Meet and Confer Rights Established in Mesa

November 20, 2009 – For 18 years, Mesa, Arizona, fire fighters have been fighting for the right to collectively bargain with their employer. On November 16, the Mesa City Council voted unanimously to grant them Meet and Confer rights.

“This vote is big news as now all three original fire departments represented by United Mesa Fire Fighters Local 2260 have some form of collective bargaining,” says Local 2260 President Bryan Jeffries. Local 2260 recently began representing Salt River fire fighters, who currently do not have bargaining rights.

Mesa fire fighters first voted to work toward Meet and Confer in 1991. At the time, Local 2260 fire fighters were not recognized as a bargaining unit.

The Mesa City Charter prohibits collective bargaining, so Local 2260 first planned to propose Meet and Confer as a City ordinance, a measure that would have to be approved by the voters.

Instead, the city manager made a deal with the fire fighters. By establishing an Employees Issues Forum, the city manager agreed to meet with the fire fighters, but no Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or contract would be written.

Local 2260 fire fighters crowd the room has Mesa City Council considers Meet and Confer.

Without a written agreement, Local 2260 fire fighters knew the forum would not be legally binding. Fire fighters next consulted with an attorney who believed that Meet and Confer would not be a violation of the City Charter. However, the City attorney disagreed. (With the help of Woodley and McGillivary, the City’s opinion would later be overturned.)

After hearing the City attorney’s opinion, some City Council members who had been favorable to Meet and Confer backed away from the issue.

In 2004, Local 2260 turned its attention to campaigning for fire fighter-friendly city council candidates. This led to the election of retired Local 2260 fire fighter Alex Finter and Phoenix Local 493 fire fighter Scott Somers. Additionally, polling conducted by Local 2260 showed that 70 percent of the population supported Meet and Confer.

Local 2260 fire fighters went back before City Council to plead their case. The Council sided with the fire fighters and voted to establish Meet and Confer.