Arkansas-side firefighters are eyeing Texas-side talks

Matching any pay raise ‘will be challenging,’ union chief says

Texarkana, Ark., officials are watching contract negotiations between Texarkana, Texas, and its firefighters’ union, waiting to see how the outcome might affect their side of the state line.

Pay parity between Arkansas-side police and firefighters and their Texasside counterparts has long been a difficult issue, so worries center around matching any pay raise on the Texas side.

“The greatest concern with the negotiations is obviously

the pay. We are tied to Texarkana, Texas, with a pay-parity issue. Therefore, a large-percentage increase will be challenging for Arkansas,” said Jeff Pritchett, president of the Arkansas-side firefighters’ union, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 502.

“Texarkana, Texas, Local 367 is responsible for its membership and achieving the best possible situation for their members. Texarkana, Ark., Local 502 will keep a watchful eye on things and proceed according to the situation we face when the negotiations are concluded,” Pritchett said.

After the Texas side enacted a pay raise for all city employees in 2016, Texarkana, Ark., struggled to fund matching raises for police and firefighters, despite a pair of quarter-cent sales taxes that Arkansas-side voters approved in 1996 to do so. The city settled on a plan to give police and firefighters an immediate 4 percent raise and an additional 3 or 4 percent raise each year thereafter until parity was achieved.

Arkansas-side City Manager Kenny Haskin said having to come up with another pay raise could cause serious problems in city budgeting.

“It took some heavy lifting for us to come up with the most recent increases. Only one word can describe how this could potentially impact Arkansas: crippling,” Haskin said.

A lawsuit filed by a group of Arkansas-side citizens in December 2017 seeks a judgment to enforce pay parity for police, claiming mismanagement of parity sales-tax revenue. It is unclear how the outcome of the suit might affect the city’s firefighters.

In November 2016, Texasside residents voted to allow the Texarkana, Texas, Fire Department to engage in collective bargaining with the city, and department firefighters later chose their union to represent them in talks.

Contract negotiations began Thursday, with the union proposing TTFD salary raises and an increase in the minimum number of firefighters on duty.

The city will present a counterproposal at the next negotiation meeting, which is open to the public. It is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. June 26 in the second-floor conference room of City Hall, 220 Texas Blvd.