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Union, city agree to follow up on grievance/arbitration steps, ABL bank and revised nepotism policy
Summary
Bargainers reviewed grievance/arbitration procedures, proposed an association-business-leave (ABL) bank for union education/legislative work, and discussed updating the city’s nepotism policy to allow family members to work for the department with restrictions on direct supervision or shared shifts.
The bargaining session covered several administrative and procedural items: grievance/arbitration process mechanics, an association-business-leave bank for union education and legislative work, and proposed changes to the city’s nepotism policy.
Grievance/arbitration: negotiators reviewed the contract grievance ladder and agreed to add a mediated step before arbitration in the final grievance procedure language. City and union discussed timing and availability of arbitrators; both sides noted national panels such as FMCS have limited regional availability, which can delay arbitration proceedings. The parties agreed to draft mediation-before-arbitration language and clarified that cost-sharing for neutral services is typically split.
Association business leave (ABL) bank: the union requested an employer-provided pool of hours (the draft specified 400 hours annually) to support union education, training, and participation in legislative advocacy or conferences. Parties agreed the ABL pool would be used for approved association business and that the union president or a designee would approve use to ensure staffing coverage; city staff reserved the right to rescind ABL allocations during declared emergencies.
Nepotism policy: negotiators discussed relaxing a strict “no relatives” assignment rule to permit family members to be employed by the fire department while preventing direct supervisory relationships or co-assignment on the same unit where possible. City staff said they are revising the citywide nepotism policy and will forward a legal-reviewed draft. Union and staff emphasized practical safeguards (different shifts or crews, restrictions on direct supervision) to limit conflicts and operational risk.
Ending: the parties agreed to incorporate mediation language into the grievance procedure, to refine ABL approval and administration language and to await a city-legal review of the updated nepotism policy. No binding action was taken at the meeting.
