Council rejects fact finder report dealing with fire union impasse

Published Date

LACONIA — On the recommendation of City Manager Scott Myers, the City Council last night rejected the report of a fact finder appointed to resolve the impasse between the city and Professional Firefighters, Local 1153, in negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. The last contract expired in June, 2010.
Myers said that both parties agreed to the appointment of a neutral fact finder, whose recommendations remain confidential until ratified by both the city and the union, when they would provide the basis of a collective bargaining agreement.
Myers recommended that the council reject the report based on the "cost items" within it. He said that that since the fact finder issued his report the Laconia Professional Firefighters have met, but he was not aware that the union members have acted on the report.