A costly legal battle between the city of Wilmington and its firefighters is going to get even more expensive as the two parties head to Delaware's Court of Chancery.
According to documents obtained by WDEL, the city has spent more than $450,000 on legal fees fighting the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) Local 1590 while the firefighters' union has spent about half that.
"We spent a great deal of money ourselves fighting this; the city spent more than twice what we spent fighting us as well, and it's just upsetting to see other labor unions within the city get treated, I don't want to say better, but maybe it is the right word to use, getting better deals with the city without going through all this fight," said IAFF Local 1590 union leader Joe Leonetti, Jr.
He pointed to a recent contract extension between the city and the Wilmington Police Department.