Columbia firefighters press for staffing, pay adjustments and binding arbitration in full-contract year

For those who don’t know me in the room, I’m Zach Ravett, I’m the president of Columbia Professional Firefighters, I represent 160 ish members of our fire department, he said, opening the union’s full-contract presentation to the Columbia City Council on Jan. 21.

Ravett told the council the union will seek amendments to chapter 19 of the city code to improve bargaining procedures, voluntary recognition for seven support-staff positions in the fire department, and a package of pay and staffing changes. “All the people in here, can make all the decisions you want, but without the people that are on the streets right now in fire trucks, none of that happens,” he said.

The union described three primary economic priorities: across‑the‑board pay adjustments to offset inflation, additional step(s) to the pay plan to restore lost buying power, and specialty-pay for credentialed assignments such as hazardous-materials, technical rescue and water-rescue response. Ravett said the union’s analysis shows entry-level firefighters are covering roughly 10% of increased household costs from recent inflation; captains at top steps cover about 17% of those costs. He said the starting salary for a firefighter in Columbia is $49,000 and noted median home prices in the city are “$340,000 to $350,000,” arguing market conditions make recruitment and retention difficult.

On staffing, Ravett proposed adding 15 firefighter positions to move the department toward a 4‑person minimum on all apparatus. He noted eight of 13 companies currently have an assigned fourth person some days but said guaranteed fourth-person staffing requires additional hires. On costs he cautioned that final financial impacts will be determined through bargaining, but he estimated staffing additions at roughly $1.5 million and a compensation package “may be $2,000,000” over the contract term (figures the union described as rough estimates).

Ravett also proposed a post‑retirement health savings-account option that would let members direct their annual sick‑leave buyback payment into an HSA‑style account for retiree health costs instead of taking the cash payout. The union described this as a benefit option that would not, by itself, increase city payroll costs though it would require administrative management.

On dispute resolution, the union pressed for binding arbitration to follow mediation and to resolve grievances and bargaining impasses, saying arbitration would produce definitive outcomes and reduce litigation risk. “Binding arbitration would help substantially with that,” Ravett said when asked about defining good‑faith bargaining and enforcement guardrails.

Council members asked for details about specialty pays, the meal allowance (which Ravett said had not been adjusted since February 2018), and whether paramedic pay already exists (Ravett said paramedic pay is already in place but other specialty pays are not). City staff told the council that chapter 19 of the city code governs collective bargaining procedures and that council members may provide policy guidance to the city manager but may not engage directly in bargaining as individuals (code citations were distributed to councilors during the meeting).

The presentation ended with the union offering to work collaboratively with city staff on the proposals and to provide the slide deck to council for review.

The council did not take formal action during the presentation; the item was part of an informational series of labor-group presentations required by city code.

The council later moved to additional labor presentations and a legislative priorities discussion.