Abilene firefighters will soon be back at the bargaining table after voters approved both fire department measures on Tuesday's ballot.
Proposition A passed with 73.8% of the vote, 21,657 to 7,690. Proposition B passed with 79.1%, 22,324 to 5,889, according to unofficial results from the Taylor County Elections Office. The two measures had the widest margins of any contested race or measure on the ballot, with Prop B first and Prop A second.
Prop A brings collective bargaining to the Abilene Fire Department. Prop B amends the city charter so that if the city and firefighters can't reach an agreement, an arbitrator makes the final call.
Jarrod Crockett, president of the Abilene Professional Fire Fighters Association, said he wasn't confident about the outcome as results came in Tuesday night.
"You always have that fear that it's not going to pass," Crockett said. "I'm extremely fearful that one or both of them would not pass the entire time. So it's really exciting to see both of them have passed."
The association pushed for the change after the Abilene City Council voted down a contract negotiated under the city's previous Meet and Confer process. Crockett said that left firefighters back at square one.
"This process put us in a position where we lost everything," he said. "Not even just financial things."
Firefighters gathered signatures to put both measures on the ballot, and the council voted unanimously to call the election.
Under collective bargaining, the city and the association will have 60 days to negotiate a contract. If they reach an impasse, a neutral arbitrator hears both sides, including the city's budget and ability to pay, and issues a final, binding decision.
Some city leaders, including Councilman Lynn Beard, have raised concerns about unelected arbitrators deciding firefighter pay. Crockett said arbitration is meant to be a last resort.
"If both sides are willing to be fair and equitable and have good faith dialogue, we should never end up in binding arbitration," he said.
Crockett said the contract itself does not raise taxes because that authority belongs to the City Council. He said the association looks at the city's available revenue when it asks for raises, but also wants to keep trained firefighters from leaving for other departments.
