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Bryan ratifies firefighter meet-and-confer after public testimony on unsafe apparatus and staffing
Summary
Council ratified a meet-and-confer agreement with the Bryan Firefighters Association/IAFF Local 1204 and directed staff to study shift schedules after multiple firefighters and union leaders testified about unsafe apparatus, staffing shortages and alleged retaliation.
The Bryan City Council on Nov. 11 ratified and approved a meet-and-confer agreement with the Bryan Firefighters Association and the International Association of Firefighters Local 1204.
Before the vote, firefighters and union representatives told the council the department faces equipment failures, deteriorating stations and retention problems. Daniel Buford, president of the Bryan Firefighters Association, said the independent survey showed that "141 of your 155 firefighters" responded and reported that "87% of our frontline apparatus are unsafe or unreliable" and that large percentages reported unresolved station-safety issues and morale problems.
Council discussion during the meet-and-confer motion included studying alternative shift schedules (references were made to the 48/96 and 40/96 schedules), forming a strategic retention task force, and having the fire chief and CFO assemble a committee to present findings, potentially in a future workshop. One council member asked staff to provide a timeline and to include fiscal analysis so the council can consider any proposed shift-schedule change.
The council approved the agreement and directed staff to return with further information and a committee recommendation; the action was presented as part of the regular agenda.
