Concord firefighter union negotiations ongoing as current contract expires

Concord Fire Department responds to an attic fire on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

Concord Fire Department responds to an attic fire on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff) Elizabeth Frantz

By CATHERINE McLAUGHLIN

Monitor staff

Published: 07-01-2025 1:45 PM

For a second consecutive summer, the city of Concord and one of its firefighter unions have not come to a new contract agreement before the previous one expired.

The city’s two-year agreement with the local chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters, which represents rank-and-file members of the department, expired on Monday, and negotiations around a new contract are ongoing. The union represents 72 positions and has 65 current members.

“We’re actively working to come together on a tentative agreement,” said Justin Kantar, president of Local 1045, adding that discussions have been productive and fruitful.

Mayor Byron Champlin declined to comment, citing ongoing negotiations.

Last year, Concord fire officers were out of a contract for more than six months as negotiations stumbled. Amid a staffing shortage, union leadership said they felt the department had broadly fallen behind other fire departments in the state and that pay, vacation and retention initiatives lagged behind those offered to the police department. The new agreement bumped annual wage increases to 5%, boosted pay for those with certain certifications and raised the cap on the amount of vacation time employees can accrue.

Two years ago, the city funded a study to examine whether its pay rates across departments were competitive and fair. The results are not yet available to the public.

Concord Fire is in the midst of a recruitment and retention crisis, both department and city leaders have said. As positions remain open, and firefighters are required to work more overtime to maintain minimum staffing levels, burnout has worsened, perpetuating a cycle of strain and departures. A shortage of numbers also means a shortage of time for training, impacting both new and long-serving employees.

City overtime spending in the fire department in the 2025 fiscal year was more than 60% higher than budgeted and nearly 10% higher than in the previous year, according to the city’s recently approved budget.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

New Hampshire legalizes public alcohol consumption in designated ‘social districts’
State rules Epsom must pay open-enrollment tuition to other school districts, despite its refraining from the program
Town turmoil: Chichester town administrator resigns again
New Hampshire providers brace for Medicaid changes that reach beyond healthcare
Warner town administrator granted restraining order against selectman
NH judge decides to pause Trump’s birthright citizenship order

“Fire Administration continues to seek alternative means to better recruit and retain employees,” the document states. “It is recognized that some of these solutions will require adjustments to the IAFF 1045 collective bargaining agreement during negotiations.”

In that budget, the fire department had requested a reinstatement of Engine One, which would add capacity back to the city’s central fire district. The engine was decommissioned in 2008 amid financial hardships and never brought back. The central district is also served by a tower truck. Reinstating an engine, though, would mean adding positions to staff it.

This request was declined by city hall and the city council in favor of other department investments, including with a new central fire station up for debate in the next five years.

Though he emphasized that he spoke as a citizen and not on behalf of the department, Battalion Chief Alan Robidas warned city councilors during budget workshops about just how pressed things had become.

“The workload is out of control in this community,” he said. “I don’t know why a new person would come work here when they know that they’re going to go from call to call to call and not get the training that they need day to day.”

Catherine McLaughlin can be reached at cmclaughlin@cmonitor.com. You can subscribe to her Concord newsletter The City Beat at concordmonitor.com.