The city and the Austin Firefighters Association, Local 975, may reach a compromise as future labor contract negotiations loom.
Austin firefighters have operated for seven months without a labor contract. With new negotiations underway between city staff and the city’s police union and Emergency Medical Services, the firefighters union may start new negotiations by in late July.
Negotiations between the fire union and city staff failed in November when union members rejected a tentative labor contract with the city. City officials tried to push a labor agreement that would give Austin the ability to decide job qualifications for incoming firefighters with the intention to help diversify the department.
Union members said at the time they feared that provision would lower hiring standards.
Michael McDonald, an assistant city manager who overlooks the city’s public safety services, said Austin will try to pursue the same initiatives it did during the last negotiation session, which includes hiring and diversity. He said he did not know what form those initiatives would take in any drafted contract.
Both police and EMS declared in recent weeks their willingness to forgo contractual pay increases in light of the economic hardships the city faces, McDonald said.
He said he hopes to achieve an agreement with the fire union.
“The last [contract] was voted down by its membership,” McDonald said. “The things that are important to us are still important to us. The priorities of the city have not changed.”
Union president Stephen Truesdell said he expects the upcoming negotiations to be fundamentally different from last year’s because the Austin Fire Department now has a chief — a position that was temporarily filled by AFD Assistant Chief Jim Evans during the last negotiation process.
Truesdell said he suspects the negotiated provisions to be clearly outlined, which he said was something that was not done last time out of deference to any future fire chief.
“The city’s strategy last time was to keep everything open,” Truesdell said. “Now, we expect them to want the same things but have a more descriptive hiring process. It will be easier for us to come to agreement.”
Truesdell said the union, which represents about 950 of the more than 1,000 firefighters in the city, is willing to address the city’s interest in hiring, which had stalled the past negotiation.
“We are willing to discuss hiring flexibility as along as we are assured the training standards will be upheld,” he said.
Truesdell said he hopes the city and union membership can come to an agreement, learn from their mistakes and move on.
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