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Des Moines firefighters tell council arbitrator upheld holiday pay; union urges oversight of leadership
Summary
A representative of the Des Moines Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 4 told the City Council that an arbitrator found the city wrongly discontinued holiday pay in 2024; the union said members paid about $30,000 in legal fees and asked council to question department leadership. Council voted to receive and file the comment.
Joe Van Haugh, representing the Des Moines Professional Firefighters, Local 4, told the Des Moines City Council on Aug. 4 that an arbitrator ruled the city must restore holiday compensation that the fire chief discontinued in 2024.
The arbitration ruling, Van Haugh said, found "no merit in the city's position" and upheld the department's prior definition of holiday compensation. He told the council the change "was implemented without bargaining, without notice, or without precedent, and stripped away earned compensation" for firefighters who worked overtime on recognized holidays.
The union told the council it spent more than $30,000 in legal fees to defend the pay practice and said the dispute had damaged morale. "Decisions by the fire chief and city manager that continue to damage morale and erode confidence in our members," Van Haugh said, adding the arbitration decision was a "clear rebuke" of the city's position.
A council member asked whether the administration planned to communicate more information to the council; a staff member replied, "I can give you details of that." The council moved to "receive and file" the public comment (agenda item 59a); the motion passed in a roll-call vote, 7-0.
The union also told the council it had previously expressed concerns about leadership and noted an earlier vote of no confidence; the public comment did not include any formal petition or request for a specific council vote beyond asking elected officials to ask "tougher questions of the leadership." The council did not take further formal action on the item at the Aug. 4 meeting.
Background provided by the speaker: the change to holiday pay occurred in 2024, the city proceeded to arbitration after unsuccessful informal attempts to resolve the dispute, and the arbitrator ruled in the union's favor. The council's only recorded action on the item was to receive and file the public comment for the record.
