r/Firefighting Big Rescue Guy 4d ago

General Discussion New union contract is disappointing/dangerous

Im not going to give too much info since who knows who's reading this and can track it back to me. I saw info on the changes to our contract, and to say my jaw dropped is an understatement. I can't for the life of me understand how the city can think its okay to try and count chiefs toward maning and use a nearby jurisdiction's 2 man apparatus as emergency staffing.

I get it. We work alot of ot, but another officer in a pickup doesn't help us on a fire scene in the same way as a 3rd or 4th on an engine.

Well survive we are cowboy company and have made small staffs work so far but the city is gaining population not losing people.

Also, shame on the old men running the union prioritizing the dollar bills paid over obvious nfpa safety concerns. I guess the city will wait til people die and they get sued to make changes.

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u/_josephmykal_ 4d ago

Once you realize that the city has specific people for contract negotiations and the union uses firemen, you’ll see it’s going to always be a losing a battle. I don’t know of a single case where a city was actually upset over a contract that a union actually won.

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u/Ok_Buddy_9087 Edit to create your own flair 3d ago

We pretty much murdered the city on our last contract. We flat out denied 90% of what they wanted, and got a substantial raise. We showed up with the numbers, and they had no argument.

I dunno if they’re upset about it, but they certainly shouldn’t be thrilled either.