TTFD union, city to start new round of contract talks

A new round of Texarkana, Texas, Fire Department contract negotiations is set to begin this week.

Representatives of the city and TTFD's firefighter union will meet at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 220 Texas Blvd. The meeting is open to the public.

In 2018, multiple meetings and an attempt at third-party mediation went nowhere. Union members voted against accepting a contract proposed by the city, rejecting it as unresponsive to firefighters' concerns about pay, staffing levels, working conditions and disciplinary procedures, among other issues. The city rejected the union's request to resolve disagreements through binding arbitration.

In November 2016, Texas-side voters elected to allow TTFD to engage in collective bargaining. Firefighters later chose the union, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 367, as their representative in employment talks.

-Karl Richter

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