AUSTIN, Texas — Labor negations between the City of Austin and the Austin Firefighters Association came to an end this week without an agreement in place on a new deal.
A memo issued by the City this week detailed a plan presented to the union, which included a 4% pay raise starting in September, as well as 4% pay raises at the beginning of the next two fiscal years, resulting in a 2% base pay raise overall. The City also agreed to reduce scheduled work hours by one hour per week, eliminate random and post-shift drug testing and protect firefighters from discipline if they tested positive for cannabis due to medicinal use.
Bob Nicks, the president of the Austin Firefighters Association, claimed that while the deal was good in principle, the pay raises didn't match the value of wages from 2021 and earlier.
Nicks released a statement disputing the deal and the offers made by the City:
"I ran for AFA President on a reform platform in 2009. This reform platform was based on the premise that the Union Leadership should NOT tell the member what to do and particularly how to vote. Soon after becoming the AFA President, the Austin Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 975, became the first IAFF local in the Nation to get online voting.
Our reform platform was simply to NOT be the “expert” and tell the membership what to do, but instead educate the membership, provide an online discussion board so the membership can confer with each other and establish their common interests, and then conduct a secret ballot vote on-line.
I explained to the City that I have never told the membership how to vote and it goes against the basic platform of my administration to do so. Then I told the City that I would discuss, along with the other members, pros and cons and then, ultimately, the will of the membership will decide. The City told me that is not good enough so they will not approve the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for vote, which was a requirement of our AFA motion to bring the vote forward to our members.
So again, the firefighters are being treated very unfairly, now to the point where the City tries to dictate our internal processes or they will further withhold wages and benefits. This and so much more mistreatment and disrespect to the firefighters by the City is why the firefighters fought so hard for binding arbitration. Unfortunately, the City has done everything in their power to halt binding arbitration and they continue to treat firefighters terribly. The firefighters only seek fair wages and benefits and perhaps a modicum of respect for the great services the firefighters provide the community everyday."
Nicks also alleged the City attempted to strongarm him into getting the union to agree to a deal, as opposed to presenting one with weighted pros and cons.
The process will now be decided by an arbitration panel, which is expected to make a decision on the deal in September.