This is the kind of story that makes you wonder what's really going on behind the scenes at City Hall. The International Association of Firefighters Local 134 filed a lawsuit Tuesday demanding that Mayor Dickens sign the union contract that city council unanimously approved almost a year ago. Let that sink in for a minute: unanimously approved, nearly a year ago, and still no signature.
Union President Nate Bailey said they've been dropping off copies at the mayor's office for months, trying to get this resolved without having to go to court. The fact that it's come to a lawsuit suggests there's been some serious breakdown in communication, or worse, some kind of deliberate stalling. This isn't just about paperwork, either. The contract affects how firefighters get paid and other working conditions.
What makes this particularly frustrating is that these are the folks who run toward danger when everyone else is running away. The city council clearly thought they deserved the contract they negotiated, so the mayor's refusal to sign it raises all kinds of questions about what's really driving this decision.
