Houston's firefighter union still insists no layoffs are necessary to meet the pay hike approved by voters with Prop B, and it remains open to negotiations to keep that from happening.
Mayor Sylvester Turner this week said a lawsuit may be necessary to open negotiations, otherwise heads will roll within HFD.
“If the mayor would like us to take a red pen to the budget and go and find what we believe is waste in spending withing the city budget,we're happy to do so,” says Marty Lanchton, president of IAFF Local 341.
“We are here willing to work with anybody, any place, anytime, anywhere,and we look forward to working with any elected official that would like to implement and do these things in the best possible way.”
HFD already has put a freeze on new hires and is preparing a possible layoff list.
“The city controller has clearly said the best path moving forward is to end the divisive politics, to work together and to sit down and let's move forward for the citizens that we serve,” says Lanchton.