photo by: Pierce Manufacturing

The state of the build process for LDFM"S newest quint fire apparatus on Feb. 9, 2024.

City of Lawrence administrators and the local firefighters union are at an impasse in their negotiations for the coming year, and if they don’t resolve it, the City Commission might have to resolve the conflict next month.

The city and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1596 union, which represents firefighters and other emergency personnel employed by Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, are working to come up with a new memorandum of understanding. The current one is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2024.

However, Assistant City Manager Casey Toomay and union President Seamus Albritton said in a joint statement that the two sides have three outstanding issues that they have yet to agree on. The statement did not specify what those issues were.

Toomay and Albritton said the sides were still working to find a resolution, but if they can’t come to an agreement, the Lawrence City Commission might have to resolve the dispute.

In Tuesday night’s Lawrence City Commission meeting, commissioners voted to set a date for a public hearing in case the sides can’t reach an agreement this month. The public hearing would take place during the City Commission’s regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 1 at 5:45 p.m.

If the public hearing is necessary, both sides will present explanations and supporting documentation on the outstanding issues to the commission. The commission will then vote on a final and binding decision.

In their statement, Toomay and Albritton said they were “optimistic” that the sides could come to an agreement before the public hearing would be necessary.

“Both parties will continue to meet and work towards an agreement that supports the interests of our valued fire and medical personnel while ensuring the City’s operational and budgetary priorities are met,” the statement said.

The city and firefighters union have had long periods of negotiations in previous years, including in 2019 when the two sides met in mediated negotiation sessions, as the Journal-World reported.

During the city’s 2025 budget process, local Lawrence firefighters protested during a July city commission meeting over proposed changes to staffing levels that would reduce the minimum firefighters per truck from four to three. Eventually, city commissioners requested those staffing levels be restored and pushed back the plans to construct two new fire stations by a year as part of the final 2025 budget.