Negotiations between the City and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 200 for a 2025-26 Fiscal Year contract continue but have so far failed to produce an agreement, City Attorney Jess Kane told the City Council on Monday.
Negotiations with both of the City’s union groups, the IAFF and the Fraternal Order of Police, began in April. An agreement was approved soon after with the FOP, but talks continue with the IAFF.
The dispute is primarily centered around two issues, with the City seeking changes in the Fire Department’s promotional process and double time pay received by firefighters who work unscheduled overtime.
Overtime pay rates
Firefighters are guaranteed overtime two of three pay periods for which they are paid at a rate of time and a half. They are paid double time, or twice their regular rate of pay, for “force-back” time, which is time that is unscheduled. Force-back time is most commonly used when a firefighter unexpectedly uses sick leave and another firefighter must work the shift for the department to meet minimum manning requirements.
Kane said between the high rate of pay and the overuse of sick time, the double-time rule alone is costing taxpayers more than $400,000 over the past two years.
“Under our current contract, when a firefighter calls in sick and minimum manning is implicated, his position must first be offered to firefighters who have signed up for overtime on that shift,” Kane said. “But if it is not accepted, the position will be offered to the most senior member of the department who has signed up. When this occurs, the position is filled based on seniority, at double that senior employee’s wage.
“To illustrate, if our most junior firefighter, who makes more than $50,000 a year, were to call in sick and no other firefighter rank were signed up for overtime on that shift, the position could be filled by a battalion chief who makes over $100,000 a year. And that battalion chief would be paid at double his regular rate of pay, not the rate of the firefighter he is replacing.
“As you can see, we can easily get into situations where the replacement is paid up to five and half times the rate of the employee who called in sick. Make no mistake, sick leave is the driver of this problem.”
Kane gave two examples, saying two firefighters recently called in sick to attend a golf tournament and another who was observed working in his private lawn care business after calling in sick. He said in all, Bartlesville firefighters used 12,414 hours of sick leave last (fiscal) year.
“That equates to 188 hours of sick leave for each firefighter, or nearly a month off,” he said. “That is by far the most of any department in (comparable cities) — nearly two and a half times what their counterparts in Owasso use. This means our firefighters are four times sicker than firefighters in Enid and Bixby. This chronic absenteeism drives the minimum manning issues that the department has faced, requiring force-backs that must be paid the most senior members of the department at double time.
“I claim no medical expertise, but I do not believe our firefighters are inherently sicklier than those in neighboring departments. This level of sick leave use suggests not sickness, but abuse.”
In Fiscal Year 2023-24, firefighters were paid $887,203 in overtime pay, including force-back, mandatory and built-in, and in FY 2024-25, they were paid $838,884 in overtime pay, resulting in some firefighters netting more income than City leadership.
“Of the 50 highest earners in the City of Bartlesville, 22 of them are firefighters,” Kane said. “For comparison, only 10 of those 50 highest earners are police officers, and 11 are senior management.”
Kane said 23 Bartlesville firefighters make more than $90,000 annually, while 13 of those make more than $100,000 annually.
Kane said union negotiators have not contended during negotiations that pay is an issue, yet they are requesting a 6.5 percent pay increase, which is 1.5 percent more than the amount approved in the current year’s budget for every other City employee. The union is asking for an increase in clothing allowance as well, proposing to increase its current allowance of $775 to $1,200 — an amount well over allowances provided by peer cities, Kane said.
Promotional process
Kane said BFD is the largest municipal fire department in Oklahoma that still promotes primarily based on seniority, a practice the City has sought to change for the past two contract negotiations processes in an effort to move more qualified employees into ranking positions.
“Of the 11 municipalities that are larger than Bartlesville, all of them promote based on merit,” he said. “Of the five cities that are larger than Bartlesville in population and the five that are smaller, only Muskogee still promotes based on seniority. Every other city in the state long ago reformed its contracts to promote primarily based on merit, with seniority being a factor, though not the only factor. But the Bartlesville fire union continues to insist on a promotional system that rewards the highest earners, not the highest achievers.
“The saying in our department is, ‘You’re not the best guy, but you’re the next guy.’ That attitude — that culture — needs to change to reflect the realities of the workplace in the 21st century, and the best employment practices as recognized by every other city of any size in this state. That change must begin with this contract.”
Next steps
Kane said despite these disputes, he is still hopeful negotiators will be able to come to an agreement.
“I want to emphasize that the City remains open to good faith negotiations on all of these issues,” he said. “We still believe an agreement can be reached.”
If the sides are not able to reach an agreement, the next step is arbitration, which is an adversarial process where each side selects an arbitrator and agree on a neutral arbitrator to hear the arguments and render a finding. If the union prevails in arbitration, the City has the option of asking Bartlesville voters to decide the outcome in an election.
“We certainly hope it doesn’t come to that,” Kane said. “We do not relish the idea of being adversarial to our fellow employees. We appreciate the contribution of firefighters to our community and honor the work they do. We believe they should be fairly and competitively compensated for their work.
“But we also believe that we are all public servants, and our paychecks are paid with public money — tax dollars raised from our fellow citizens. A commitment to the public good must include a commitment to the public treasury. Raises and promotions should not be automatic, and contracts that are susceptible to abuse must be reformed, whether by negotiation, arbitration, or a vote of the people.”
Kane said the City has initiated the statutory arbitration process by naming its arbitrator and the IAFF responded by naming its arbitrator. Both parties are cooperating to name the third, neutral arbitrator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. However, FMCS is currently furloughed due to the ongoing government shutdown. Therefore, it is unknown when the process can move forward.