Butler City Bureau of Fire firefighter Larry Shuler checks some of the rescue equipment in the back of Engine 1-2 in 2023. After eight months of negotiations, Shuler will join the other unionized firefighters under a new contract with the city. Butler Eagle file photo

After eight straight months of negotiations, the City of Butler has signed an agreement with the Butler City Bureau of Fire that will increase hours and wages for the department’s members.

Butler City Council voted unanimously Thursday, July 10, to approve the contract between the city and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 114, the union, which represents the Butler City Bureau of Fire.

“There was some stuff we had to clear up at the end, and it took a lot longer than what I wanted, but I’m very pleased we have this agreement,” Mayor Bob Dandoy said before the vote. “IAFF members voted on it on Tuesday and passed it.”

The contract’s biggest change to the department is a restructure from a four-platoon schedule to a three-platoon schedule. Fire Chief Chris Switala explained that instead of four designated platoons each working 42-hour weeks, the department would operate with three platoons each working 48 hours.

“We’ll have six on each platoon, so that way we can accommodate two people being off at a time without going into overtime,” Switala said.

Dandoy said one of the city’s goals when negotiating the new contract was to reduce the amount of overtime hours firefighters are picking up.

Councilman Don Shearer added that the change of schedule originally was recommended through studies in the 2000s, and no previous council was willing to approve the change.

“A lot of times, what was happening, if you look at the history of the contract, you were seeing benefits come into the contract to make up for (wages). ‘We can’t afford a wage increase, so we’re going to give you this vacation or holiday buyback,’” he explained.

Shearer said the union traded some of those benefits for readjusted wages. The contract includes an 8% wage increase for the first year, followed by 3% for years two and three.

He also gave kudos to both sides for sticking out the eight months of negotiations.

“It was a long negotiation, but it wasn’t contentious,” Shearer said. “It’s nice to see that both sides understood the issues and were working and finding the resolutions.”

The contract went into effect after the vote and will terminate on Dec. 31, 2027.