City committed to mutually agreeable contract
The City of Texarkana, Texas is disappointed that a contract, which would have guaranteed a 3 percent raise for its firefighters over a twoyear period, was not ratified by the firefighters, despite having been agreed to by the union bargaining team during the mediation process. Following the vote, the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 367 submitted a letter requesting binding arbitration. The City declined arbitration because agreeing to binding arbitration would have taken any decisions on a possible contract out of the City Council’s hands and put it in the hands of a third-party arbitrator.
According to union president Scott Robertson, Texarkana firefighters are underpaid by 23-34 percent when compared to other similar Texas cities. The salary survey the union prepared to support that position included cities such as McKinney, Mesquite, Burleson, and Tyler. Using McKinney as an example, the salary survey fails to take into consideration that it has a population of approximately 181,000 people and a city operating budget of $171 million in 2017. By comparison, Texarkana has a population of approximately 37,000 and an operating budget of $38 million. While the City recognizes there is still work to be done regarding the salaries of its firefighters, we believe our firefighters are fairly compensated. We also recognize that we must offer a competitive compensation package to firefighters, but we must do so within the City’s budget. The City simply does not have the budget to pay the $2.4 million in additional salaries and associated benefit costs that were demanded by the union. Unfortunately, the focus of the union throughout this process seems to have been exclusively on firefighter wages.
The City remains committed to continuing negotiations during the next budget cycle in hopes of developing a mutually agreeable contract and the City believes this issue is best handled between the parties without binding arbitration.
Kyle Dooley, Deputy City Manager City of Texarkana, Texas