The City Council voted 7-1 to approve a tentative IAFF agreement as negotiations continue with Saginaw’s other employee unions

By Justin Engel
mlive.com

SAGINAW, Mich. — The Saginaw City Council approved a tentative agreement with the city’s firefighter union Monday, July 27, while negotiations continue with all other employee bargaining units.

The council voted 7-1 to green-light the deal with the International Association of Fire Fighters, or IAFF. The vote came nearly four weeks after contracts expired for all city workers represented by bargaining units.

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City officials said the tentative agreement with the IAFF expires June 30, 2030. Additional terms of the deal were not immediately available.

The council voted at the group’s Monday meeting after returning from a closed session focused on the contract proposal.

Councilwoman Carly Rose Hammond voted against the agreement, saying she objected to being asked to consider a contract without more time to review its details.

“I do not intend to cast my vote on any matter involving my responsibility on the city council that I have not had ample time to review,” Hammond said. “Also, I believe all workers have the right to a fair contract.”

The vote came at the end of a meeting where protesters urged city officials to reach a new contract with another bargaining group, the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU.

The council met at the Andersen Enrichment Center, where protesters stood outside in a courtyard visible through a glass atrium. Some pressed picket signs against the glass during the session as the meeting proceeded.

Corey Gage, vice president of the Saginaw SEIU unit, addressed the council and city staff during the meeting’s public input session, hosted before the vote on the firefighter union contract.

“Tonight, I’m here representing all of the dedicated municipal workers who keep the city running every single day,” Gage said. “We are proud to serve this community, but tonight, we are here because that service is being stalled at the bargaining table. Despite our best efforts to negotiate in good faith, talks have slowed.”

When the union contracts expired June 30, Saginaw City Manager Tim Morales said city employees would continue working under the terms of their previous agreements while negotiations continued.

Morales said at the time the city remained in negotiations with all of its bargaining units, which also include the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, and its police unions.

Most Saginaw city employees are covered by union contracts. Nonunion employees include department heads, such as the police and fire chiefs, deputy department heads and Human Resources staff.

The city’s 2025-26 budget shows Saginaw employed 411 full-time and 57 part-time workers.

The council members supporting the firefighter union’s tentative agreement on Monday included Mayor Brenda Moore, Mayor Pro Tem Priscilla Garcia, Michael Balls, Bill Ostash, Jacinta Seals, Heidi Wiggins and Tobias Young. Councilman Eric Braddock Sr . was absent from the session.

According to the Serious Accident Investigation Team, the helicopter was unable to land because smoke in the area had reduced visibility to “near zero”

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