Nearly a year after Atlanta City Council unanimously approved the city's first firefighter union contract, Mayor Andre Dickens still hasn't signed it. Now the International Association of Firefighters Local 134 is suing, saying they've run out of patience waiting for the mayor to do what council already approved.
Union President Nate Bailey says they've been dropping off copies of the contract at the mayor's office for months, hoping to avoid exactly this kind of legal fight. But Dickens has refused to sign, leaving firefighters in limbo about wages, benefits, and working conditions that were supposedly settled last year.
This puts Dickens in an awkward spot. He's been talking up his support for city workers and public safety, but now he's being sued by the very firefighters who respond to emergencies across Atlanta every day. The union is asking for the city to honor the contract terms, plus damages and attorney fees. Given that council approved this thing unanimously, it's hard to see what leverage the mayor thinks he has here.
