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Council adopts new firefighter leave code and directs administration to pursue settlement in Local 48 dispute
Summary
Cincinnati City Council adopted a motion to add a leave code for follow-up appointments related to prior occupational cancer diagnoses and voted to direct the administration to seek settlement of litigation with the Firefighters Local 48; City Manager Cheryl Long explained the arbitration and budget reasons behind the settlement direction.
Cincinnati City Council voted to create a new leave code for firefighters seeking follow-up care for prior occupational cancer diagnoses and directed the administration to pursue settlement of outstanding litigation with Cincinnati Firefighters Local 48.
The motions, introduced by the mayor and carried with unanimous roll-call support, responded to complaints that coding errors had forced firefighters to use sick leave for medically necessary follow-up care. Vice Mayor Kearney noted the city’s responsibility to take care of public-safety employees and said the change corrects a technical coding problem that had required some firefighters to take sick leave to get treatment.
"Prevention is key," the vice mayor said, describing screenings at no cost to firefighters and the need to address administrative barriers to care. Council members from multiple parties thanked both the union and administration for staying at the table to resolve the issue.
On the related labor item, City Manager Cheryl Long explained the administration’s decision to appeal an arbitration decision tied to a "me-too" interpretation of pay provisions and said the city sought settlement to avoid uncontrolled expense growth that could force cuts to services. "We are already looking at a serious projected operating budget deficit for next year, and the administration determined the best business decision was to appeal," Long said, summarizing the path to the current appeal and the rationale for seeking settlement.
Council adopted both measures by roll call. Members said the actions aim to honor firefighters’ service while balancing city finances; the administration indicated litigation questions could be discussed further in executive session.
Next steps include implementation of the new leave code and ongoing settlement discussions between the administration and Local 48; no final settlement text was recorded in the meeting transcript.
