Arbitrator to review fire chief’s punishment of union president

Last summer, as the Austin fire union was preparing to represent one of its members at a disciplinary hearing, department officials permitted union President Bob Nicks to review confidential documents in the case under a provision of the city’s labor contract with firefighters.

With a couple of clicks, Nicks secretly downloaded the information onto his personal laptop — but he says he disclosed what he’d done a few days later to top department officials.

His actions led to an unusual punishment from Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr: She banned him from representing any other firefighter at a disciplinary hearing for more than a year — a punishment that strikes at the core of one of his primary duties as union president.

The issue highlights a dispute that has escalated between Kerr and Nicks over the past several years.

Nicks has appealed, and an arbitrator is being brought in this week to determine whether Kerr has the power to stop him from representing union members, and if so, whether that punishment is fair in this case.

“I think there is a better way I could have done it,” Nicks said Tuesday. “I was very motivated to help the firefighter who I thought was going to get inappropriate punishment. We self-disclosed that we had the documents to the chief of staff for the Fire Department and let them know we were only trying to use them to make the investigation more accurate.”