OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

El Paso Fire Department Collective Bargaining Meeting - July 23, 2026

Boards & Commissions — Thursday, July 23, 2026
BodyEl Paso, Texas
SessionBoards & Commissions
DateThursday, July 23, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 34:41

Transcript — Verbatim
5:05

Can we pull up the presentation please?

5:11

Next slide.

5:16

There we go.

5:16

Today today's agenda we're gonna go over some compensation city proposals, some of the language clarification you all have been waiting for, and then review some of the tentative agreements that you know see where we stand at.

5:28

And so we'll kick it off with the compensation, please.

5:40

Okay, good morning.

5:41

Uh Sasha Ondonovsky, Office of Management and Budget.

5:45

So we'll just go over a couple of slides uh with regards to c uh compensation and uh uh proposals that were uh in the last couple of months.

5:55

So this first slide is uh your first proposal.

5:59

Um so we already know what that is.

6:04

This next slide.

6:06

The next slide shows uh the cities proposal from uh May 14th.

6:13

So this proposal included uh two and a half percent cola uh and uh embedded uh five percent for the step increases.

6:22

This proposal also included uh elimination of some of the first steps and then adding uh additional step.

6:30

So that's the cost uh for the for the whole uh four years of the of the contract for the million dollars.

6:39

So we won.

6:42

We're gonna revise the slide before we posted its backup so that it's very clear what the city's proposal is because looking back at some of the pres presentations in the past, a couple of meetings that we've had, it's not very clear if you were just to look at the presentation, so we want to make sure that it's very clear that the city is also offering what you just mentioned with those step changes.

6:58

Yes.

7:01

So this is your proposal from six twenty-six, which includes five percent cola and embedded five percent uh f uh steps increases, and also uh this is uh there is a calculation for the uh estimation for the accepted uh uh incentives uh and the longevity that that you guys had.

7:24

Um so the total cost of the of the contract is fifty-six million dollars.

7:33

So this this proposal I want to mention this proposal also uh also in uh doesn't eliminate the first step, but includes tell st uh step number twelve.

7:48

These are the benefits.

7:50

We already shared this one.

7:52

Uh currently we have nine hundred and five uh employees included in the C D HP plan and then sixteen in the basic plan.

8:05

This is original proposal for the from the city, which included continuation of the current contract, twenty-two percent increases.

8:15

And you can see the uh the impacts there.

8:23

So for the for the most enrolled for the C D HP with uh with family, you can see that the increase is like twenty-five dollars, thirty-five dollars on an annual basis.

8:34

Uh uh for pay per pay period.

8:36

There are twenty-four payp uh pay periods for the health plan.

8:42

This is your proposal, ten percent increase.

8:51

Which uh for the most enrolled uh group, we have ten in ten of a little bit over ten dollars increase in twenty twenty-seven, fourteen dollars in twenty twenty eight, uh fifteen dollars in twenty twenty-nine and uh seventeen dollars in twenty thirty.

9:12

This that's uh C D H B plan, the last line on the C D H plan plan.

9:21

No, this is C D HP.

9:22

I'm I'm just uh explaining the the line with most uh enrolled employees.

9:29

Yeah.

9:33

And Nico, if you want to.

9:37

So your ten percent counter proposal we'd be okay with, but we would like to include this language into the agreement.

9:43

And so this is basically a discussion that we've already had.

9:46

So there's been federal changes related to the high deductible plans that we have.

9:50

So of the ten percent we'd be agreeable to if we incorporate this language.

9:54

Uh we need to obviously abide by the IRS rule, so net high deductible plan continues to change.

10:00

It seems like yearly now, and it's like $200, $300 every year that it's increasing by this next session.

10:23

Hi, Nicole Cody.

10:25

The next session includes if you look at your first handout, is going to be the one that says city proposals.

10:32

This will also include items that were pending language clarification from the city as well.

10:37

So the first item uh we've already discussed at the previous meeting.

10:42

This was proposed on June 26th.

10:46

So I will skip to the current one starting with item two, uh, miscellaneous.

10:51

And so this is uh proposed language regarding uh the creation of a temporary labor management committee to look at a discipline review board for the fire department.

11:03

Item three.

