Firefighters’ contract includes lesser-known tuition perk

Tucked within the Clark County firefighters' labor contract is a lesser-known perk that underscores the union's hard bargaining in prosperous times: tuition reimbursement.

The county allocated $187,000 in tax money last year to reimburse employees' education expenses.

Firefighters got the lion's share -- $149,000 -- compared with the $38,000 that other workers received. The disparity is magnified by firefighters being outnumbered by almost six to one.

There were 594 firefighters eligible for reimbursements, versus 3,448 regular employees, according to county data.

"They do have great benefits in that contract," said Steve Smith, the county's fire chief. "They negotiated them."

The contract forged by the International Association of Firefighters Local 1908 allows qualified members to pursue two-year, four-year or advanced degrees in fire science, fire administration, public administration or criminal justice.

That means the public pays the cost of firefighters' elective courses, such as music appreciation, history, astronomy and world literature.

In contrast, members of the Service Employees International Union Local 1908 have a more restrictive contract. They can only take classes that directly relate to their jobs.

"It really is tightly geared toward being job relevant," said Don Burnette, the county's chief administrative officer.

An air quality technician might be reimbursed for an environmental science course but nothing as far afield as literature, Burnette said, noting that the SEIU contract has no degrees listed for reimbursement.

Another key difference is that the firefighters' contract requires the county to reimburse everyone who enrolls in approved programs, he said, while the SEIU contract allows a manager to deny a worker's request if funds are low.

So if a firefighter asked for money after the county's education budget ran out, the county would have to dig up the money elsewhere, Burnette said, adding that it hasn't happened yet.

"We're obligated," Burnette said.

Data show that 74 firefighters divvied up last year's $149,000 in reimbursements for an average of $2,018 each. So far, five have received between $8,000 and $10,000 for schooling.

That's substantially more than the 56 non-fire employees who received an average of $670 apiece.

"Tuition reimbursement wasn't a top priority in the last bargaining session," said Amber Lopez Lasater, local SEIU spokeswoman. "Now that they (firefighters) have set the market standard, it's something we'll look at."

The head of a taxpayers' watchdog group said government should reimburse workers only for classes that augment job skills.

"When you start going to ancillary things that have nothing to do with your job, that's not a good use of taxpayers' money," said Carole Vilardo, president of the Nevada Taxpayers Association.

Public-paid coursework should not become a tool for employees to nail down jobs or promotions in other cities, Vilardo added.

Burnette said there's little evidence that county firefighters use their study programs to jump ship.

The contract leaves it up to the fire chief to let firefighters study for their courses while on shift. Smith said he allows his crews to do homework after 5 p.m. during a 24-hour shift, in what he terms their "personal time" in between calls.

Smith observed that many firefighters take correspondence courses through Grand Canyon University. Online studies work well for people in their profession because of the flexibility, he said.

Smith said education is especially important for those who want to move into management jobs.

"We're always looking for a highly educated firefighter," Smith said.

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.