San Bernardino’s firefighters are “stonewalling” negotiations in the California city’s bankruptcy, said a federal judge, who refused to immediately give their union permission to sue in state court, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. San Bernardino has either cut deals with, or is in talks with, almost all of its major creditors. Since the city filed for bankruptcy in 2012, the firefighters have fought over a variety of technical questions, including what rules should govern any contract-related negotiations. “I see the stonewalling coming from the firefighters,” Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Jury said at a hearing yesterday. After filing for bankruptcy, the city had been mired in conflict with unions and its biggest creditor, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, which it owes about $143 million, according to court papers. In June, San Bernardino’s lawyers told Jury that the city had a final deal with CalPERS and was in talks with the police union. San Bernardino has said that if the firefighters reject its final offer, the city will ask Jury to cancel the current union contract. So far, however, it has been unable to meet with the firefighters to present the final offer.