11:05

Reminder, real quick on number two there.

11:07

It's just it's just to discuss the possibilities.

11:09

It's not saying we're gonna do anything with it at the end.

11:14

And to that point, the to highlight the language is that the committee will bring the findings and recommendations to the city and association prior to the bargaining sessions, is what we're recommending before we begin bargaining for 2030, as well as um this committee would sunset at the term of this agreement.

11:36

I just have one question on that one.

11:38

Who would make up the committee?

11:41

It'd be like the rest of the committees.

11:43

We can use that structure.

11:49

Item three is um regarding the promotional and examinations for credentialing.

12:00

Oh, I apologize.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Personnel Matters█████████████████████████████████████████████81%
Procedural█████████17%
Firefighter Health and Safety█2%
Summary of Proceedings

El Paso Fire Department Collective Bargaining Meeting - July 23, 2026

The city of El Paso and Local 51 (firefighters union) held a bargaining session on July 23, 2026, to review compensation proposals, clarify contract language, and confirm tentative agreements. Sasha Ondonovsky from the Office of Management and Budget presented the city's proposals, and Nicole Cody facilitated the discussion of pending items.

Discussion Items

  • Compensation Proposals: The city's May 14 proposal included a 2.5% COLA with embedded 5% step increases, elimination of some first steps, and addition of a step 12, costing $1 million over four years. The union's June 26 proposal included a 5% COLA with embedded 5% step increases, no elimination of first steps, and a total contract cost of $56 million.
  • Health Plan Changes: The city's original proposal continued current contracts with 22% increases (e.g., $25–$35 annual increase per pay period for the CDHP family plan). The union's counterproposal of a 10% increase was accepted by the city, contingent on adding language to comply with IRS rules for high-deductible plans.
  • City's Language Clarification Proposals (Items 2–9): Proposed changes included creating a temporary labor management committee to review a discipline review board (item 2), adding two points for credentialing in promotional exams (item 3, typo corrected), addressing tie-breaking by seniority then class rank (item 4), removing civil service rule 5 for promotional applications (item 5), converting accruals when schedule changes exceed one pay period (item 6), accruing holidays regardless of leave status except for disciplinary leave (item 7), automatic deduction of extended leave accruals for employees on protective leave (item 8), and allowing payroll deductions for up to six supplemental insurance providers designated by the association (item 9).
  • Union's Pending Language Clarification Items: The city provided proposed language for FTO and medical mentor incentive pay (item 3), critical care paramedic incentive pay (item 1), and uniform allowance (items 25–26). These were tabled for further review.
  • FTO Coordinator Pay: Discussion arose about whether FTO coordinators (who oversee the program but are not assigned a trainee) should receive the incentive pay. The item was tabled for additional information.

Key Outcomes

  • Tentative Agreements Confirmed: The following items were verbally confirmed as agreed (with no objections):
    • Item 2 (paramedic incentive pay): city rejected, union agreed.
    • Item 4 (bilingual pay): city rejected, union agreed.
    • Item 7 (education pay): city rejected, union agreed.
    • Item 8 (longevity pay): city accepted.
    • Item 9 (TCFP certification increases): city accepted.
    • Item 11 (critical care/peer support incentive): city accepted union's counter of $100/month stacked up to $200.
    • Item 12 (walk to 10%): city rejected, union agreed.
    • Item 13 (calendar days): city accepted.
    • Item 14 (three points added to score): city accepted.
    • Item 15 (change from 3 to 4): agreed.
    • Item 16 (lane language change): accepted.
    • Item 17 (examinations/promotions committee): combined with committee discussion.
    • Item 19 (comp time criteria): accepted.
    • Item 20 (increased comp time accrual/payout): city counter accepted (max 240 hours accrual, 120 payout).
    • Item 21 (holidays/vacations rejected): union agreed.
    • Item 22 (holidays/vacations counter): city proposal accepted (minimum balances and sell-back limits), but transition plan to be discussed with fire department.
    • Items 23, 24 (rejected): union agreed.
    • Item 27 (implementation date): agreement that October 1st cannot be guaranteed.
    • Item 29 (leadership structure committee): agreed to refer to committee.
    • Item 30 (labor management committee): agreed.
    • Items 31–33 (insurance discussion, operational control, communication): agreed.
    • Item 34 (electronic documents): accepted.
    • Item 35 (apparatus committee review): agreed.
    • Item 37 (delete section 15): accepted.
    • Item 38 (discuss 40-hour operation): accepted.
    • Item 39 (electronic deduction): accepted.
    • Item 40 (committee structure): city counter accepted, but tabled for further review.
  • Items Tabled for Further Language or Review: Items 3 (FTO/mentor pay), 10 (critical care incentive), 18 (drug/alcohol testing policy), 22 (transition plan), 25–26 (uniform allowance), 28 (restructuring), 35 (personal devices), 36 (language cleanup), and 40 (committee structure) were tabled.
  • Next Meeting: Scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at 2:00 PM, with the city to provide revised language proposals and additional clarifications.

