we understand that we're going into a tightening situation with regard to our fiscal health. But the stipend situation, especially for students after school programs, you know, many of our students stay late. They get picked up at 4.30, 5 o'clock in the afternoon. and you know the stipends really make that happen so I'm hoping that you know we'll hear the details of the school budget on I'm hoping that the stipend situation can be preserved because it is a very very important part of the school day even though it happens outside regular hours. It's extended learning for the students and social time, etc.

So I will be keeping an eye on that. In terms of this, this contract runs to July 2027. And you said that there was one year this year without a contract?

So it's, yeah, August 31st of 2027 is the final day of the contract is in effect. And it was the prior contract expired August 31st. 31st of 24. So we are about a year and a half removed. So that would be FY or the 24-25 school year would be a fully retro and so on.

The administration has been working very diligently to try and get all the contracts up to date. In terms of what's the usual process to use Do you usually start negotiating at the deadline, at the end of the existing contract? What's the cause for delays? Why was there a delay this time?

So we usually try to get going before a contract expires, but there are a host of things that come up and time limitations. I know a lot of The focus of our labor relations team, district administrators goes into negotiating with the Boston Teachers Union, but sometimes that kind of takes over a lot of the The time and then once that gets done, we're able to kind of shift focus into our other units. So we have 12 unions covered by collective bargaining agreements. Actually 15 CBAs because BTU has four of them. But that's one of the delays. I know we have made an effort to try and get people on like a little bit of a staggered timeline. So it's not everybody's coming up

and we were able to do that with some of our facilities groups so we got two three-year agreements The prior bargaining cycle. So that kind of helped us out. But that's one of the delays is just we only have so many members. I think my team right now We have six attorneys and there's Work coming in every day and so getting the focus and the time and I think you know the importance of these collective bargaining agreements both on operations and the employees. So it really is a very careful, deliberate process that we can't really rush through.

Thank you. Mr. Chair, I think that's all I have. Shout out to Lou Mandarini for helping us negotiate all these contracts over the last few years. He's been doing a stellar job. Thank you.

Okay, thanks a lot. Yeah, for everyone, Lou Mandarini is back to answer questions. You know, for any, for some reason, Councilor Flynn, you missed something, you want to come back later. That's fine. So, Councilor Murphy, and then I'm up, and then Councilor Durkan is third. So, Councilor Murphy, you got six minutes.

So I know Jeremiah you mentioned I know getting a lot of calls and you know emails from concerned school communities and specific staff because their school site councils met like they do every year in January Through Probable Org, making sure they're submitting their budgets for the next school year. This happened the last couple of years with concerns and confusion around ESSER funding, but now we're in a different situation with this hiring freeze and I know At the last council meeting, I did file a hearing order to address those specific questions. So I'll hold off on kind of talking about that now, knowing we'll have a bigger conversation with the right people in front of us, but just wanted reiterate what Councilor Flynn and Councilor Breadon said that you know we do have some tough times ahead and I do know that staff several staff have already been notified that their jobs have been eliminated so just need to make sure that we on the council are

advocating and asking all the right questions to make sure that we minimize that and we're not ignoring the loss of jobs to some of our workforce here in the city. With that, I'm going to go right into a couple questions I have. Did you know our school administrators, they're responsible for instructional leadership, staff management, student safety, family engagement, and compliance, often all at once. How does this agreement recognize The scope and intensity, especially as we continue to move to a district that tries to be fully inclusive with putting more tasks and burden on staff and expecting Paris to step in where You know, licensed teachers used to take on certain roles. So did this agreement address those concerns that I know are real for our... Well, I think that...

