Texas City and Local 51 review wage, leave and committee proposals; city accepts committees, trims pay increases

Texas City and representatives of Local 51 met to review a comprehensive set of proposed changes to the firefighter collective bargaining agreement, covering wages, incentive pay, promotions, leave and the creation of several labor-management committees.

Nicole Cody read the union’s proposals and the city’s responses line by line. Local 51 proposed a 7.5% pay increase on signing and additional annual increases tied to Sept. 1 in 2027, 2028 and 2029. The city countered with a fiscal-year–based approach: an initial 2.5% increase plus a 5% step increase in the first year, followed by two subsequent 2.5% increases, with precise effective dates to be set when the contract is adopted, Cody said.

On incentive pay, the union asked to raise paramedic assignment pay (PAP) from 5% to 10%; the city rejected that proposal and offered no counter at this meeting. The city accepted certain incentive proposals: it agreed to combine field training officer (FTO) pay with a medical mentor pay proposal, both at 5% above base pay, with effective dates to be determined. Cody said the city will continue to research a $500-per-year bilingual pay proposed by the union.

The parties also reached agreement to create or formalize several standing committees. Local 51 proposed a new Labor and Management Relations article to consolidate labor-management committees and to create six bodies (medical wellness advisory; equipment, apparatus and facilities; professional development and promotional; paramedic advisory and medical review; rules and regulations; and fitness). The city accepted the proposed committees, specifying nine members each with a quorum of five, Cody said.

On certification and longevity, the city accepted an increase to longevity pay (proposed by the union as $10 per month per year of service up to a cap) and accepted increases to certification pay as presented in the proposal; effective dates and implementation details remain to be finalized in contract language.

Several items were rejected or deferred. The city declined the union’s education pay increases citing financial constraints but said it will maintain the tuition-assistance program. A proposed 5% communications assignment pay was rejected because of existing scheduling and overtime policies. The city also rejected a union request to raise the number of vacation slots per shift from 44 to 47; it proposed alternate minimum-balance thresholds and accepted the general concept of a vacation/holiday sell-back program with implementation timing to be determined.

The city accepted a comp-time accrual structure mirroring current overtime pay (1.5 hours comp time per overtime hour and including an hour of travel compensation), and proposed increasing maximum comp-time accrual from 144 to 240 hours and separation payout maximums from 80 to 120 hours.

Cody told attendees the parties agreed to form a health care trust committee to research a potential move to a health care trust for active and recently retired firefighters, and the city accepted creating that committee for earnest study. The city, however, rejected the union’s request to implement a full health care trust by the end of the contract, saying the timeline and procurement steps (including bids) make that commitment impractical.

Moderator (speaker 1) framed the timeline constraints several times: “I don’t want to promise October 1, and we just can’t meet it,” he said when discussing promotion timing and supply procurement. The moderator and Cody agreed to return with clarified language at a follow-up meeting.

Next steps: the parties set a follow-up bargaining session for Thursday the 25th to review polished language from the fire chief and administration and to continue negotiations.