Meeting Transcript

Can we pull up the presentation please? Next slide. There we go. Today today's agenda we're gonna go over some compensation city proposals, some of the language clarification you all have been waiting for, and then review some of the tentative agreements that you know see where we stand at. And so we'll kick it off with the compensation, please. Okay, good morning. Uh Sasha Ondonovsky, Office of Management and Budget. So we'll just go over a couple of slides uh with regards to c uh compensation and uh uh proposals that were uh in the last couple of months. So this first slide is uh your first proposal. Um so we already know what that is. This next slide. The next slide shows uh the cities proposal from uh May 14th. So this proposal included uh two and a half percent cola uh and uh embedded uh five percent for the step increases. This proposal also included uh elimination of some of the first steps and then adding uh additional step. So that's the cost uh for the for the whole uh four years of the of the contract for the million dollars. So we won. We're gonna revise the slide before we posted its backup so that it's very clear what the city's proposal is because looking back at some of the pres presentations in the past, a couple of meetings that we've had, it's not very clear if you were just to look at the presentation, so we want to make sure that it's very clear that the city is also offering what you just mentioned with those step changes. Yes. So this is your proposal from six twenty-six, which includes five percent cola and embedded five percent uh f uh steps increases, and also uh this is uh there is a calculation for the uh estimation for the accepted uh uh incentives uh and the longevity that that you guys had. Um so the total cost of the of the contract is fifty-six million dollars. So this this proposal I want to mention this proposal also uh also in uh doesn't eliminate the first step, but includes tell st uh step number twelve. These are the benefits. We already shared this one. Uh currently we have nine hundred and five uh employees included in the C D HP plan and then sixteen in the basic plan. This is original proposal for the from the city, which included continuation of the current contract, twenty-two percent increases. And you can see the uh the impacts there. So for the for the most enrolled for the C D HP with uh with family, you can see that the increase is like twenty-five dollars, thirty-five dollars on an annual basis. Uh uh for pay per pay period. There are twenty-four payp uh pay periods for the health plan. This is your proposal, ten percent increase. Which uh for the most enrolled uh group, we have ten in ten of a little bit over ten dollars increase in twenty twenty-seven, fourteen dollars in twenty twenty eight, uh fifteen dollars in twenty twenty-nine and uh seventeen dollars in twenty thirty. This that's uh C D H B plan, the last line on the C D H plan plan. No, this is C D HP. I'm I'm just uh explaining the the line with most uh enrolled employees. Yeah. And Nico, if you want to. So your ten percent counter proposal we'd be okay with, but we would like to include this language into the agreement. And so this is basically a discussion that we've already had. So there's been federal changes related to the high deductible plans that we have. So of the ten percent we'd be agreeable to if we incorporate this language. Uh we need to obviously abide by the IRS rule, so net high deductible plan continues to change. It seems like yearly now, and it's like $200, $300 every year that it's increasing by this next session. Hi, Nicole Cody. The next session includes if you look at your first handout, is going to be the one that says city proposals. This will also include items that were pending language clarification from the city as well. So the first item uh we've already discussed at the previous meeting. This was proposed on June 26th. So I will skip to the current one starting with item two, uh, miscellaneous. And so this is uh proposed language regarding uh the creation of a temporary labor management committee to look at a discipline review board for the fire department. Item three.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com