City of Wichita Falls fires back at firefighters' collective bargaining effort

The city of Wichita Falls has fired back at the local firefighters union's efforts to obtain the right to collective bargaining and binding arbitration.

The Wichita Falls Professional Firefighters Association is raising signatures on petitions to get the measure on the Nov. 5 ballot.

"Collective Bargaining agreements are typically 3-5 years which would obligate future City Councils and future City budgets outside of the one-year budget adoption timeframe," the city said in a press release Thursday.

"Since 2006, the Union has had a voter approved Meet and Confer agreement with the City of Wichita Falls. Thisagreement allows the Union to request a meeting with City Administration about any topic, at any time," the city said in the media release.

The release said in the past 18 years, city administration has never denied a request for a meeting and that since Wichita Falls adopted Civil Service 1966, the city ensures fair practices for hiring, promotion, pay and discipline of police officers and firefighters.

The release said firefighters also have the ability to go straight to voters to request a pay increase through a petition-driven referendum process.

The city said with 159 career firefighters on staff, response times have decreased over the past 10 years and the department has received top ratings.

"While we respect the right of the Union to seek these changes, we believe the existing Meet and Confer process can still be an effective way to get all parties to the table and make meaningful decisions concerning the Fire Department," the release concluded.

The media release was distributed through the city's Public Information Office and was not attributed to any individual elected official or staff member.

The union has recently invested heavily in local politics, sending $61,400 to a Lubbock political consultant to spend on the campaigns of endorsed City Council candidates in the Nov. 7, 2023, election.

All those endorsed by the union — Mayor Tim Short and councilors Jeff Browning, Mike Battaglino and Tom Taylor — outspent and beat their opponents.

At a May 21 City Council meeting, Wichita Falls Professional Firefighters Association President Al Vitolo told councilors the fire department is understaffed.

“I am unapologetic about asking for extra staff," he said.

He said the department has seen a steady increase in the number of calls — over 14,000 in 2023.

“We have seen no increase in staffing,” Vitolo said.

The union is circulating two petitions. One would authorize a public vote on collective bargaining. The second would amend the city charter to allow an arbitrator to decide an issue if agreement cannot be reached between the union and the city.

The union has until Aug. 19 to gather enough signatures to get the measures on the November ballot.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: City fires back at firefighters' collective bargaining effort