The following is a joint statement from the City of Evanston and the Evanston Firefighters Association, IAFF L-742:

“The bargaining teams from the City of Evanston and the Evanston Firefighters Association, IAFF L-742 are pleased to announce that a tentative agreement was reached Friday regarding all outstanding contractual issues.

Both groups will recommend ratification by their principals in the next three weeks. The union will have ratification votes on August, 30, 31 and September 1^st while City staff will present the agreement to the City Council for a vote on September 13^th.

While we can’t discuss specifics of the two year agreement, firefighters made economic concessions in recognition of the City’s difficult economic circumstances while working in good faith with the City to ensure the maintenance of safe and effective staffing levels for the term of the agreement. This will include the reinstatement of three firefighters laid-off on July 31^st.

The union and Interim Fire Chief Klaiber have also agreed to meet on a continual basis towards making good faith efforts to conserve future costs to maintain proper fire/rescue emergency response for the city. With continued good faith efforts both parties are extremely confident that they will be successful.”