Texarkana, Texas, firefighters race clock as pandemic stalls petition drive

TEXARKANA, Texas - 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.

The petition drive has come to a standstill as pandemic response - including social distancing and stay-at-home orders - have made it all but impossible to get new signatures in person, as required by law, Robertson said.

The union is in consultation with its attorney and exploring whether there are ways to safely get signatures without violating Bowie County's shelter-in-place order.

Charter changes would include requiring arbitration within 45 days of written notice from the union. "The arbitration ruling shall be final, binding, and enforceable against both parties," the proposed amendment states.

The city and the union each would choose an arbitrator and attempt to agree on a third to form a three-person arbitration board. If no agreement was reached, the American Arbitration Association would choose the third arbitrator. A majority vote would be required for any decisions the board would make.

The arbitration board would be restricted as to what it can consider in making its decisions. Those factors include firefighter compensation in comparable cities, changes in the cost of living, employee qualifications, city revenues and the effect of any arbitration on taxpayers.

TTFD firefighters and their supporters sought to take advantage of the March 3 primary elections to gather registered voters' signatures. With tents and tables set up at several Texarkana polling places, they asked for support in their effort to achieve a new contract featuring higher wages.

In November 2016, Texas-side voters elected to allow the Fire Department to engage in collective bargaining. Firefighters later chose the union as their representative in employment talks.

In 2018 and 2019, multiple meetings and an attempt at third-party mediation did not result in a contract.

Union members voted against accepting a contract proposed by the city, rejecting it as unresponsive to firefighters' concerns. The city rejected the union's request to resolve disagreements through binding arbitration.

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