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Little Rock announces ratified three-year firefighter contract with annual 5% raises and health protections
Summary
City and union leaders said a newly ratified contract for the Little Rock Fire Department extends the current agreement to three years, provides 5% raises each year for three years and adds routine cancer screenings, steps toward carcinogen-free turnout gear and expanded parity between different shift schedules.
Mayor Scott announced that the city has extended and ratified a multi-year contract with the Little Rock Fire Department, saying the deal will carry the agreement past 2027 and includes consecutive annual pay increases and new health and safety provisions. "They're getting consecutive, 5% raises ... leading up into '27," Mayor Scott said.
Matthew Stallings, president of IFF Local 34, called it "the best contract we've ever had," and highlighted provisions beyond pay, including routine cancer screenings and "a pathway to carcinogen free turnout gear." Stallings said the agreement also moves the department toward greater parity between 56-hour and 40-hour employees and credited a diverse negotiations team for the results.
Kentrell Shepherd, president of the Little Rock Black Firefighters Association (FLAME), described the agreement as "one of the largest agreements we've seen in our department's history," saying the raises will help members "care for their families with peace of mind" while continuing to serve the city.
City officials placed the contract in the context of public-safety spending and recent capital investment in the Fire Department. Mayor Scott said, "If you look at the city of Little Rock's checkbook, 62% of our $331,000,000 budget goes towards public safety." He also said the city has about $50,000,000 in deferred maintenance, and that the city provided $4,000,000 in capital expenditures to the fire department over the past 18 months, including a recent $2,500,000 allocation and $1,500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for department needs. The mayor noted plans for a class-A burn building and steps to reopen Station No. 9.
The contract was described by FLAME as "newly signed and ratified." The city and union leaders said the agreement will include a trial period for a schedule change; Mayor Scott described a participation threshold used to begin the trial and said a vote on making the schedule permanent is expected later this month but did not provide vote results or a final implementation date. The transcript records the schedule discussion with varying references to "48 to 72" and "4896," and officials did not provide a precise schedule label in the remarks.
City officials and union representatives named several negotiators involved in the talks: Captain Joe Howard; Engineer Jessica Evans (identified as soon to be Captain Evans); Secretary and Treasurer Kane Harrison; Captain Ben Hammond; Captain Mark Walpole (vice president of the local); and Captain Jacob Sadowski (not present at the event). The mayor also identified Sheridan Richards as the city's chief people officer, Nick Sarpe as the chief financial officer and Delphon Hubbard as city manager.
What the contract does not show in the public remarks were specific vote tallies or the full, line-by-line contract language; city officials and union leaders referred to the agreement in summary. Officials said the contract is intended to improve compensation, health protections and operational parity for Little Rock firefighters while the city continues addressing deferred maintenance and capital needs.
