Negotiations with firefighter union stalled, City seeks arbitration
In separate agenda items considered Tuesday by the City Council, City Attorney Jess Kane provided the council with an update on the current status of contract negotiations with the City’s two unionized employee groups, the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 117, and the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 200.
In the first item, Kane presented a proposed two-year contract with the FOP, saying negotiations with the police union resulted in an agreement between the parties following several meetings over recent weeks. The council voted 5-0 to approve the contract, which includes increases to police officer longevity pay, from 92 percent to 386 percent, which Kane said is in line with pay offered by peer cities, as well as a 12 percent increase in the department’s pay scale for all ranks except corporal, which will see an increase of 18 percent.
The FOP contract also includes changes in the department’s promotional process, but primarily involves changes to compensation.
“The vast majority of the agreement is carried over from previous years,” Kane said.
Negotiations with the firefighters’ union, however, appear to be stalled, he said.
“The City has made, at this point, two formal offers to the IAFF board, which have been rejected,” Kane said. “I have been advised by the IAFF that they have voted to pursue arbitration. The City has requested arbitration and is moving forward with it as quickly as we can because we are past the expiration of the contract.” (Contracts with the two union groups are typically approved prior to the beginning of the City’s fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30 of the following calendar year.)
Arbitration is an adversarial procedure resembling a legal hearing in which both sides present their case and arbitrators, who are appointed by both sides, render a finding in favor of either the City’s or the union’s “last, best offer.” If the ruling is in favor of the union, the City has the option of asking Bartlesville voters to decide the final outcome.
The City’s most recent offer to the IAFF includes pay increases totaling $527,534. The offer includes salary adjustment increases ranging from 6.5 to 11.5 percent and longevity pay increases ranging from 79 to 367 percent. The highest increase percentage would go to the rank of firefighter, the most populous group of the department, Kane said.
Overall, the City’s offer represents an 11 percent increase in firefighter compensation. In exchange, the City is requesting a change in the department’s promotional procedures that will permit the fire chief and city manager more options when looking at management-level promotional options.
“The City has requested that restrictions (be lifted) on hiring the deputy chief (a position vacated recently by newly appointed Fire Chief David Topping), which is an entirely administrative position and not part of the bargaining unit, (be lifted),” Kane said. “We’ve asked that it be removed from the promotional process (as it currently stands), which would enable the fire chief and city manager to be able to pick from a wider pool of applicants. To date, the IAFF has not indicated whether they’re interested in that proposal.”
Currently, only the five most senior applicants can be considered for a promotional position. City Manager Mike Bailey told the council Tuesday that a recent promotion within the department exemplifies limitations with the current process.
“There were a number of people interested in (a recently filled) position, but we were only able to test the five most senior,” Bailey said. “Of those, only one person passed the test. So, essentially, our choice was taken from us. We are fortunate, in this case, that we had a good candidate and I think we got the right person, but it (might not always) be that way.
“So we are concerned that, essentially, the five most senior people sign up and it really doesn’t matter if they can pass the test or if they’re qualified. These are the types of things we want to avoid, especially with these high-level positions.”
The council voted to enter into executive session to further discuss the issue, which, in accordance with Oklahoma law, are restricted to the council, the City attorney and immediate staff. No action was taken on the matter during the session or after the council returned to the regular meeting. Kane is expected to continue updating the council on a monthly basis.