By Mikhelia Williams
Reporting Texas
Austin’s firefighters union derailed its own tentative contract this week after launching a petition for a citywide vote to require four-person staffing on all fire engines, a new demand city officials say should have been raised at the bargaining table, not after months of negotiations.
The four-year, $63 million agreement had been scheduled for a City Council vote Thursday. Instead, city staff withdrew the item and requested renewed negotiations, citing the budget and staffing implications of the four-person crew demand.
“If the (Austin Firefighters Association) had an issue with the staffing, which is a mandatory subject of bargaining, we believe they should have brought it to the table as an outstanding issue, but they didn’t,” Roxana Stevens, the deputy labor relations officer, told council members during a work session Tuesday.
Union President Bob Nicks said firefighters had approved the contract this week with 72% support. The union’s executive board will decide whether to reopen negotiations, leaving the contract’s future on hold for now.
The union-supported petition seeks to force a citywide vote on a city charter amendment that would require all fire engines to operate with a minimum of four firefighters on every emergency call. The union argues that the requirement aligns with national safety standards and allows responders to enter burning buildings, search for victims and attack a fire simultaneously.
“Four-person staffing saves lives,” Edward Kelly, general president of the International Association of Firefighters, said in a statement released by the Austin Firefighters Association. “And the IAFF will always stand up for the safety of our members and those they swore an oath to protect.”
To get the charter amendment on the ballot, the union must collect 20,000 valid signatures from Austin voters within 180 days. The city says the proposal carries significant cost implications, including the need to hire additional firefighters to meet staffing minimums.
City Council Member Paige Ellis, who represents District 8, in Southwest Austin said she supports the safety improvements outlined in the tentative contract, including four-person staffing.
“Public safety is not where you cut first,” Ellis said. “I’ve been a big supporter of four-person staffing. … And I think this is a really good step forward in securing the next couple of years for our firefighters.”
Ellis said her district faces high wildfire risk and that she wants firefighters to be able to “show up prepared,” adding that she plans to continue standing up for “the people that show up for us.”
The contract could return to the council’s agenda once the union’s board issues a formal decision on whether to revisit the agreement.