Just to, and Cops, I appreciate you saying that, and I think just to clarify, I know you mentioned powers and teachers, so that would be under the BTU contract. No, I know. Yeah, but obviously... No, but they have to manage...

a school right that used to be staffed with different yeah so when you were you know an administrator that had a special ed teacher and now a power is trying to step in and we're not you know giving the support and pay to that power to do the same job or you know experience right

Yeah, so I think this contract recognizes the really hard work of our BASIS members and, you know, you mentioned the shift to inclusive There are a number, I don't have the exact number, but BASIS represents a lot of our employees centrally in the Office of Specialized Services. So we do think the general wage increases, the additional step at the end of the salary grid are a strong step towards recognizing that hard work. We've also increased the differential for those members who may have a Juris Doctorate, which before was not recognized in the contract. A few of our members in OSS do have that, so they will benefit from that.

And then I think we also added some language that although not like directly and many more. kind of, you know, goes towards that quality of life question that came up previously. I know one or two of the councilors that asked about the fire department. So there's several Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

And you mentioned like personal days and other Changes that thank you. I think it's important that we're giving our thesis members those types of benefits. But if you could speak to what elements in this agreement make the biggest difference in allowing These members to stay focused on what their job is teaching, learning, and the school culture. Are there changes to the contract that are allowing them to do that job more effectively and supporting them in those needs?

So the parties negotiated new language in terms of professional development, which we think speaks to that that will really and what it does is it requires administrative or management, not basis members, to work with their basis members to plan professional development plans throughout the year to really focus on and many more. You might need a little growth, right?

Do you think the freeze that mentioned stipends and professional development is going to affect, I mean, We can put it into the contract, but if then we're freezing the funding to support teachers and stipend roles and professional development.

Well, I think there's a lot of professional development available that does not have either, it doesn't require a stipend or it doesn't have a huge financial cost to the district. So I think with Thank you. Thank you. valuable, necessary professional development to basis members and employees across the district. I think if we do so, understanding the financial reality that we face, and we know that going in, we can be strategic and selective in what type of offerings we offer. are able to provide that don't come with a huge price tag, but are still effective.

Thank you. I know I'm out of time.

Yeah, do you have a last? Okay, fair enough.

I'm good.

If you had one last question. Okay, so I'm up. I'll just ask a couple questions. And Councilor Durkan and Councilor Fitzgerald, I guess. So for Jim, just the basic Math of this, you know, you do, as Councilor Worrell pointed out, you do point out that the cost estimate retroactively For fiscal year 25 is about $590,000 and then fiscal year 26 is $1.3 million and then fiscal year 27 is $2.5 million. Is that just a function of a 2%? Bump in 25 creates you know sort of more you're adding two percent on to a higher amount is that do I read that correctly exactly the compounding effect of the wage rollout Okay. And I guess in terms of the

So we've talked to BPS about this $53 million budget shortfall. How does that play into Paying these amounts and it is coming out of the same pool of money. Maybe this has already been discussed. I apologize.

Well, so this transaction that's being put to the council for a vote is a transfer from a centrally budgeted collective bargaining reserve to the BPS district. and many others. But you're correct that sort of growth in wages generally do in particularly a BPS where the vast majority of the budget is dedicated to employee Wages and Benefits, obviously has a connection to the budget overall.

Okay, so yeah, so this is not coming out of the FY All right, so we've got about 26 operating budget, right? It's the collective bargaining.

It is. It is coming from, because the collective bargaining is part of the 26 budget.

Okay, and then do you know how much that was budgeted for in FY26? Off the top of your head, not allowed to peek. How much this transaction was budgeted? No, I'm saying how much is in that reserve pursuant to the FY26 budget.

Yeah, I know we have the $1.3 million available from reserve to transfer to the U.S. Okay.

I'll look at it. And then I guess for Jeremiah, in terms of The contract or the memo at least refers to career awards. Can you just explain what that's about?

Yeah, so the language in respect to career award is actually codifying something that's been in practice, I think, for at least a year, maybe longer with the basis contract. or with basis members in our central office team. And it's really the language in the contract was kind of outdated and it relied on members having to apply when they hit a certain year So if I go into my just 10th year, to use an example, I used to have to apply and notify HR, hey, I'm in my 10th year, I now deserve my career award. And I'm not... I'm not exactly sure when it got negotiated into the language, but I think it was before we were as reliant on technology where now we can automatically know when somebody is getting in, I think back a long time ago.

