Fresno council approves firefighter labor agreements and suspends labor-management rules briefly; council thanks unions and staff

The Fresno City Council on Sept. 11 approved two memoranda of understanding covering fire personnel and temporarily suspended portions of the city’s labor-management rules to finalize the agreements.

Council voted 7-0 to suspend the labor-management rules for 15 days to permit ongoing bargaining timelines. Council then approved two separate MOUs with firefighter bargaining units by unanimous votes: one covering Local 202 non-management fire unit personnel and a second covering the management unit. City personnel staff described the agreements as multi-year deals that include guaranteed percentage salary increases and modest certificate-pay adjustments.

For both MOUs, staff said year-one guaranteed wage increases include 3 percent across-the-board increases with an additional contingent 1 percent in year one and additional adjustments in year two, including a 1 percent certificate-pay change in the second year. Staff supplied top-step salary figures: for the non-management unit the top step for captain will be $140,008.80 (effective Sept. 8, 2025) and for the management unit the top step for deputy chief will be $228,001.56.

Staff said the agreements together will cost the general fund several million dollars over the bargained period; exact totals were described in the staff presentation. Council members thanked union negotiators and city negotiators for reaching settlement without protracted bargaining. Dean Sanders, president of Local 202, thanked negotiators and the mayor for concluding talks.

All motions related to the suspension and both MOUs passed unanimously, 7-0.

The agreements take effect as stated in the MOUs; staff will manage implementation and update the budget as needed.