Special City Council Meeting: Collective Bargaining with Firefighters Union - March 17, 2026
Special City Council Meeting: Collective Bargaining with Firefighters Union - March 17, 2026
This was a special meeting of the Cheyenne City Council convened at 6:00 p.m. on March 17, 2026, for the purpose of collective labor bargaining with the Cheyenne Professional Fire Fighters, International Association of Fire Fighters, Local No. 279. Present were Mayor Patrick Collins and Council Members Aldrich, Emmons, Esquibel, Laybourn, Moody, Segrave, and White. Council Members Rinne and Wolfe were absent. The meeting adjourned at 6:49 p.m. without reaching a contract agreement.
Discussion Items
- Union Proposal to Table Wages: Chris Thoms, President of Local #279, stated that the parties remain at an impasse regarding wages and proposed setting aside wage discussions to negotiate other sections of the contract and make progress. He emphasized the union’s desire to keep negotiations constructive.
- Mayor’s Rebuttal and Data Presentation: Mayor Collins declined to set wages aside, calling wages the primary sticking point. He reviewed the city’s investments in firefighter staffing (increased from 89 to 103 firefighters since 2021), new apparatus and stations, and safety equipment. He provided detailed compensation comparisons, asserting that Cheyenne firefighters are the highest paid in Wyoming after a 3% raise when adjusted for cost of living. He compared Cheyenne to Loveland, Colorado, noting that Loveland firefighters handle 44% more calls per officer, have a higher cost of living index (121 vs. 104), and are non-union with a 401(a) retirement plan. He also compared total compensation (including specialty pays) to fire departments in Jackson, Gillette, Casper, Sheridan, Laramie, and Rock Springs, showing Cheyenne firefighters earning significantly more after cost-of-living adjustment in most ranks.
- Union Response to Data: Thoms noted that the city’s data sets differ from the union’s and requested time to review the mayor’s new data, which was handwritten. He reiterated the union’s desire to move negotiations forward in good faith by addressing other contract sections first. Mayor Collins insisted on resolving wages before proceeding.
- Impasse and Next Meeting: After a recess from 6:20 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. for union members to caucus, the parties remained at an impasse. They agreed to meet again on Monday, March 23, 2026, after the regular City Council meeting (estimated 7:00–7:30 p.m.) to continue negotiations. The union requested the city’s compensation data be provided for review beforehand.
Key Outcomes
- No agreement was reached on wages or any other contract sections.
- The parties remain at an impasse on wages.
- A follow-up negotiating session was scheduled for March 23, 2026, after the regular City Council meeting.
- The union requested the city’s compensation data be provided for review before the next meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Well, good evening, everyone. I would like to call the March 17th, Happy St. Patrick's Day special meeting of the governing body to order and ask the clerk if she would take the role. Mr. Escabel. Mr. Labourne. Here. Mr. Moody. Here. Dr. Rennie. Mr. Seagrape. Present. Mr. White. Present. Mr. Wolf. Dr. Aldrich, present. Mayor Collins. Present. Dr. Emmons. Present. Two members are absent. We do have a quorum. Would you join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? Collective labor bargaining with Cheyenne Professional Firefighters, International Association of Firefighters, Local Number 279. Did you want to start? Did you have anything? I've got a short thing to start off with if you're okay with that. Yep, please. So tonight I feel like we're stuck debating numbers and that has left us with little meaningful progress. We came here to negotiate. We'd like to refocus this process on moving the contract forward in a productive manner. Right now we're willing to table wages and move forward on to other sections where progress can still be made. We believe that is the best way to keep make this meeting constructive and keep negotiations moving forward. And I think what I've come away from is it seems to me that you board's goal is to be the highest paid fire department in the state. I mean, I think based on what I'm hearing from you guys, I think that's your goal. And I think when I talk to our governing body, uh our goal is to this to be the best place to work as a firefighter in the state. And that includes properly compensating firefighters, and we want our firefighters to thrive. And so if I go back in history when I was elected mayor in and came into office in January of 2021, we had 89 firefighters. And today that number is 103. We've invested in staff. But then we'll be spending about $950,000 a year in the in uh paying for our safer officers. We've supported accreditation, you know, trying to make sure that the department is evolving and always working on best practices.
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