The Elgin firefighters' union filed a labor complaint against the city after three of its members were told to cut their hair, which they had been growing to protest their 25-month lack of contract.
International Association of Firefighters Local 439 President Vince Rychtanek said he, Vice President Edward Hanson and Shop Steward Joe Villella started letting their hair grow sometime after April 2015 to protest that firefighters have been working without a contract since January 2014. The matter is in arbitration. The three were ordered recently to cut their hair by their superiors, Rychtanek said, and Villella did so first, followed by Rychtanek and Hanson last week. The unfair labor practice complaint dated Feb. 9 is not about hair length per se, but about the department making grooming policy changes without first bargaining with the union, he said.