SOUTH FULTON, GA — Firefighters and retirees from South Fulton’s fire department lined up outside City Hall this week, holding signs demanding the city honor a contract it has already been ordered to follow once this year. At the center of the protest is a 3% raise the city says it will not pay on October 1, even though an arbitrator ruled in May that the underlying collective bargaining agreement remains in effect.
The dispute traces back to December 2023, when the City of South Fulton and the International Association of Firefighters Local 3920 reached a collective bargaining agreement, according to WSB-TV. The union says that agreement called for a 3% raise to renew automatically each year unless either side gave formal notice to cancel it, and that it also entitled firefighters to any cost-of-living adjustment given to other city employees, on top of that 3% bump.