Abilene voters decide firefighter bargaining on Props A and B as mailer stirs confusion

Two propositions on Abilene's Nov. 3 ballot would change how the city and its firefighters negotiate pay, benefits and working conditions. The city put them on the ballot after verifying a petition from the Abilene Professional Fire Fighters Association. State law requires voters, not the City Council, to make this decision.

Proposition A would adopt collective bargaining under Chapter 174 of the Texas Local Government Code, which replaces the 'meet and confer' process the two sides used before. Proposition B would add a charter provision for binding arbitration when talks reach an impasse. Neither proposition sets a pay raise. According to the city, binding arbitration would have no effect unless collective bargaining also passes. If both pass, only another election could undo them.

The fight comes after the 2023 meet-and-confer agreement expired April 1. In March the council rejected a proposed new contract that tied raises to peer-city pay plus 4%, then passed an emergency ordinance to keep firefighter pay where it was through Sept. 30. The city says its 2027 budget gives firefighters an average of market wage plus 3%, set by ordinance because there is no negotiated agreement.

Late in early voting, a mailer from a political action committee called Support Abilene Fire PAC urged a no vote on both propositions. The firefighters' association, which supports both measures, told the station it had nothing to do with the mailer and worried that voters would assume it did. People involved with the PAC told the association the name reflected support for firefighters despite opposing the measures, and that it was not meant to mislead.