McAfee & Taft shareholders Jim Webb and Tony Puckett have been hired by Oklahoma City Council members to lead upcoming contract negotiations with the city’s police and firefighter unions, according to an Oklahoman article. The decision to hire a private firm was unanimously approved by council members.
The article reports that negotiations have gone poorly in recent years and, with the city facing huge budget issues, negotiations are expected to be tense. Past negotiations have been handled by city attorneys who still plan to assist with the upcoming negotiations. According to The Oklahoman, “City officials hope the arrangement helps improve a damaged relationship with the public safety unions.”
Though the city doesn’t usually hire a private firm to handle negotiations unless the matter goes to arbitration, City Manager Jim Couch stated, “The fact of the matter is (the public safety unions) have some of the best labor attorneys in the state working on their behalf and we want to make sure that we have the same on our side of the table.”
You can read the entire article here.