Columbus City Council narrowly voted 5-to-4 on Monday to reject a $2.5 million deal to purchase a new ladder truck for the Division of Fire.
The council disagreed about a union dispute between the Teamsters and Dublin-based fire truck manufacturer Sutphen Corporation. The two parties are still negotiating terms, but the union's president says they worry about a strike.
The city is still trying to address what firefighters call an imminent fire truck shortage "crisis" as the city's fleet continues to age.
Steve Stein, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 67, told WOSU on Wednesday the state of the city's fleet is in a crisis. He said right now there are no gaps in the city's coverage, but that could soon change.
"We're getting dangerously close to just the confluence of a couple apparatus issues or if we get hit by a car, or a couple more trucks go offline, we could have very serious lapses in coverage and to us that's just unacceptable," Stein said.
The firefighters union 鈥� with more than 1,700 members 鈥� is not in a dispute with the city at the moment. The union did issue a directive to the city in March, alerting Columbus leaders about the critical shortage.
The Columbus Division of Fire operates with 35 engine companies and has 16 frontline ladder companies. Stein said the oldest ladder truck dates back to 2008.
Stein said the city did a good job of acknowledging that the aging fleet is becoming a major problem, but the city has yet to create long-term plan he calls "an emergency apparatus replacement strategy."
The city reached out to two other vendors besides Sutphen, but the company was the only one that submitted a bid. Council referred the fire truck purchase back to committee.
The Sutphen union dispute has engulfed the company since about October. Since then, workers have been working without a contract as negotiations halt.
The National Labor Relations Board intervened in the dispute in early May, requiring Sutphen in a settlement agreement to issue a long list of promises. This included promising not threaten to discipline employees and union stewards, because they engage in union activities and not engage in bad-faith bargaining.
Mark Vandak, president of Teamsters Local 284, spoke on Monday, saying he fears a strike is imminent.
"I think I've been trying to direct the workforce to be patient, but I think their patience is probably over with. And yes, that would definitely direct a strike," Vandak said.
Vandak said because of a possible labor dispute and work stoppage, Sutphen cannot promise uninterrupted production or on-time delivery.
Sutphen spokesman Josh Plichta said Monday that typically the trucks take 14 to 16 months to manufacture.
Plichta acknowledged that he did not come prepared to answer every question about the ongoing labor dispute, but he touted the company's history in the Columbus area. Plichta took a lot of heat from many of the council members, even some who eventually voted in favor of the purchase.
"We've never missed a paycheck. People haven't been out of work...we haven't laid off because of this," Plichta said. "While we understand that it might not be the best relationship, we're doing what we can to put forth. (At) 135 years old, we are a steady company. We take things steady-eddy. We don't rush to decisions."
Plichta said the company treats all employees like family members, which he values.
The rare, narrow vote was split with council members Rob Dorans, Lourdes Barroso de Padilla, Melissa Green, Otto Beatty III and Nancy Day-Achauer voting against the purchase. Council President Shannon Hardin voted for the purchase alongside council members Emmanuel Remy, Christopher Wyche and Nick Bankston.
Remy was one of the first to criticize Sutphen. He was upset that Vandak said the company wasn't properly communicating with the Teamsters union to resolve the labor dispute like the NLRB ordered.
"It's baffling," Remy said. "It's a phone call. It's an email. It's conversation that the National Labor Relations Board ordered you to do."
Wyche called it a "no-brainer" for the company to send a note stating that Sutphen is committed to getting back to the table to negotiate an agreement that supports workers.
Plichta said it is difficult to communicate and negotiate because of the different NLRB lawsuits that are ongoing.
"Everything that I've been told, everything that I've known, is that we are in the process of committing to working. We're going back and forth, we are discussing," Plichta said.
Dorans, who voted against the measure, said Sutphen's ability to deliver a truck the city purchases on time is his main concern.
"That makes me very concerned about it being the steward of the taxpayer dollars here about spending $2 million on something that again, I think we all need and want to buy," Dorans said. "But I've got real concerns about whether or not the company can actually deliver on that in the moment."
Hardin said he voted for the legislation, because it is the city's top priority to equip firefighters, but he still agrees with the sentiments expressed by Dorans and the others.
"As I heard from the safety department, they went out for other bids. Other folks did not come in or choose to bid. That actually makes this part of the decision simpler for me," Hardin said.
Stein said Monday's back and forth at city council doesn't bring the city any closer to solving the crisis involving the city's fleet. Stein said he and his members want to stand in solidarity with other unions, like the Teamsters, but he and the city have to reconcile that with how dire the city's need is at the moment.
Stein also said he would like to see a commitment from labor and management at Sutphen to work together on a deal so that they can focus on building great fire trucks that can help the city solve its crisis.
"Candidly, this is kind of at the edge of my area of responsibility in the collective bargaining agreement. But when we have a lack of equipment that's impeding or contributing to making a dangerous job that much more unsafe, then it becomes our business," Stein said.
