MANSFIELD — The new contract between the city of Mansfield and International Association of Firefighters Local 266 is a done deal.
Nearly 75 percent of the union’s 87 members have approved the new contract that City Council unanimously approved during its meeting Tuesday night.
According to Mansfield Fire Dept. Lt. Mike Blair, president of Local 266, 65 firefighters supported the new three-year deal in voting that began Monday and ended Wednesday morning.
Just 22 voted against the new deal, which provides for 12.25-percent pay increases over the three years of the contract, among other provisions.
The contract is retroactive to April 1, 2025.
“Neither side gets what they want necessarily, but that’s why we bargain. It was nice to be able to sit down and negotiate with the city. It was a long process. We appreciate the city working with us,” Blair said.
“I’m very proud of my negotiating team for the work and effort they put into it,” said Blair, who joined the MFD in 2013 and became union president in the summer of 2025.
It was the second contract negotiation for Blair, who helped iron out the previous three-year deal that expired March 31, 2025. That contract had 12-percent wage increases, which means firefighter base pay will have risen by 24.5 percent in a six-year period.
A big part of that, according to Blair, is the fact wages for Mansfield firefighters had slipped when compared to comparable city fire departments.
“I will say historically the union has taken concessions over 25 years. It kind of ended up Mansfield being one of the lower-paid departments in the state. So catching up with some other cities that are comparable to us is a nice thing that our members can hold their heads high about,” Blair said.
That was something State Employee Relations Board fact-finder James Hickey noted in his final recommendation report.
“(Mansfield) has struggled mightily at times to make ends meet economically,” Hickey wrote.
The city was placed in fiscal emergency in 2009 by the State Auditor and, after five years of belt tightening, the city emerged from fiscal emergency in 2014.
“During that time,” Hickey wrote, “the city engaged in multiple fact-finding and conciliation proceedings across all bargaining units to ‘right the ship’ and move forward.”
Blair praised the work Hickey did during the process, which included city and union leaders participating in 10 negotiation sessions and several mediation sessions with him prior to the fact-finding hearing.
That hearing was done in Mansfield on Dec. 10 regarding three unresolved issues and his final recommendations were issued Jan. 14, including a “buy back” of holiday pay, wages, and a $750 annual bonus for the department’s paramedics.
The contract also has a $3,500 lump sum payment to each union member “to cover the time period following the expiration of the previous agreement,” based on Hickey’s recommendation.
“We left it in the hands of the fact-finder to kind of look at many contracts across the state and make a decision on what he felt the city and the union could best fit and need,” Blair said.
“I thought Mr. Hickey did a great job. It was a pleasure to work with him,” he said.
Local 266 celebrated its 100th year of affiliation with the IAFF in 2025, according to Blair. The union consists of all full-time firefighters, lieutenants, captains and probationary firefighters. Only the fire chief and assistant chiefs are not members of the bargaining unit.
“It was a big year for us and moving forward with this … it’s been a good experience,” Blair said.
