The City of Fairfield hired nine Firefighter-Paramedics on April 19, 1999 to supplement the three full-time Fire Captains and a small staff of part-time Firefighter-EMTs. In the subsequent months after the hiring, issues of wages, safety, hours and working conditions were soon brought to the attention of management. Initially the city and the firefighters tried to resolve these issues through Labor-Management sessions, but were unsuccessful. The group of full-time employees knew that strength was in numbers and that they could gain more ground in resolving their issues by applying for membership in a union.
Fairfield Professional Fire Fighters was organized by Ohio Association of Professional Fire Firefighters 4th District Vice President Emeritus Don Hardin and officially chartered by the International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO on February 14, 2000, and given the designation of Local 4010.
The local has grown in the past few years and currently has twenty-seven (27) members. Our first contract with the City of Fairfield was signed on December 18, 2000 and was effective through March 31, 2002. Our second and current contract with the city runs from April 1, 2002 through March 31, 2005. Through these negotiations, our members have made significant gains in the areas of hours, compensation & benefits, and general working conditions. The city has also gained a stable, hard-working group of individuals who are the core of the Fairfield Fire Department.
Members from our local have started and continue to staff programs such as the Paramedic Bike Unit, Fire Department Honor Guard and the Child Safety Seat Installation program among others. Many of our members are active in the Fairfield community as well by routinely participating in Special Olympics, Helping One Student To Succeed (HOSTS) program, Kiwanis Safety Fair, Movies in the Park, MDA etc.
Each year since 2000 we host a fund raiser for the MDA foundation. Since that time we have raised over 70,000.00 dollars. For the past several years we stand at South Gilmore road and Kolb drive the intersection of Cincinnati Mills and Meijers. To make a donation to the orginazation please go to www.mda.org.
Our Local is committed to the welfare of our members and that of the citizens of Fairfield. We continue to meet with the city through negotiations and Labor-Management meetings to address issues such as staffing, safety, cost saving measures, etc. It is our hope that we can help find solutions to our problems that benefit the community, the city and our members.