City Commissioners approved a new two-year labor agreement with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 8, which includes 64 sworn firefighters at Great Falls Fire Rescue.

The new agreement is for July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, with a six percent wage increase in each year.

The next collective bargaining session is set to start again in April or May.

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The city and IAFF Local 8 started collective bargaining in May 2025 for three consecutive days. The parties agreed to continue negotiations on Aug. 13, 2025, during which the city made a “last, best and final offer,” to IAFF Local 8.

The union declared an impasse.

The outstanding issues at the time were the city’s drug/alcohol testing policy, wages, health insurance and residency.

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The drug testing policy has been a point of contention between the city and IAFF Local 8 since 2019, resulting in a court case that went to the Montana Supreme Court, finding that the city had to negotiate drug testing through the collective bargaining process for employees covered by labor agreements.

According to the city staff report, Montana law exempts firefighters from needing a commercial driver’s license to operate authorized emergency and fire apparatus. City employees operating non-emergency response commercial vehicles weighing more than 26,001 gross vehicle weight are subject to CDL testing and compliance.

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For wages, the city’s “last, best and final offer” in August 2025 was 5 percent increase for both years of the agreement.

IAFF asked for 8 percent in the first year and 7 percent the second year.

The consumer price index, which is the inflation rate most local governments use to adjust wages, was 2.4 percent in May 2025 and 3.2 percent in August 2026.

The city’s offer in August 2025 was a 4 percent cost of living increase and a one percent increase to help the transition to an 80/20 percent cost share of medical insurance.

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The city focused on its ability to pay across collective bargaining agreements, of which the city has with seven labor groups, and recruitment data showed that GFFR hasn’t seen a decline in recruitment of qualified candidates, according to the human resources staff report for the Oct. 20 meeting.

The city previously covered 85 percent of employee health insurance premiums, but has been shifting to cover 80 percent due to rising costs.

The previous labor agreement with IAFF included the 85/15 percent split and the city proposed the 80/20 percent split during negotiations for the new agreement.

According to city HR, in 2021, IAFF Local 8 had offered the 80/20 split for health insurance, but the city declined since at the time, the rate was needed due to the performance of its medical plan.

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In 2025, “review of the medical plan’s performance indicated a cost shift was required to maintain
plan stability. The city’s ask of 80/20 was not beyond what IAFF had offered in previous years,” according to the HR staff report for the Oct. 20 meeting.

During the 2025 negotiations, the firefighters union wanted to extend the residency requirement to a maximum of 60 minutes of travel to the closest GFFR station, from the previous 30 minutes.

The city’s “concern was making sure there was sufficient staff to backfill positions based on geographic availability,” according to the HR staff report.

Due to the impasse at the August 2025 negotiation, the parties moved to mediation in November 2025, “with little progress,” according to the city staff report.

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IAFF Local 8 requested mediation assistance from the Montana Board of Personnel Appeals.

The parties continued to disagree about a wage increase, health insurance splits, residency and drug testing, according to HR.

At that point, the city had proposed a 5.5 percent wage increase in the first year and five percent increase the second year, despite the CPI of 3 percent at the time.

IAFF Local 8 requested 7.5 percent in the first year and 6.5 percent for the second year.

“The mediator stated there was no point in continuing mediation with both teams firm in their positions,” according to the HR staff report.

Later in November 2025, IAFF Local 8 notified the city that it would like to skip fact-finding and proceed to arbitration. The city didn’t want to skip fact-finding. The union’s attorney said he and the city’s outside counsel would request a list of fact finders from BOPA.

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In January 2026, a fact finder was selected and after several months, the parties set Aug. 12-13 for vitual fact-finding hearings.

In August, the city’s outside legal counsel notified the city that there may be movement in the discussions and that IAFF Local 8 would agree to the following terms, according to HR:

• creation of a provision in the agreement to read:
  • “All bargaining unit employees are subject to the City of Great Falls Alcohol and Controlled Substance Policy. The parties agree that the city must have good cause to discipline employees under this policy. The parties further agree that in the performance of their official duties, firefighters may be exposed to, or possibly ingest, trace quantities of an illegal substance. Although these circumstances normally do not result in a positive test, any firefighter who feels they may have been exposed must submit a verbal report to their battalion chief within 24 hours and document the circumstances of the exposure. Battalion chiefs shall ensure that this documentation is forwarded through administrative channels and maintained as a part of the employee’s confidential medical record in HR for a period of one year.”
• health insurance shifts to the 80/20 cost-sharing of medical insurance premiums with the city covering 80 percent of the annual medical premiums and the employee responsible for the remaining 20 percent.
• increasing residency limits to 60 minutes, up from 30 minutes, to the nearest GFFR station
• six percent wage increases in each of the contract years

During negotiations, the 85/15 split for health insurance premiums remained in place and the city will recoup the additional medical premium now that the new labor agreement has been approved, but claims already processed and paid under the previous agreement will not be adjusted.

IAFF Local 8 members voted to ratify the contract on Sept. 20.

The cost to the city of the 6 percent cost of living increase is:

• $383,000 as of July 1, 2025
• $406,000 as of July 1, 2026

The total fiscal impact under the terms of the new Labor Agreement is approximately $789,000.

The approved agreement brings the average annual firefighter wage in July 2025 to $87,903 and in July 2026 to $93,175. That includes base wages and longevity, according to the city.

The total cost of hiring a new firefighter under the agreement is $117,166.

The contract marks a 24 percent increase in firefighter wages over the last four years, according to the city.

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During the Oct. 20 meeting, Rob Beall, a former police officer turned firefighter, spoke for IAFF Local 8.

He said it had been a long process and the agreement kept GFFR in the middle of the pack statewide for recruitment and retention.

Commissioner Rick Tryon said he was happy to hear the new agreement kept the city in the middle of the pack in terms of competitiveness.

“We want to have the best qualified public safety personnel we can get,” he said.

Tryo said firefighters might be paid more than some community members, but it was important to recognize the risks they take in serving the community.

Commissioner Shannon Wilson said she was happy the negotiation was coming to a close.

“Our firefighters are incredibly well trained,” Wilson said.

Commissioner Joe McKenney said he had concerns about expanding the residency requirement to 60 minutes from the nearest GFFR station.

GFFR Chief Jeremy Virts said that in recruiting at the state consortium for testing, candidates will walk away when they hear Great Falls has a residency requirement.

The distance comes into play when GFFR issues a callback for off-duty firefighters during large incidents or a surge in calls.

He said two firefighters fulfil 80 percent of those callback requests and they fill those requests in a timely manner.

Virts said that Malmstrom Air Force Base’s fire department notified GFFR that it won’t be as readily available to provide mutual aid due to current deployments.

He said GFFR is one of the last fire departments in Montana to hold on to the residency requirement.

McKenney said, “I don’t know what to do” and wanted to direct the city manager to seek agreement with the union to maintain the 30-minute residency requirement.

Mayor Cory Reeves said they’d have to reject the agreement and send it back for negotiation.

David Dennis, city attorney, said the commission needed to vote on the motion before them, which was to approve the agreement, and if it was rejected, the city could be forced to renegotiate all the other items that were part of the package.

McKenney said he thought he’d made his point about his concern on residency and potential callback delays, but Virts convinced him this was the future.

“I am concerned by I’ll let it go,” McKenney said.