OXNARD : Council to Consider Firefighters’ Pact
About 16 months of unsuccessful contract negotiations are expected to come to an end today when the Oxnard City Council considers a three-year contract with the city’s firefighters’ union.
The contract would give Oxnard’s 36 firefighters a retroactive 6% wage increase for the 1989-90 fiscal year and a 5% wage increase for 1990-91, plus an additional 4% increase for 1991-92.
Representatives of the city manager and the International Assn. of Firefighters Local 1684 tentatively agreed on the contract last month.
When talks broke off in August, firefighters dressed in street clothes picketed in front of City Hall for several days.
Negotiations had deadlocked because Fire Chief Richard Smith wanted to eliminate from the contract a clause that allows those with the most seniority to bid for vacant slots within the department.
Under the proposed contract, in most cases, firefighters with the most seniority are to receive priority for vacancies.
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