City files complaint over contract dispute with firefighters

A union contract dispute between firefighters and the city of Lewiston has landed in court.

The city of Lewiston has filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in the 2nd Judicial District in Nez Perce County requesting a declaration “that the findings of the fact-finding commission in this matter are unenforceable as a matter of Idaho law.”

The commission’s “recommendations are not financially sustainable and would cause further inequities across different categories of city of Lewiston employees,” according to the complaint for declaratory judgment.

The fact-finding commission recommended that the city give full-time firefighters a one-time wage increase of 4% in the first year of the contract that would have started Oct. 1, as well as cost-of-living wage increases between 1% and 2.5% in each of the three years of the contract.

At the same time, the commission recommended continuation of $75 monthly payments to each firefighter for a medical expense reimbursement program. The benefit costs the city of Lewiston $45,000 a year for all firefighters, according to Lewiston Firefighters Local 1773.

Firefighters receive the money they accumulate in accounts when they retire and use it for expenses such as co-pays, insurance premiums and prescriptions until they are eligible for Medicare.

In November, Lewiston Firefighters Local 1773 encouraged the city of Lewiston to accept the findings.

The city of Lewiston objected. The municipality backed the cost of living increases, but wanted to eliminate its contributions to the medical expense reimbursement program. The city was willing to provide a 4% raise, but it would have been spread into two increments, a 2.5% wage increase in this fiscal year and a 1.5% increase in the upcoming fiscal year.

The commission issued its recommendations Aug. 20, six days before the third and final reading of the city’s budget by the Lewiston City Council for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1, according to the complaint for declaratory judgment.

“The timing of the fact-finding commission’s recommendations did not allow (the city of Lewiston) to consider those recommendations in their budget for fiscal year 2025,” according to the complaint for declaratory judgment.

Now the union is calling for mediation to resolve issues between the two groups.

“Mediation provides a clear path to resolve our differences without burdening taxpayers with the high costs and delays of litigation,” said John Thompson, president of the Lewiston firefighters union, in a news release.

No court dates have been filed in the litigation. The city is represented in the case by Bentley Stromberg, an attorney with the Lewiston law firm of Clements, Brown & McNichols.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.