BIDDEFORD — Negotiations between the city and its unionized employees are not going well, at least according to representatives from the Fire Department’s union and the clerical workers’ union.

“The city doesn’t want to negotiate,” firefighter William Langevin said last week.

Langevin is involved with negotiations between the city and the Biddeford firefighters union, representing 40 employees, which is Local 3107 of the International Association of Firefighters.

He said that after the most recent meeting, the city’s negotiator said they were at an impasse.

“We’re taking it as a slap in the face,” said Langevin.

Earlier in the year, the City Council directed the city to not give any pay raises to city employees for a year in order to keep property taxes at the same rate as last year.

However, said Langevin, not only are negotiators for the city asking that union employees forego raises for a year, they are also attempting to “strip all our benefits away from us.”

The city is seeking to reduce the number of holidays and vacation time that firefighters receive annually, said Langevin.

In addition, he said, they’re asking that employees pay an additional 5 percent of the cost of their health insurance, which would require union employees to pay 25 percent of their health insurance.

“If you give a zero increase and take my benefits away, that automatically makes my wages go down,” said Langevin.

The city is asking for these cuts while the level of work for the department is increasing, said Langevin.

Earlier this year the City Council approved a contract for the department to transfer patients to Maine Medical Center. In addition, said Langevin, every year the department responds to an estimated additional 100 calls.

Combining these factors, the Fire Department is expected to handle more than 300  additional calls this year, said Langevin.

Last year the department responded to approximately 4,800 calls said Langevin, which includes both fire and ambulance calls.

The 15 members of the clerical union, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 93, are also operating without a new contract.

Kristy Cyr, the deputy tax collector, is one of those involved in negotiating that contract. Like the firefighters, she said, municipal employees have been asked to forego raises for a year and city negotiators have asked that union employees increase their portion of the amount they pay for their health insurance to 25 percent.

“Absolutely, it’s discouraging,” said Cyr. “It doesn’t look good for anyone.”

She said the union is hoping to receive some non-monetary concessions from the city to make up for the financial loss to employees, such as an increase in vacation time.

City Manager John Bubier refused to comment on the ongoing contract negotiations.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to negotiate contracts in the (news)paper and I will not do that,” he said.

Bubier said he does not attend the contract negotiation meetings. The meetings are attended by representatives from the Human Resources Department, some department heads and negotiators hired by the city.

Approximately 170 of the city’s 250 employees are represented by unions.

In addition to firefighters and clerical workers, police officers and employees with the Department of Public Works also belong to unions.

In all, the city is negotiating five union contracts, all of which expired on June 30. Employees are currently working under the terms of the expired contracts until new contracts are finalized.

The contracts for the six unionized groups of employees working for the School Department also expired this year, said the department’s Business Manager Terry Gauvin.

The unionized employees range from bus drivers to teachers.

According to the terms of the contract with the Biddeford Teachers’ Association, a division of the Maine Education Association, neither group is allowed to discuss what is transpiring in negotiations unless both sides agree.

Debbie Hapgood, who is the lead negotiator for the teachers association and is employed by the Biddeford Regional Center of Technology, said last week that their negations are “going fine” and that so far they’ve had “no problem.”

Negotiations are ongoing, said Gauvin.

Representatives from other unions were unable to be reached by press time.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.