Drug Tests Help Scuttle Texas Firefighter Talks

July 19--Labor contract negotiations between the city and Austin firefighters, underway since the spring, broke down Thursday over disputes that included how new cadets should be hired and whether firefighters could be fired for a first-time positive drug test in a random screening.

Officials declared an impasse shortly after 5 p.m., which means firefighters will begin working without a contract in place after the current agreement expires Sept. 30.

"Both sides were hopeful to end up with a deal that benefited both sides, and it is unfortunate we weren't able to accomplish that," said Deven Desai, the city's chief labor relations officer.

Fire union and city officials have been negotiating since March. Under state law, both sides must negotiate in good faith for 60 days, but may agree to 15-day extensions. The city and union have signed several such extensions, the last of which expired at midnight Thursday. Bob Nicks, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, said the union sought another extension, but that the city refused.

"I am disappointed always when negotiations are terminated before they had a chance to finish," Nicks said.

At a minimum, with no agreement in place, firefighters would have their wages, including raises, set by the city, but the city would lose some privileges, such as the ability to use certain criteria in making promotions.

Yet a larger question remained: Whether a current process to hire about 100 new firefighters would be in jeopardy.

According to officials, one of the key disputes focused on the hiring of new cadets. Nicks said the city wanted "total control" over how to hire firefighter cadets, but that the union wanted the ability to participate in that discussion.

However, as part of the negotiations, union officials had been attempting to block Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr from firing firefighters who test positive in random drug sampling.

Union leaders want firefighters to retain their jobs but face a suspension of up to 90 days if they are found using illegal substances. In lieu of possible termination, firefighters would have to fund their own rehabilitation before returning to a job in which they operate heavy machinery and serve as the city's first responders in sometimes life-or-death medical emergencies.

The proposed policy would be more lenient than the possible punishment of other Austin city employees subjected to random drug tests. Police officers, paramedics and workers who must hold a commercial driver's license -- garbage and Austin Energy electric truck drivers among them -- may all be fired if they are found to have drugs in their system after a random screening. Firefighters in most other major Texas cities may also be fired after a positive result.

"It is a very important issue to us that we are trying to get some movement on," Nicks said earlier Thursday. "We are saying, 'When someone is in crisis, let's help them.' But they have to pay, and they have to prove that they can come back to work sober."

City officials have said during the most recent negotiations, which started in the spring, that they wanted Kerr to preserve the ability to use her discretion in disciplining firefighters, including the right to fire them.

The 2008 contract talks between the city and fire union also were contentious at times, and much of those disputes also involved hiring. Firefighters in November 2008 initially rejected the proposed agreement, and the city and fire union returned to negotiations the next year and worked out the agreement that has since been in place.

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