Boston reaches tentative agreement with firefighters union, Michelle Wu says

The city has reached a tentative agreement with the Boston firefighters union, narrowly avoiding arbitration after “many months” of stalled negotiations.

Mayor Michelle Wu said the new deal was reached Sunday night, and would take effect pending ratification from the union, Boston Firefighters Local 718.

“This tentative agreement is the result of months of staying at the table together, bargaining focused on what our city needs, what communities need, and what the brave individuals who keep them safe every day need,” Wu said Monday at the Greater Boston Labor Council’s Labor Day Breakfast, where she made the announcement.

Both sides declined to provide details on the terms of the agreement until a ratification vote is taken by union membership.

According to a source familiar with the negotiations, the mayor agreed to a package with a 12% raise over three years, with no givebacks, a term for concessions made by a labor union.

The agreement was due in part to mounting pressure presented by the Mass and Cass zone, which is located near the Boston Fire Department’s Southampton Street headquarters, and the exposure of firefighters to dangerous conditions there, the source told the Herald.

Local 718 President Sam Dillon declined to confirm those details, stating, “At the end of the day, this is out of respect for our members.”

“Our members deserve to hear this from their union, and they deserve the opportunity to review this deal outside of the media and outside of any political implications,” he told the Herald.

Dillon said “no timetable has been set” for a ratification vote.

The city would avoid arbitration if the new contract is ratified by the union, a Wu spokesperson told the Herald.

The Joint Labor-Management Committee, which assists in resolving collective bargaining disputes involving municipalities and their police officers and firefighters, had taken jurisdiction, but the process hadn’t reached arbitration yet, the spokesperson said.

“This deal was reached over the bargaining table,” the spokesperson said.

In a statement, Wu said the tentative agreement reflects both sides’ “shared commitment to delivering the exceptional city services that make Boston the best place to live, work and raise a family.”

“Coming to this agreement through many months of bargaining is a testament to our administration’s determined focus on settling contracts for all our city workers, because building the greatest city for labor means proactively seeking ways to protect workers’ rights and improve workers’ lives,” Wu said.

All 48 union contracts were expired when Wu took office in November 2021. Roughly 90% of the city’s union workforce would be under contract, if this latest agreement is ratified, the mayor’s office said.

Joe Dwinell contributed to this report.