This was a way that our OHR folks were able to not have to just like scan through personnel files at all times of the year. It relied on the union member having to say, You know, I've hit my year. Here's the proof that I've been working after 10 years. Now I'm entitled to the career award. So we really just got away from that and just said it'll be automatically adjusted when they hit their 10th year because now it's all We have the technology in place that can kind of automate that adjustment. So that's the career award language that's a part of this agreement is really just revising and getting rid of the old kind of outdated language.

Is that just a financial bump or are we talking about a plaque?

So it's not a financial increase from what they already have in their career awards. I don't have the exact numbers, but business already is awarded career awards. You got it right here. So I think they're awarded at 7, 14, 19, 29, and 34 years. There is an adjustment. I don't have the exact figures, but the amounts themselves as part of this agreement are not increasing. It's just kind of how they'll be processed between the parties.

Okay, thank you very much. Our budget analyst, Karishma Chauhan, is for me. Jim, we have $102 million, I think, budgeted, or we budgeted $102 million.

I apologize. That is the entirety of the central collective item reserve for 2016. I apologize for not understanding your question.

Can I just add, so when you say collective bargaining reserve, you're referring to the reserve within the BPS operating budget?

No, no, it's outside of the budget. It's budgeted centrally. And so at the beginning of the fiscal year, we budgeted $102 million. We passed through city council seven CBAs and then the The trends actually move from the reserve into the departmental budgets.

Okay. But then just, sorry, last dumb question for me. There is some amount in that reserve that gets budgeted through the BPS operating budget. How does it make its way?

These dockets, dockets 26 and 27, are moving, that's what they're mechanically doing, moving the money out of the reserve into BPS appropriation.

I'm just, so when we passed the budget last June, where does the reserve for the collective bargaining reserve,

It's a central budget on the city's books.

Okay, not the BPS budget.

Not the BPS budget.

That's right. So when we're talking about a $53 million budget shortfall, we're not We're not increasing that. We're taking money from, you know, we're not increasing the shortfall from this budget. What we're doing is there's a collective bargaining reserve, which was budgeted you know in our in all of our wisdom last year because we know we've got these contracts and that's coming into BPS to pay this but We're not taking from BPS to pay.

No. It's additive to the BPS budget. OK. I don't know. Lee's probably shaking his head.

Sorry about that. Okay, that's enough for me. Councilor Durkan and then Councilor Fitzgerald and then Councilor Worrell. Sorry, I don't see Councilor Durkan. So Councilor, I believe it's Fitzgerald, and then Councilor Worrell, and then Councilor Culpepper. Six minutes.

Thank you, Council Weber. Like previously before, while we always want to keep our eye on all contracts related to BPS, given the recent news and I believe we are doing our due diligence on that, but look forward to seeing this contract on Wednesday. Thank you, Jeremiah. Thank you, Diane. And thank you, Jim, for all your work. Appreciate it.

I feel like Loyola Marymount back in the day, they moved the ball up and down the court very fast. Fitzgerald. Good job.

I appreciate it, Councilor.

Okay. Let's see. So, Councilor Worrell, and then Councilor Culpepper, and then Councilor Coletta Zapata. Councilor Worrell.

