Mission tentatively OKs firefighter union agreement

The city of Mission tentatively signed off on a 10-article meet and confer agreement with Mission Fire Fighters Association Local 3609 Thursday.

Many of the articles in the agreement relate to the city’s new in-house EMS program, laying out rules for things like staffing, medic hiring and certification, EMS training and pay.

The agreement also outlines a labor management committee and a grievance procedure.

Both union and city representatives Thursday described the agreement as the result of hard work and compromise.
They seemed, on the whole, pleased with it.

“I’m very happy about the end results and I think that both sides did an amazing job in compromising,” Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza said. “Again, looking at the big picture and what’s best for our citizens and the program…fire-based EMS is something  that is a national trend and we are at the forefront. And I’m very proud of the city of Mission for taking that step.”

The agreement’s the result of weeks worth of work for the city and the union.

A few items — like the grievance procedure — entailed some back and forth between city and association leadership.

For the most part, however, the biggest issue in negotiations proved to be the city’s lack of understanding of its nascent EMS program.

The city had to develop a financial plan on the fly while negotiations were ongoing, making it initially difficult for city representatives to commit to some articles.

Staffing issues prevented the city from coming through on shows of good faith it committed to early in the process that city staff initially thought would be easy to accomplish.

Those staffing problems, and associated issues, sometimes made tensions rise during talks.

The city and the union continue to disagree about aspects of the new EMS program, particularly about forecasts related to revenue and collections.

Despite the disagreements, Association President Mike Silva extended his gratitude to Mission’s negotiating team Thursday.

 

He said he thinks they managed to forge a compromise that will ultimately benefit Mission’s citizens.

“There’s been a lot of misinformation being said that I would think that I have to, as the association president, clear up. And we may have some disagreements, but at the end of the day the firefighters are here to work with the city,” he said. “We’re not here to tarnish the city in any way. We love what we do. We’re moving forward in the right direction. I think having fire-based EMS, the real reason that we got into it was because we wanted to save lives and provide a better quality of life. And the guys are doing that now.”
City council is slated to discuss the agreement in executive session on May 28.

 

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