Austin firefighters reach tentative labor contract with city

Austin firefighters and city officials have agreed on a tentative labor contract, nearly a year after firefighters rejected a similar agreement. The proposal, which must go before firefighters and the City Council for a vote, establishes a hiring process for new cadets and will give firefighters raises of 3 percent in 2010, 2011 and 2012. It also will require Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr to establish written criteria for the appointments of division chiefs and assistant chiefs, among other provisions.

“We are pleased with the way this turned out, and I commend the firefighters,” said Larry Watts, the city’s labor relations officer.

Fire union President Stephen Truesdell said, “We’re glad, after months of negotiations going back to last year, to have reached a tentative agreement that we can take to our membership. I’m confident it is a good deal for the firefighters.”

Firefighters and city officials negotiated until 1 a.m. Tuesday before reaching the tentative agreement. They returned to negotiations in August, nine months after firefighters overwhelmingly rejected a previous tentative agreement.

Austin Firefighters Association Local 975 officials said in November 2008 that 582 firefighters voted against the agreement during four days of voting, while 160 supported the measure. The union has about 1,000 members. The department has about 1,100 firefighters.

Union officials have said that firefighters voted against that proposal, in part, because it gave the city too much flexibility in hiring cadets and no specific hiring policy was set. Since then, city and union officials have traveled to Kansas City and Memphis, Tenn., to review hiring processes in fire departments there that have resulted in more diversity.

Without a contract, firefighters have been working under state civil service laws, in which firefighters are hired and promoted based on scores from written exams.

According to the proposed contract, Kerr will hire an outside consultant to help create an initial hiring process that could include interviews and written exams.

The department has historically relied only on written tests to develop a batch of recruits to move to the next hiring phases.

The tentative contract doesn’t specifically say what criteria Kerr must consider for assistant or division chief appointments but suggests education, among several other criteria.

A provision involving pay raises also includes a 4 percent contribution to firefighters’ pension fund over a four-year period, according to the proposal.

Firefighters will begin voting on the measure either later this month or in early December, officials said. Council members will consider the proposal after firefighter approval.
By Tony Plohetski in The Austin American-Statesman>