KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Demands from a Kansas City, Kansas, firefighters union that could cost the city more than $40 million annually prompted officials to file a prohibited practice charge with the Kansas Public Employer-Employee Relations Board.
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County, Kansas City, Kansas, said in a news release Friday afternoon that the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 64 has caused an impasse in contract negotiations with its requests for “substantially increased staffing, construction of new fire stations and purchase of new fire trucks and ambulances.”
“These demands by the fire union are not mandatory subjects of collective bargaining,” the UG said in the release. “The fire union’s insistence to the point of an impasse in negotiations upon such non-mandatory subjects of bargaining violates State labor laws.”
If IAFF Local 64’s demands were met, the city argued that it would require its tax rate to double “without providing any wage increase,” the release stated.
“It is unacceptable that the union is making demands at the expense of our current firefighters, who are deserving of representation that will work towards a realistic agreement and reasonable compensation,” County Administrator Doug Bach said in the release.
However, the UG is willing to negotiate terms to provide raises now. The IAFF Local 64 has seven days to respond, after which a hearing will be held.
