By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- The Annapolis, Maryland, City Council approved new collective bargaining agreements Monday for police, fire and trade union employees covering fiscal years 2027 and 2028.
- Firefighters will receive a 2% cost-of-living adjustment each year, an increase the city estimates will cost about $200,000.
- Ward 7 Alderman Rob Savidge abstained on the firefighter contract alone, citing the union’s recent censure of him over paramedic funding; Ward 3 Alderman Keanuú Smith-Brown abstained on all three agreements, saying they “fall short” of employee needs.
- The International Association of Fire Fighters voted last month to censure Savidge over his opposition to funding additional paramedics, a largely symbolic action with no formal consequences.
- The police union will receive a 1% raise in fiscal 2027 and 2% in fiscal 2028, plus a 1% increase to starting salaries, at an estimated cost of $375,000; the trade union will receive 2% raises each year, costing about $100,000.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Annapolis City Council approved new collective bargaining agreements Monday night for the city’s police, fire and trade unions, with two aldermen abstaining from some or all of the votes.
The contracts, covering fiscal years 2027 and 2028, follow the council’s approval of a separate agreement with clerical workers two weeks earlier. The council last approved agreements with the four unions in 2024. “I am pleased all our labor agreements passed unanimously,” Mayor Jared Littmann said in a statement. “The negotiations involved some give and take on both sides, but the final agreements show respect and appreciation for staff and highlight the fiscal discipline that taxpayers are seeking.”
Ward 7 Alderman Rob Savidge abstained from voting on the firefighter agreement only. Savidge told the Capital Gazette he objected to what he described as the firefighters’ union becoming more political rather than focused on staffing concerns. “I don’t want to send a message that it’s acceptable to have the union leadership be so political with their actions. At the same time, I don’t want to hold up the overall agreement,” he said. The International Association of Fire Fighters voted last month to censure Savidge during its conference in Texas over his pushback on funding additional paramedics — an action that carries no formal consequences but signals public disapproval. Savidge said the censure, submitted for review by the Annapolis Professional Firefighters Local 1926, contributed to his decision to abstain. “They’ve ignored the objective facts and their own strategic plan, and instead decided to become political. That’s the behavior that I can’t condone with a yes or no vote,” he said.
Joe Pilat, president of the city’s fire union, said Savidge should have cast a vote regardless. “After years of questioning nearly every investment in public safety, when it was finally time to take a position, he chose not to take one at all,” Pilat said. “You don’t have to agree with us, but elected office requires the courage to cast a vote and stand behind it. Abstaining when it’s your turn to be accountable is the opposite of that.”
Ward 3 Alderman Keanuú Smith-Brown abstained from voting on all three agreements, saying he believed they “fall short” of meeting city employees’ needs, though he did not specify what changes he would have sought. “I abstained, not necessarily in disagreement with the reality that there has to be some type of agreement, but just standing on the principles that our workforce or our staff deserve more,” he said.
Under the approved agreement, the firefighter union will receive a 2% cost-of-living adjustment in both fiscal years, at an estimated cost of $200,000. The police union, represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400, will see a 1% raise in fiscal 2027 and a 2% raise in fiscal 2028, along with a 1% increase to starting salaries for new officers and a one-pay-scale increase for five officers — changes expected to cost about $375,000 combined. The agreement also adds grandparents-in-law as eligible family members for bereavement leave. The trade union, representing public works and central services employees under AFSCME Local 3406, will receive 2% raises in both years, at an estimated cost of $100,000.