Following a recommendation by City Attorney Jess Kane, the City Council voted Monday to approve a contract with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 200, the union that represents Bartlesville firefighters, for the remainder of the current fiscal year.
The move comes after nearly a year of negotiations between the sides and a recent arbitration finding in favor of the Union’s “Last Best Offer (LBO).”
Despite the finding in favor of the IAFF, a detailed report from neutral arbitrator Glynis Gilder was “extremely favorable” to the City’s position, despite an early announcement made by the Union on social media, Kane said.
“That’s why the Union has gone radio silent,” he said. “I am here today to give you the context that the Union has omitted and recommend that, in light of this highly favorable decision, this Council adopt the Union’s Last Best Offer as outlined in the thoughtful and well-reasoned decision from Arbitrator Gilder.”
The findings
Kane noted Gilder’s findings in the City’s favor regarding promotional reform, calling the reform the “most important” of the items in dispute, which also included steps to reduce sick leave abuse.
The City has argued that promotions should be based primarily on merit rather than seniority as it is currently – a finding Gilder agreed with in her detailed statement:
“Regarding the issue of how promotions should be handled, this arbitrator favored the City’s proposal,” Gilder wrote in her Interest Arbitration Decision Summary. “While seniority should most definitely be a factor of consideration when a promotion is under consideration, it should not be the factor that predominates in the decision-making process.”
However, Gilder found for the Union overall based on proposed steps to curb sick leave abuse within the department.
“The issue this arbitrator had with the language the City proposed for inclusion in Article 23 essentially voids hard-won rights under the Collective Bargaining Agreement — that of the standard of just cause and the concept of progressive discipline,” Gilder wrote. “The fact the Employer’s language — in the event of a termination — shields the Employer from an arbitrator determining if the action is supported by just cause (which includes the concepts of mitigation and proportionality) and only determining if there was indeed a violation. This is an impermissible abrogation of the essence of the notion of just cause.”
Kane said it was this finding that resulted in the overall decision in favor of the IAFF.
“Impasse arbitrations are ‘all or none’ and the arbitrator did not approve of the City’s proposal for addressing sick leave abuse,” Kane said. “Note that she did not find that sick leave abuse is not occurring; she disapproved of the City’s proposal for addressing it.”
He said the City’s evidence “clearly established that sick leave abuse is occurring in the Bartlesville Fire Department,” and said these facts were established in the arbitration and were “barely contested” by the Union.
“The arbitrator’s decision recites these facts, but reflects no explanation by the Union,” he said. “The Union’s only response to the overwhelming evidence of sick leave abuse is essentially, ‘Well, you can’t catch us.’”
No election
While the finding for the IAFF allows the City to ask voters to decide the final outcome, Kane recommended the Council accept the Union’s LBO instead, primarily because there would likely not be enough time to have the election during the current fiscal year.
“Early on, this process was delayed by the longest government shutdown in U.S. history,” Kane said. “For 41 days the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service would not name an arbitrator for this dispute, and the Union refused to even discuss agreeing on a neutral arbitrator outside the FMCS process. Due to this delay, which was wholly beyond the City’s control, and the statutory constraints for calling an election, an election is not possible without the agreement and cooperation of the Union before the current contract expires.
“Union officers have made it known that they will not agree to ballot language and will resist any attempt to submit this question to voters. As such, City staff does not recommend that the Council set this for special election.”
The contract
Kane said the Union’s LBO contains a number of concessions that the Union “was unwilling to offer in negotiations without the threat of arbitration.”
Those concessions include:
- Correction of the vacation carryover provision,
- Reforms to how overtime is compensated and
- Pay increases that match general City employees.
“As such, this is actually a slightly better contract than was approved last year, even though it does not address the City’s priorities issues of promotional reform and sick leave abuse,” Kane said.
Negotiations for next year start soon
Kane said the arbitrator’s findings will aid in negotiations for Fiscal Year 2026-27, which should get underway next month.
“City staff appreciates Arbitrator Gilder’s thoughtful and nuanced decision and believe it establishes a road map for addressing these issues in the 2026-2027 collective bargaining agreement,” he said. “The issues have been decided. It is now only a question of how we will fix them. We call on the union to come to the table and, in the spirit of true public service, find solutions to these problems for the benefit of the citizens we serve.”
A word from the Mayor
“I’d like to thank our negotiating team, City Attorney Jess Kane, Assistant City Manager Laura Sanders, Fire Chief H.C. Call, Chief Financial Officer Jason Muninger, and Human Resources Director Robin Betts, and especially Mr. Kane for his representation of the City and the citizens of Bartlesville throughout these negotiations and arbitration with the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 200. A special Thank You as well to City Manager Mike Bailey for his wisdom and guidance throughout the process, and to Chief Call for his commitment and determination to address the vital issues of fair promotions and sick leave abuse for the betterment of the department.
“Addressing these structural concerns is long overdue, as they do not promote or portray our department in a fair and positive light, which our Fire Department deserves. We are encouraged by the neutral arbitrator’s pointed and favorable summary review of the arbitration hearing, and we are committed to continue to act in good faith and address these issues in the upcoming 2026-2027 collective bargaining negotiations with the IAFF.
“We are thankful for the professional service our firefighters provide. It’s time to find solutions to these problems, and we are hopeful the Union is committed to work with the City in that endeavor as well.”