The city’s firefighters union voted overwhelmingly Wednesday night against the ratification of a contract proposal that Mayor Joseph J. Solomon had heralded as a major advancement for Warwick’s finances.
As proposed, the two-year deal provided no raises and it also resolved other issues, including a pension overhaul program that was reversed in a recent arbitration proceeding, according to Solomon.
A group of 169 firefighters voted on the proposal, overwhelmingly rejected it and “voiced their concern,” the president of the firefighters union, Michael Carreiro, said early Wednesday evening.
“Frustration was shown,” he said in a statement. ”... It is our perspective that we are bearing the financial burden for the City’s previous mistakes.”
The firefighters are not storming away from the bargaining table; they hope to continue talks, Carreiro said.