The International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) Local 134 on Tuesday sued the city of Atlanta, demanding that it fulfill the terms of its first-ever contract with the union.
The Atlanta City Council unanimously approved the union contract nearly a year ago, but Mayor Andre Dickens has refused to sign it, which prompted the firefighter union’s lawsuit for breach of contract.
“We were hoping that it would not come to this,” said IAFF Local 134 President Nate Bailey at a March 17 virtual press conference announcing the lawsuit. “We’ve been trying to work with the mayor’s office to get a signature for months, even dropping off multiple copies.”
The suit, filed in Fulton County Superior Court, is asking for the city to adhere to the contract, plus damages and attorneys fees.
“The city’s breaches were in bad faith,” the lawsuit states, alleging that the city’s refusal to honor the contract’s terms is an attempt to “weaken IAFF Local 134, erode its position as the dutifully elected bargaining unit representative, and avoid contractual liability for its egregious CBA [collective bargaining agreement] violations.”
“The city was stubbornly obstinate and duplicitous by failing to resolve the issue upon demand before this lawsuit was filed,” the suit says.
IAFF Local 134 is recognized by the city as the sole collective bargaining agent for Atlanta Fire Rescue’s over 1,000 employees. According to the union’s lawsuit, it negotiated a collective bargaining agreement with the mayor’s office, which union members ratified in February 2025, and then the city council approved on April 21, 2025. Dickens subsequently approved the council’s resolution on April 24, 2025.
As the firefighter union’s first ever contract with the city, it established a dispute-resolution framework for the union to communicate with the city, outlined a process for training, hiring, promotions and firing, and switched pay to firefighters from a four-week to a two-week cycle. The contract doesn’t address firefighter salaries.
Bailey called it a framework to build on. “There’s no real budget items tied to this contract,” he said. “It was really a framework to build upon for the future.”
Bailey said the city had been honoring the agreement until October, except for the provision to switch pay to a two-week cycle. The union would drop the lawsuit immediately if Dickens signed it, he added.
The mayor’s office has not offered a clear explanation for the refusal. Dickens’ press secretary, Michael Smith, in a statement to Atlanta Civic Circle pointed to “questions surrounding the legitimacy of the recent elections, with calls from both members of Local 134 and national leadership to rerun it.”
Bailey was reelected as union president in November. A redo of that vote, prompted by clerical issues, is scheduled for May. Bailey is running, but he and the national union leadership say the internal Local 134 election has has no bearing on the collective bargaining agreement with the city.
“The contract wasn’t with me and Mayor Andre Dickens,” Bailey said. “It was with the city of Atlanta and all Atlanta firefighters. If the mayor resigned today and we all resigned, the contract is still valid.”
Firefighters feel betrayed
Bailey said the standoff has damaged morale across the department. After meeting with about 100 firefighters over the weekend, he said, the prevailing feeling is betrayal.
“They don’t feel respected, valued, and there’s a lot of distrust,” he said.
The firefighters’ union endorsed Dickens in both his election and reelection campaigns and backed the Dickens administration’s controversial Public Safety Training Center, known as ‘Cop City’, as well as the mayor’s 2022 infrastructure bond referendum.
“We felt like we did everything that we could do to create that strong partnership,” Bailey said.
Council members react
Asked whether Dickens should sign the firefighter union contract, Post 2 At-Large Councilmember Matt Westmoreland said, “Council voted unanimously to authorize this contract.”
“I remain proud of that vote,” Westmoreland said.
District 11 Councilmember Wayne Martin, who sits on the council’s Public Safety Committee, said Tuesday that he is “baffled” by the situation, and wants a speedy resolution. Martin was endorsed by both IAFF Local 134 and Dickens in his 2025 election campaign.
“I want this resolved so that we can move forward with getting our firefighters what they need,” Martin said. “It’s uncharacteristic of [the mayor] to be contentious, particularly without reason. And so I really want to know where his head is right now on all of this, it’s really baffling to me.”
Martin said he spoke with Bailey and other firefighter union leaders on Tuesday, and hoped to speak to the mayor’s office before the next Public Safety Committee meeting on March 23.
“It’s incredibly important to me that we get this done,” Martin said. “I want our firefighters to have peace of mind. I want them to know that the city supports them, and I believe our mayor supports them.”
District 2 Councilmember Kelsea Bond took to X earlier this week to say it was “disgusting” that the contract remained unsigned. Bond told Atlanta Civic Circle that “This is a historic opportunity to sign the firefighter union’s first contract, [because] public sector workers in Georgia typically lack bargaining rights.”
“The city should take this seriously,” Bond added. “At a time when the federal government is attacking unions in every way possible, Atlanta should be working with city unions instead of against them.”
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