LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Less than a week after Louisville firefighters voted to reject a contract offer from the city, the union president said he hopes to get back to the negotiation table as soon as possible.
Jeff Taylor, president of the Louisville Professional Firefighters Local 54, said members voted against the most recent contract in a close 51 to 49 percent vote.
Louisville firefighters have been working without a new contract for months as the most recent contract expired last summer.
This new offer included a 24% raise over a 5-year period.
Last week, Taylor said he believed members were concerned about length of time the proposed raise had in the contract.
Mayor Craig Greenberg's office has around a dozen of other contracts to sort through before they expire.
A statement from Greenberg's press secretary, Kevin Trager, said it would revisit the contract as soon as it can.
"We had hoped to reward the heroes of the Louisville Fire Department with historic, 24% pay raises and we’re disappointed the proposal has not been accepted. We must now prioritize the eleven other expiring union contracts and will revisit the firefighters’ contract as soon as possible," Trager wrote.
"The reality of it is, if his two-team labor office is booked up for the next couple of months, obviously, they're not going to cancel other bargaining units to sit down with us, nor would that be fair and that's how I took it," Taylor said.
Last week when the vote was announced, Greenberg encouraged firefighters to reconsider the offer.
Metro council will pass a new budget this summer.
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