Part-time South Whidbey Fire/EMS firefighters formed the organization’s first-ever firefighter union last spring.
Fire commissioners are expected to approve an agreement with the newly formed union at the Dec. 12 meeting.
Negotiations began in August, said Fire Chief Rusty Palmer.
Palmer presented a draft three-year contract to commissioners last week for approval. Commissioner Adrienne Hawley said she did not have enough time to review the agreement before last week’s meeting and said she’d felt largely in the dark about most of the negotiations.
Hawley said during a board meeting last week that she’d hardly heard about the negotiations until she received a proposed contract in her meeting materials the week prior.
“At the core of it, I desire more conversation to happen in open public meetings,” she said in an interview.
The agreement is a big step for the organization, she said, and it “should not be rushed.”