With a deadline drawing near, the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled the city's firefighter union short of its goal in a petition drive aimed at forcing a new employment contract.
The firefighters need signatures from 5% of the city's registered voters by May 28 to add a proposal to November's general election ballot. If they are successful, residents will vote whether to change the city charter to require negotiators to accept binding third-party arbitration. The hope is to break through an impasse that dates to 2018 and finally achieve an agreeable new contract.
About 1,000 qualified signatures are required, but the union's goal is at least 2,000, said Texarkana, Texas, Fire Department Driver-Engineer Scott Robertson, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 367. The city secretary could disqualify some signatures during the petition's certification process, so the union wants as many as it can get.