June 20 -- City officials and the Professional Firefighters of Kokomo Local 396 have reached a tentative contract agreement, the two sides announced in a joint statement Wednesday, bringing a possible end to a roughly one-year saga that publicly pitted City Hall against a vocal contingent of the union’s membership.
The announcement constitutes a major step for the city and the union, which started negotiations on June 7, 2017. By the end of the year, and into 2018, those negotiations had devolved into a much-publicized, often personal dispute over contract specifics in the effort to reach a collective bargaining agreement.
Now, the end is in sight. But another step remains.
A joint statement from Mayor Greg Goodnight and Local 396 President Chris Frazier posted on the city’s social media pages Wednesday morning broke the news that a tentative agreement had been reached. That agreement will now be taken to union members at 6:30 p.m. Thursday for a ratification vote.
“We have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract for our Firefighters,” reads the statement. “Leadership will take the agreement to members of Local 396 for a ratification vote on Thursday, June 21st at 6:30 PM.
“We are excited to have a tentative agreement and look forward to working together to continue Kokomo’s process.”
No specifics about the contract have been released. City officials declined to comment further on the agreement, and Frazier could not be reached for comment.
Public debate over the negotiations first reached a fever pitch in November 2017 when the union filed a grievance against the city of Kokomo that accused city officials of failing and refusing “to engage in collective bargaining in good faith.”
The grievance related specifically to the city’s denial of a request for arbitration. It was ultimately denied by the Kokomo Board of Public Works and Safety, and by early December the union had taken the city to court in the form of a civil suit filed in Howard Superior Court 4.
On Dec. 29, in a blow to the firefighters’ union, Judge George Hopkins denied the complaint’s sweeping request asking the court to not terminate the fire contract at the end of 2017 and mandate the two sides enter arbitration.
The decision was arguably the most significant public development in what had by then already become a publicly contentious clash over a process that began in June and by the end of 2017 included at least eight private meetings.
It also meant that Kokomo firefighters would operate without a contract for the first time.
At the center of the court dispute was whether Local 396 had requested arbitration in a timely manner, and Hopkins ruled the union’s leadership had not followed a city ordinance that requires arbitration to be requested with a 45-day window.
Notably, the union’s appeal of Hopkins’ ruling, currently at the Indiana Court of Appeals, will be dropped if the contract agreement is ratified Thursday.
The dispute, however, took its most contentious and public turn on Jan. 22, when about 200 people, most wearing red shirts meant to symbolize union solidarity, gathered at City Hall to protest the city’s handling of contract negotiations.
Many in the crowd represented local United Auto Workers unions.
Goodnight responded to the rally in an interview with Indiana Public Media, saying Local 396 was previously adamant about receiving a 15 percent raise over three years.
That statement differed from those made by union officials, who said at the rally they were only looking for health insurance “parity” with the Kokomo Police Department.
“When we compare their wages and benefits package with the surrounding areas and even other second-class cities, they’re usually in the top tier in all aspects, whether it be vacation days, holidays, general pay and even retiree benefits and health care,” said Goodnight at the time.
“They are without a contract, but it’s because of their own doing – their inability to either read or comprehend the ordinance, which was written in the 1970s.”
The rally came after the union one day earlier rejected a contract offer from city officials. The offer, according to a document left on the chairs of City Hall Council Chambers prior to a Common Council meeting, included a 6 percent raise over three years and a $300 increase in longevity pay.
Also included were a “no layoff” guarantee and an increase in retiree health care benefits from a $550 per month stipend to a reimbursement of up to $900 per month for health insurance.
The flyer, printed with a city of Kokomo seal and directing people to a website showing the full proposal, stated that Sunday was the first time Frazier allowed 396 members to vote – a claim Frazier called “a lie” – though the city first presented an offer on Oct. 11.
At the rally, Frazier said the issue wasn’t about raises – he said his union would accept a zero-zero-zero raise structure over the next three years – but is instead about health insurance benefits.
Right now, fire union officials are “asking for parity with the police department on retirees’ health insurance and active health insurance,” said Frazier. He said increased premiums have eaten up any raises given to local firefighters, especially those who live outside of Kokomo.
“If I have a firefighter who doesn’t live in the city, he’s paying $2,600 more than I am because I live in the city,” he told the council. “He’s paying $2,000 more than a retired police officer. We don’t feel that that’s fair.”
At the first negotiation session, in June, the union presented the city with more than 80 proposals to modify the contract, according to city records. But it’s so far unclear what was agreed upon in the contract agreement announced Wednesday.
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