Two seats. Yeah. Thank you, Chair, and thank you again to everyone involved in coming to an agreement on this contract. I have no further questions. All my colleagues have asked the questions that I do have, but just looking forward to voting on this come Wednesday. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much, Councilor Worrell. Councilor Culpepper, then Councilor Coletta Zapata, then Councilor Pepén. Thank you, Councilor Worrell. I appreciate your support. Sorry about that, Councilor Culpepper, if you'd just start again.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. One of the interesting things about this contract Without the administrators and the supervisors, I think the school system would fall apart. I think without them, Many of the, and I'll get to the principal's question in a minute, Jeremiah, but without the administrators, they're the glue that I think really holds the school system together. to come to an agreement to give them the increase and the back pay of all to support it and come before the council wins. I did have a question to kind of piggyback on what President Breadon asked with regard to the principles. And so we know the principles are interviewing

Is there some kind of schedule of when they come before the superintendent or the school committee for an increase, like you said, seven years for 14 and 19 years or the 10 years for the career increases? At what point do the principles, and I think they have to come on their own individually, or is there some kind of a ladder where the increase or a review is built in?

So yeah, it's a little outside of the scope of this conversation. I'm not exactly an expert on each individual principal's contract. I know that, well, Shouldn't say that. I don't know exactly what's included in every individual principal's contract. I know that they are typically July 1st. They start on July 1st, and they can go from anywhere between, I think, typically one to three years.

I wasn't asking about the term of the contract. I was asking if there's a progression where their review increases or changes in their employment. Whether it's, you said 10 years is the career path where summer review, not principal, but you said the review. Then you said seven, 14, 19. My question is, do principals have some kind of career ladder where their employment, let's say salary or situation is in review, just like the others.

So they have the ability to negotiate individually, so... No, no, no, my question is, but is there a career ladder?

Let's say they don't say anything. Let's say they don't come to the school... Committee or the superintendent say, I want an increase. Is there a career ladder? Is there something that's activated that causes that principal to be reviewed for an increase or whatever?

So my understanding, and again, I'm not the content expert on the principal's individual contracts. For the most part, negotiated directly with the superintendent or maybe the chief of human resources individually. But I believe there's a number of factors such as enrollment, certain like if you're at a There's a number of factors How principal contracts, what the base is, and I believe, but I can't say with certainty that there are career awards or longevity payments available.

Again, it's individual, so I'm not 100% sure.

So there's no career ladder or there's no term where principals would be reviewed automatically? And I'm not talking about one principle. I'm talking about principles in general. Yes.

It's a tough thing to answer. I believe that we would reflect our General Cola into them, but I don't know that for sure. And some principles may have... I don't know. It's individual by statute. Each individual principal has to negotiate. So anytime that they're Contract is up. Presumably they could negotiate something different. So I think it's a little... Outside of the scope, I wasn't expecting to talk about the principal, so sorry, Councilor, I don't have that information readily available right now.

So by statute, each individual principal has to either make a request or at the end of the contract, they begin discussions about increases or different employment conditions. Thank you. Thank you, Jeremiah. I know it's a tough question, but I know the statute says that they have to that individually, there are contracts individually. I was just wondering whether there was something automatically that triggered some kind of review of that contract, whether it was five years, whether it was 10 years, or the end of the contract. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you, Council. I appreciate your support on the contract before us, the agreement with PACES. Yes.

You have my support.

Thank you, I appreciate it.

Okay, Councillor Culpepper, thank you very much. Councillor Coletta Zapata.

Thank you so much, Chair. And I just want to thank everybody for their work on this particular contract as well. I don't have specific questions. A lot of my colleagues The questions were very thoughtful and robust. So to just want to say that while I understand members aren't classroom teachers, they do play a critical role in School Ecosystem and Student Safety and Educator Supervision. So I just want to say thank you for your work and look forward to voting on this on Wednesday. Thanks so much, Chair.

Okay, thank you very much. Do any of my colleagues have any Follow-up questions, they can raise their hands. Peers, not. I don't know, Madam President, do you close the hearing? I don't know what we're supposed to do.

I can do that. Thank you, Councilor Weber, for guiding us through the The proceedings this afternoon. Karishma, do we have anyone for public testimony? Nope, everyone's gone. Thank you. This hearing on dockets 0124 through 0127 is adjourned. Thank you, everyone.

Thank you.