Firefighters’ ballot initiative petition succeeds

New round of collective bargaining begins this week

TEXARKANA, Texas — Voters will decide in November whether to amend the city charter to require binding arbitration in a contract dispute with the Fire Department.

The local firefighters union collected enough valid signatures on a petition to bring the matter to voters. An election order will come before the City Council during its Aug. 10 meeting.

The news came Friday, the same day the city announced a new round of collective bargaining negotiations will begin next week. The public meetings are scheduled for Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. and Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the Council chamber at City Hall. They will be live streamed on the city’s website.

The union’s hope is to break through an impasse that dates to 2018 and finally achieve a new contract.

The proposed charter changes include requiring arbitration within 45 days of written notice from the union. “The arbitration ruling shall be final, binding, and enforceable against both parties,” the amendment states.

The city and the union would individually choose an arbitrator and attempt to jointly agree on a third to form a three-person arbitration board.

If no agreement was reached, the American Arbitration Association would choose the third arbitrator. A majority vote would be required for any decisions the board would make.

The arbitration board would be restricted as to what it can consider in making its decisions.

Those factors include firefighter compensation in comparable cities, changes in the cost of living, employee qualifications, city revenues and the effect of any arbitration on taxpayers.

In November 2016, Texasside voters elected to allow the Fire Department to engage in collective bargaining. Firefighters later chose the union as their representative in employment talks.

In 2018 and 2019, multiple meetings and an attempt at third-party mediation did not result in a contract.

Union members voted against accepting a contract proposed by the city, rejecting it as unresponsive to firefighters’ concerns. The city rejected the union’s request to resolve disagreements through binding arbitration.

Staff file photo by Karl Richter ■ Supporter Jennifer Abercrombie, left, and Texarkana, Texas, Fire Department Driver-Engineer Scott Robertson staff a tent where they asked voters for petition signatures on March 3 outside Pleasant Grove Middle School. The Texas-side firefighters’ association was seeking to put a measure on November’s general election ballot that would force the city into binding arbitration for a new employment contract.