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Back in 2004, the Austin Firefighters Association (IAFF Local 975), then led by future City Council Member Mike Martinez, won voter approval to exercise the collective bargaining rights available to police and fire unions under Texas law. For more than a decade thereafter, the AFA s political influence continued to grow, as a more progressive force than its police counterpart – but it still was often stymied in labor negotiations with City Hall. Three of the last six rounds of contract talks ended in impasse, with the city denying the union s request for arbitration; the current contract, approved in 2017, still leaves major long-term compensation and hiring issues unresolved. The AFA then gathered the 20,000 signatures needed for this charter amendment to allow either side – rather than requiring both sides – to agree to binding arbitration as allowed under state law. The ballot language drafted by city lawyers implies that ....

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