|
|
 |
 |
The city firefighters' union has overwhelmingly ratified a 50-month contract that calls for a 17.5 percent raise and increases the number of five-person trucks from 60 to 64.
The 8,900-member Uniformed Firefighters Association announced yesterday that the deal had been approved by a margin of 86 percent, 6,094 to 829. The agreement is retroactive to 2002 and expires in seven months, at the end of July 2006.
A sticking point in the negotiations was engine company staffing, which the union has lobbied heavily against reducing from five to four. The staffing agreement will be in effect for the next five years and will be separate from the contract.
In a change similar to one won by the city in the police contract, starting pay for firefighters will drop to $25,100 from about $36,000, although rookies' pay will rise to $32,700 once they finish training.
The union's executive board announced the proposed settlement with City Hall on Oct. 27, one of several collective-bargaining agreements reached in the week's preceding the mayor's reelection bid. |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
