The Long Beach Firefighters Association and the City of Long Beach have reached a tentative agreement over a successor labor agreement, city officials announced Thursday.
The FFA represents about 380 firefighters.
“I believe we have one of the best Fire Departments in the country, so I am delighted that we have reached a tentative agreement with our Firefighters that is fair and values their hard work for the City,” Mayor Robert Garcia said in a statement. “I want to thank the FFA leadership and our negotiating team for their hard work on this agreement.”
FFA members are scheduled to vote on the tentative agreement in March. If approved, the agreement would go before the city council for final approval in April.
“We would like to thank the Mayor, City Council, and City Manager for their support,” said Rex Pritchard, FFA president, in a statement. “The FFA bargaining team worked diligently with City representatives on reaching a mutually beneficial agreement. We believe this agreement represents fair wage increases for our hard working members.”
Details of the tentative agreement were not disclosed to allow union members to continue the process of ratifying the contract without interference, according to Human Resources Director Alex Basquez.
The FFA’s prior memorandum of understanding (MOU) expired September 30, 2016, Basquez said, so this agreement would continue from that prior period.