KOKOMO, Ind. -- For the first time ever, firefighters in Kokomo are working without a labor contract after a judge ruled in favor of the city’s decision to terminate the contract at the end of 2017.
Firefighters are now working under the city’s employee guidebook, instead of their own contract, while the union prepares for the next step in the bargaining process this March.
In an interview with the Kokomo Tribune, Local 396 President Chris Frazier expressed concern about Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight's decisions saying after "much time" was spent negotiating the new contract, the mayor shot it down because he has personal issues with the department.
Beth Copeland, the City of Kokomo's Corporation Counsel says rumors that the mayor's office decided to end the contract because he has an issue with the fire department are untrue.
“It is absolutely false – untrue that the mayor has any vendetta or anything against the fire department,” said Copeland. “If that were true, he wouldn’t have offered them a 6 percent raise over the next three years. He has, in fact, attempted to pay them more than any other city employee and they rejected that – so they’re not being targeted but we do have requirements now that a contract does not exist. They just aren’t entitled to certain things they once were.”
The city and union leadership can restart the collective bargaining process again in March.
MORE TOP STORIES | Frost quake: Mysterious noises rattling central Indiana neighborhoods were likely winter phenomenon | 2 bodies found in Madison Co. identified as missing couple | Former caretaker arrested in murder of Brownsburg woman | Noblesville teen 'ashamed' after video of him chanting racial slurs & wearing Nazi flags goes viral | Coyote-wolf hybrid, called a coywolf, has been spotted in southwest Indianapolis
Top Trending Videos
