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National City firefighters union presses pay proposal as council moves into closed session
Summary
Jeremy Day, president of the National City Firefighters, told the City Council the union will present a pay proposal in closed session and argued the city's CAFR shows recoveries after prior deficits; the council then entered closed session to discuss a workers— compensation claim and labor negotiations involving multiple employee organizations.
Jeremy Day, president of the National City Firefighters, used the public-comment period to tell the City Council the union will present a pay proposal in closed session and urged elected officials to stop letting firefighters— pay "slide." "The idea that you're gonna go broke in 3 or 5 years ... it just hasn't happened since 2005," Day said, adding he pulled figures from the city's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) back to 2005 to support the union's case.
According to Day, the union softened its first-year request and built "guardrails" into years two and three of the proposal to limit fiscal impact. He told the council that historically the general fund has recovered after years with reported deficits and that the city now holds multiple reserve accounts, including a vehicle replacement fund, an economic contingency reserve and a facilities fund. Day said recent presentations showed preliminary fiscal-year numbers that included a $5.5 million deficit in one reporting period for FY 2023 and $33 million in FY 2024, but that year-end results were materially different: "We actually ended up the year in '23 with a $5.3 million surplus. In '24, a $5.1 million surplus," he said. He also said 2025-to-April numbers showed a $7.7 million deficit but that the situation had improved since that report was produced.
Day framed pay as the union's primary unresolved issue, saying firefighters routinely fall to between 15th and 18th of 18 in year two of the contract cycle and that the union aims to bring pay "just above the average." "There are people on the other side. Firefighters, your firefighters. You should be in there fighting for them," he said.
After public comment, Mayor Morrison handed the meeting to the city attorney, who announced two items that would be discussed in closed session: a workers' compensation claim captioned Richard Flores v. City of National City, and a conference with labor negotiators involving the MEA, the National City Firefighters Association and the Police Officers Association, as well as unrepresented groups. "The claimant is Richard Flores versus the city of National City," the city attorney stated when listing the closed-session items.
The council then entered closed session. When the meeting reconvened, Mayor Morrison said the closed session had ended and that the council would report out at the end of the meeting; the mayor announced a short five-minute break before resuming other agenda business.
No formal motion or vote on the firefighters' proposal was recorded in the public portion of the transcript; the union representative said the proposal and supporting materials would be provided during the closed session.
