Fort Worth's Fire Union Just Won An Arbitration Case Against The City. It's Suing To Force Another One.

Arlington TX

01 June, 2022

6:37 PM

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By Emily Wolf, Fort Worth Report June 1, 2022 The union representing Fort Worth's firefighters is suing the city to force arbitration over a new staffing policy it says violates the department's collective bargaining agreement. In late April, Chief Jim Davis announced a staffing directive to cut down on overtime hours caused by firefighters taking leave last minute. Under the new policy, the department staffs fire companies with three firefighters for the first five hours of the shift and pays for a replacement for the remaining 19 hours. The policy was contested by IAFF 440, the union representing Fort Worth firefighters, which submitted a grievance to Davis. That grievance was denied, and the union's president, Michael Glynn, intended to take the matter to arbitration, even as he continued to negotiate with the city on a new collective bargaining agreement for the next several years. "This is not an ideal time for us to be going to arbitration over payroll issues or going to arbitration over staffing, but we don't have any choice but to defend the contract," Glynn said. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.