St. Louis fire fighters secured a major legal victory after a Missouri circuit court judge ruled the city unlawfully froze promotions for four years, clearing the way for long-delayed leadership appointments.
“Local 73 is very pleased with this fair and just ruling,” Local 73 President Dan Clark said. “I want to thank all of the members for standing together throughout this process in our fight to get the city to do the right thing, and allow the promotions to go forward in the interest of fire fighter and public safety.”
The ruling in St. Louis is the latest in a series of legal and contractual victories for IAFF affiliates across the country, as fire fighters continue to successfully challenge actions by local governments that undermine staffing, safety, and fair workplace practices.
The case dates to January 2022, when the city’s then-director of public safety halted all promotions, citing a desire to restructure the department. It was his belief the department had too many management-level positions.
Instead of fixing the perceived problem, it created a new one. Vacancies mounted and leadership positions went unfilled, putting an operational strain on the entire department. Local 73 began to push back, first directly to the city administration and then through litigation.
In October 2023, the mayor appointed an interim director of public safety, Charles Coyle, after the previous director retired.
Coyle, a deputy fire chief at the time of his appointment, had first-hand knowledge of the negative impact of the promotions freeze.
Still, the freeze was not lifted. Coyle said the existing promotion candidate list was outdated, prompting an attempt to do away with the current list and create a new one.
Local 73 continued to be engaged in litigation to prevent the plaintiffs from being passed over and to get the promotions they had already proven they were qualified to receive.
On Dec. 31, 2025, Judge Joseph Whyte ruled in favor of the fire fighters, prompting settlement discussions. The plaintiffs settled quickly for an undisclosed amount to enable the long-overdue promotions to move forward.
On Jan. 9, eight fire fighters were promoted to battalion chief and 19 to captain.
Before those promotions, the department was operating with a critical shortage of nearly 30 captains and 11 battalion chiefs. Additional promotions from a newly established list are expected in the coming weeks and will fill remaining vacancies.
“Congratulations to all the newly promoted Local 73 members,” 2nd District Vice President Mark Woolbright said. “I commend President Clark and his team for standing strong and never wavering as they focused on getting the right results on behalf of the impacted members. It was a long battle, but it was worth it.”
