Does Columbus owe backpay to retired firefighters?

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A group of retired Columbus firefighters reached out to NBC4 Investigates raising concerns over raises. 

They believe the city owes them thousands of dollars. The pay is not required by law, but they said it's the right thing to do. 

"We feel like they've kind of, you know, slighted your whole career, like you were working for us, but now that you're not here, you're on your own. It's kind of left us out," retired CFD Lt. Mike Biedenharn said.  

NBC4 Investigates found that what is happening to this group of recently retired firefighters is not happening to retired police officers. 

Dozens of retired Columbus firefighters including five we spoke with for this story are out thousands of dollars because of the date they retired and a years-old agreement. 

Their new contract was passed after its start date, so firefighters were owed retroactive raises. However, an old agreement meant some didn’t get their payments aligned with the new contract, despite working time under it.  

Now some are speaking out about how the system works.  

"We've given our lives to this city and the citizens," Biedenharn said.  

"It's kind of heartbreaking," retired CFD firefighter Marvin Robertson said.  

Retired CFD firefighters gathered at Station 4 to share their concerns. 

"I don't understand. It's just disheartening," retired CFD firefighter Todd Beery said.  

"I worked all that time and then all of a sudden, I'm not getting reimbursed for it," retired CFD firefighter Wallace Jackson said.  

"We loved our jobs,” retired CFD Lt. Dottie Dorn said. “We would love to have our backpay paid to us, something that's owed to us." 

Each of the firefighters retired between Nov. 1 and Aug. 18. In order to get the new contract's hourly amount, they would have had to work throughout that entire time. 

"There were rumors that they weren't going to pay backpay if you didn't actually work during the actual time where it was paid back, so that's kind of when we had the rumors, but no one could give any concrete details," Biedenharn said.  

The new contract passed in July 2024. It covers November 2023 through October 2026, with the big pay raises becoming effective and retroactive payments dating back to Nov. 1, 2023, starting to be sent out Aug. 18. 

If a firefighter retired or left CFD between Nov. 1 and Aug. 18, they did not get the raise because of a five-year-old settlement agreement that said firefighters have to be working for the city when the payment goes out. 

The 56 firefighters impacted worked for a portion of that time but didn’t get any of that retroactive money. 

"I was kind of concerned because I hadn't seen anything, so I called payroll and they basically said that we owe you the money, but we don't have to pay," Jackson said.  

Jackson worked at Rescue 4 for 28 years. He retired in July and said this all came as a surprise. 

“If I would have known, I would have probably worked longer," Jackson said.  

Some did not know; others could not wait it out. 

"I wasn't able to wait it out because I had neck surgery Dec. 19 and I had used all my sick time up, so that's why I ended up having to retire," Beery said.  

"We dedicate a lot of our life and time to service the city of Columbus, the people of Columbus, and then for the city to kind of turn its back on us, it's really unfair because we didn't receive pay for the work that we provided," Robertson said.  

Those who left or were even fired just one day after the retroactive pay out start date in August do get retroactive pay. 

"It’s hard for me to understand why they would pay backpay to someone that was fired or quit in not good standing and terminated then people that gave their whole lives and careers will get nothing," Biedenharn said.  

It turns out this is just impacting the fire department. 

Columbus police also approved a new contract with the city this year. Their retroactive pay schedule shows all terminated employees who worked the time are getting the raise applied. 

The city isn’t breaking any laws: it is following the 2019 agreement, with the city’s human resources director Christopher Moses saying in a statement:  

 “We’re grateful for our current and retired firefighters and for their contributions to the citizens of our City. The Columbus Fire Fighters Union, Local 67, and the City agreed years ago on the framework of retroactive pay increases. The City is honoring that agreement with Local 67 by providing retroactive pay raises to firefighters who were employed as of the date of the successor agreement and upon when retroactive pay was made. While there are no current plans for such discussions, modifications to that framework would be made through collective bargaining negotiations with Local 67.” 

"A lot of it has to do with what’s in writing and I think we just need someone to step up and get it corrected because as long as you're working, you should be paid the proper salary that you're entitled to receive," Robertson said. 

Those we spoke with estimate they are owed between $9,000 and $12,000 each. They are speaking out to bring light to the issue and to push for change for those who come after. 

"We need to stop it, nip it in the bud and get something in place that doesn't leave the next crew stranded like we are," Beery said.  

The Columbus Firefighters Union IAFF Local 67 sent a statement saying: 

“In February of 2019, The City of Columbus and Columbus Fire Fighters Union IAFF Local 67 executed a grievance settlement agreement that dictates the existing framework for retroactive payments after a collective bargaining agreement is ratified.  The City is operating within the parameters of the 2019 settlement agreement, and any modifications would be subject to future negotiations between the parties.”