Bethany Bruner
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The union for the city’s firefighters is hoping to come to an agreement with the city but is continuing to evaluate its legal options for receiving fair compensation.
The International Association of Firefighters Local 67, which represents Columbus firefighters, is still deciding whether or not to file a complaint with the state labor board, alleging that the city did not fairly negotiate the most-recent contract with the union, which was approved by firefighters and the City Council in December.
Steve Stein, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 67, which represents more than 1,500 firefighters in the city, said the union agreed to no wage increase in 2021 because of the uncertainty of the city’s financial situation due to COVID-19.
“What we’re seeing and what we’ve been told doesn’t comport,” Stein said.
The city agreed to a 14% pay raise for the Fraternal Order of Police in their contract, which was approved on July 25 by City Council.
“We are grossly disappointed with how they bargained, in retrospect, especially with how we helped get the city through the pandemic,” Stein said.
The city’s fire department did not close a single engine house or medic unit throughout the height of the pandemic, continuing to provide emergency medical care around the clock.
He said the firefighters’ union was told when bargaining for their contract that getting wage increases was “untenable” given the uncertainty surrounding the financial impact of COVID-19 and whether a monetary rescue plan would be passed by Congress.
Stein said had the city lost as much money as had initially been feared or not gotten the recovery act dollars, the firefighters union would be back at the table bargaining to make sure no jobs were lost.
“More dialogue needs to occur,” he said. “We need a solution that does right by our firefighters.”
In discussing the police union contract, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther placed blame for the lack of wage increases back on the firefighters’ union. The mayor said the city had offered a one-year contract but the union wanted the certainty and clarity of a three-year deal.
“Quite honestly, some of the huge reforms we were able to get ... required us to negotiate (the FOP) higher raises, that’s just the way it works,” Ginther said.
Stein said now that the city has more insight into the financial situation and future, there should be a willingness to discuss how to give firefighters, who also work as paramedics, what they have earned.
“Our people have never left the front lines,” Stein said. “We all sign up knowing we’re putting our lives at risk, but my wife and my baby didn’t sign up for this. We’re putting our families directly at risk and that’s unprecedented.”
He said the firefighters’ union will continue to be proactive and try to resolve the situation with the city but is continuing to evaluate all legal options.
“We deserve more than a pat on the back,” Stein said. “We are going to make sure the city follows through with more than just words.”
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