The Colorado Springs City Council will vote whether to place a collective bargaining issue on the ballot next year for the city's firefighters, council President Richard Skorman promised Tuesday.
Scores of firefighters stood shoulder to shoulder in council chambers Tuesday, clad in navy blue shirts. The council has until the last Tuesday in January to vote on the issue if it is to be placed on the April 2019 ballot.
The firefighters are overworked, underpaid and working with aging, dilapidated equipment, said Dave Noblitt, president of the Professional Fire Fighters Association, IAFF Local 5.
"In 2017, there were over 11,000 hours of mandatory overtime," Nobblit told the council. "That's over 460 shifts where the men and women behind me were effectively told they were unable to go home."