Concord firefighters waited years for a wage study they hoped would finally prove their pay was falling behind and open the door to renegotiating their contracts.
Now complete, the study confirms that Concord pays the department’s leaders less than their counterparts in similar cities.
But instead of negotiating a new contract, the city has backed away from the bargaining table.
Ian Gill, president of the local chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters 1045, said the union was eager to discuss wages after the study was made public in February.
Negotiations had been underway since March, he said, when the city abruptly sent a letter announcing it was pulling out.
“That obviously is a wild slap in the face when, for years, you were told you couldn’t get a higher wage because we have to wait for the results of the wage study,” Gill said, standing outside city council chambers earlier this week alongside other fire officers demanding good faith negotiations. “To walk away from us in the middle of something like that, when it’s something that we’ve been promised, is very insulting.”
Mayor Byron Champlin said the situation is not so cut-and-dried.
“We don’t really consider these discussions to be broken off,” he said in an interview.
Fire officers said a meeting to continue negotiations had been scheduled for June 11, but the city notified them a day earlier, on June 10, that it was canceling the meeting.
“During the course of the city’s recent budget process, the city council determined that it was not in a position to add additional compensation to existing contracts at this time, given the pressing financial needs of the city and the increase in property taxes occasioned by local school district budgets,” wrote John Conforti, the city solicitor, in a letter dated June 11.
According to the study, Concord fire officers, who are the department’s leadership, are paid roughly 6% below market, less than similar cities pay for the same jobs. Some of the cities included in the study were Nashua, Manchester, and Laconia. The pay for rank-and-file firefighters was found to be relatively competitive.
Members of the union showed up at Monday’s city council meeting carrying signs reading “Fair pay isn’t optional” and “Data in, excuses out.” It was a public display of frustration after years of feeling ignored, they said, and a call for professional courtesy, respect and meaningful dialogue.
Growing frustration
Days before the city’s letter, the Concord City Council approved a budget that, in firefighters’ view, was missing a few things. Major fire station construction that was slated for a few years from now was pushed out by a decade. A request to reinstate a tanker engine at the downtown station was, not for the first time, declined.
Jim Duckworth, the president of local 3195, which represents firefighters, said being passed over often makes them “feel lesser than others.”
Champlin said he disagrees with that sentiment.
“I think that we value our firefighters just as we do all of our other safety service workers, and as we do all of our employees,” he said.
Meanwhile, the city has moved forward with other major investments, including the $41 million construction of a new police station and the $6 million renovation of the Beaver Meadow clubhouse.
In the 2025 budget, the department asked the city to restore Engine One, which served the central fire district until it was decommissioned during a period of financial hardship in 2008. The engine has never been returned to service, leaving the city’s central district dependent on a tower truck.
Bringing Engine One back would require hiring additional firefighters to staff it, but the city rejected the request in favor of other investments.
With staffing shortages, many firefighters work significant overtime, allowing some of the department’s highest-paid firefighters to earn salaries approaching those of lieutenants and captains, despite the added responsibility that comes with being a fire officer.
Concord firefighters also progress through a 16-step pay scale before reaching the top salary. Comparable departments in cities such as Nashua and Manchester have fewer steps, allowing officers to reach maximum pay much sooner.
Derek Kelleher, vice president of Local 3195, said it has become increasingly frustrating to watch the city’s fire department needs repeatedly pushed aside while other major projects receive funding, especially because firefighters often maintain their own stations by handling electrical, plumbing and other repairs themselves.
He said it saves the city thousands of dollars that would otherwise be spent on outside contractors.
“The motivation is really low right now,” Kelleher said, causing firefighters to think twice about staying with the Concord Fire Department because they feel they are constantly being pushed aside. “The younger firefighters are definitely moving on, and the seniors are retiring early and it impacts the department for sure.”
This is not the first time tensions have arisen between Concord firefighters and the city during contract negotiations. On at least two previous occasions, the city and the firefighters’ unions failed to reach a new contract agreement before the existing contract expired.
Fire officers said their frustration with the current situation is directed at the mayor, the city manager and members of the City Council.
“They have the means and they also have been set on their priorities where money is spent,” said Kelleher. “The backbone of your city is your departments and workers. You can have a lot of fancy and latest things, but without good workers, it’s different.”
Union leadership explained that when the June meeting was called off, they learned that the city’s lead negotiator may not have had the authority to extend offers on the city’s behalf, a revelation that left them wondering whether the negotiations had been serious from the beginning.
Kelleher said they want the city to act on its own wage study and show its workers they are valued.
“I do think workers deserve the same respect that the mayor and the city councilors showed the city manager last night at the meeting,” he said, referring to Monday’s city council meeting, where councilors approved city manager Tom Aspell’s pay raise and a six-week sabbatical. “That is what we’re looking for. We demand the city of Concord to return to the table and bargain in good faith.”
Catherine McLaughlin contributed reporting to this story.
