Two years ago, Texarkana voters approved collective bargaining for firefighters. Our promise, then and now, was to continue delivering excellent service, be good stewards of city resources and give back to the community.
Our election win gave us a seat at the table with city management. Our hope was to help the city ensure competitive firefighter wages, benefits and the safest possible working conditions. We set out to work with the city to keep our fire department strong.
So far, we have had 10 negotiation meetings with the city in the past year, along with two mediation meetings. Using a combative outside lawyer, the city has rejected all but one of our proposals. Mostly ignored by the city's lawyer have been substantive issues such as fire station staffing, wages and retirement security, and a process for depoliticizing department grievances and discipline.