Firefighter Coverage Under the "Firefighter Safety Act"

Mountain View Fire Protection District Overview

The District we cover spans more than 230 square miles across three counties: Boulder, Jefferson, and Weld. Currently, our staffing levels sit at 203 total personnel assigned to front line positions (Firefighter and Fire Medics), Administration, Training, Fleet and Facilities, Community Outreach and Education, Planning/Permits, and Life Safety.

What Are Voters Being Asked To Do?

Alongside the Board of Directors election this spring, voters in the Mountain View Fire Protection District (the District; also known as Mountain View Fire Rescue) are being asked on the May 6, 2025, ballot to decide whether they would like its firefighters to be covered by the Colorado Firefighter Safety Act (Senate Bill 2013-25 or Firefighter Safety Act). The District received a petition pursuant to the Firefighter Safety Act asking it to put this question on the ballot. The ballot question asks, “Should the firefighters employed by the Mountain View Fire Protection District be covered by the “Colorado Firefighter Safety Act”?

What Is The Colorado Firefighter Safety Act?

The Firefighter Safety Act was passed in 2013 to provide various employment protections to firefighters. Some protections are automatic and do not need voter approval. However, one part of the Firefighter Safety Act guarantees the right of firefighters to request voter approval to have union representation formally recognized by the fire district employer and to engage in collective bargaining with their fire district employer to negotiate wages, benefits, and working conditions. While this law was passed in 2013, it has not yet been approved by voters in any jurisdiction where it has been introduced.

Under the section of the Act relevant to this 2025 ballot question, firefighters have a right to organize, form, or join an employee organization (also known as a union) that is formally recognized by the fire district employer, negotiate collectively or address grievances through representatives of their own choosing with the fire district employer, and engage in other concerted activity for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. In other words, this section of the Act gives firefighters - who cannot go on strike for public safety reasons - the right to be formally recognized as a union and to engage in union activity to address their needs as employees.

Some fire districts, including Mountain View Fire Rescue, already formally recognize a local firefighters’ union. In these districts, the union and the fire district operate under a collective bargaining agreement that they negotiate. The final agreement is one that both sides approve. That collective bargaining agreement establishes terms of employment for the firefighters and the agreement is renegotiated periodically, usually every one to three years.

Other fire districts do not currently recognize a local firefighters’ union. Those fire districts would not have a written collective bargaining agreement in place. Instead, those fire districts create their own terms and conditions for employment, which are not negotiated with the firefighters. However, those districts are still required under the Act to meet and confer with firefighters to discuss policies and other matters relating to their employment, including safety and equipment.

There is a section of the Firefighter Safety Act that allows voters to decide whether firefighters should be covered under the Act in order to recognize a firefighters’ union and to collectively bargain a written agreement with the fire district employer. This request may be made in a fire district that does not currently recognize a union, as well as in one that already does. Under this section, when a petition that meets certain qualifications is received, the fire district must put the ballot question on the ballot in its next regular election. While the intent of the ballot question is to ask voters if the firefighters should be given recognition and collective bargaining rights, the Act requires that the wording to simply ask if the firefighters should be covered by the Act. 

What Effect Will The Ballot Measure Have?

Mountain View Fire Rescue currently recognizes the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 3214 (the Local 3214) as the employee organization representing the District’s firefighters and medics through Resolution 2019-01. The District has had a working agreement with the Local 3214 since at least 2009. The District and the Local 3214 negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement every two years and are currently engaged in bargaining a new working agreement. Under Resolution 2019-01, the District’s elected Board of Directors makes final decisions on agreement provisions. If the District and the Local 3214 cannot reach an agreement, they first go to mediation. If mediation is unsuccessful, the parties go to an arbitration process.

If voters do not pass the ballot question on May 6, 2025, the current relationship between the Mountain View Fire Rescue and the Local 3214 will remain the same. This includes recognition of the Local 3214 under Resolution 2019-01 and the existing collective bargaining agreement status.

If voters pass the ballot question, the Mountain View Fire Rescue will be obligated to recognize the employee organization named in the petition, the Local 3214, as the new exclusive representative of its firefighters under the Firefighter Safety Act (and not under Resolution 2019-01). The District will be required to engage in collective bargaining with the Local 3214 to negotiate a new working agreement that addresses an increased number of issues required under the Act. If voters pass the ballot question, the terms, conditions, and procedures in the existing bargaining relationship between the District and the Local 3214 remain in effect until the election is completed.