After five months working without a contract, negotiations between the Concord Fire Officers Association and the city have made progress, according to union leadership. 

President Jim Duckworth said the two sides put together a proposal “that might get us back in contract,” during a six-hour meeting on Monday. While no agreement has been established, what’s on the table will be reviewed by Concord City Council for its take.

Firefighters have argued that the city’s previous offers would leave the department behind industry pay standards and they have asked for more resources to be put toward retention and longevity — as has been done with Concord Police.  The three-year collective bargaining agreement between the city and Local 3195  – which represents fire captains, battalion chiefs and lieutenants – expired on July 1.

A recent third-party fact-finding report backed the union’s concerns, according to Duckworth, though they and the city have agreed to reject it. The union also declined to provide a copy of the report, citing the ongoing negotiation process. 

“The city came to us and said we deserve more than what was stated in the report,” Duckworth said. “Without saying it, they’re acknowledging that we’re behind.”

This is the most movement in the last seven months of negotiations, Duckworth said, but a new contract won’t end broader discussions about addressing turnover in the department. 

“Even if we signed a contract tomorrow, there’s a lot more to do to fix things,” he said. “The fire department has been left behind.”

Firefighters went public with their concerns at last month’s city council meeting, holding signs in the audience that read, “Concord Fire Officers deserve respect, parity, support.”

In December, City Council approved $400,000 for a second year of police bonuses aimed at keeping officers around amid the workload burden of staffing shortages.

Alan Robidas, a battalion chief with Concord Fire, said in supportive testimony to City Council that he found the city’s openness to using bonuses to address public safety retention “inspiring.”

“I implore the council to pass this resolution and show the due respect your employees deserve,” he concluded. Robidas didn’t address the signs held behind him, but they drew clear parallels to his words. Like the police department — and like many public safety departments — Concord Fire has lost employees to other agencies or professions offering more money, benefits or work-life balance. 

“We value our firefighters as highly as we do our police officers,” Mayor Byron Champlin said in an interview Wednesday. Champlin wouldn’t say whether he would support a similar retention bonus program in the fire department, but he committed to “finding a balance so that firefighters feel they are being treated fairly and that they are equally valued.”

“Within our means, we will move towards changing their opinion,” he said. 

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