AUBURN – Firefighters will sue the city to get a 2-percent raise, according to union leaders.

Mike Scott, president of the Auburn Firefighters Association Local 797, said the union planned to file a suit in Superior Court demanding the city make good on a 2-percent raise agreed to in February.

That raise was scheduled to begin on July 1, but the city has been trying to reopen contract negotiations.

“We say the contract should be followed,” Scott said.

“That’s the whole issue. They signed it and agreed to it and now they don’t want to live up to their end of the bargain,” he said.

Scott said the union lawyer wrote a draft of the suit and gave it to City Manager Pat Finnigan on Sept. 25. Finnigan asked the union to wait to file the suit until she had a chance to discuss it with city councilors.

Finnigan briefed the council in executive session Monday night. She said she’s confident the city is not breaching the contract. The contract also includes a clause allowing the city to reopen contract negotiations if economic condition changed, she said.

“That’s a two way street,” Finnigan said. “If the city is in good times, everybody gets a raise. But if we have bad times, a raise is not a foregone conclusion.”

Finnigan said the contract also spells out three percent merit raises for all firefighters and she’s not proposing changing that.

“I just think it’s important for the citizens to know that they are getting some raises this year,” she said.

Scott said he spoke with Finnigan Tuesday.

“She told us to just go ahead and file the suit,” Scott said.

“I expect we will, within the next couple of days. We’ll definitely pursue the lawsuit, rather than give up on the raise,” he said.

staylor@sunjournal.com

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