The Chicago Tribune has an article about CFD firefighters approving the recent contract.

Chicago firefighters have approved a new five-year contract with the city that includes 11 percent raises  … Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 President Thomas Ryan said about 91 percent of the members who returned their ballots by [the] deadline voted in favor of the pact.

The contract and part of the pay increases are retroactive to July 2012, when the last deal lapsed. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration has not said how the city will pay for the raises. But in a statement Emanuel called the contract a “win-win’ for taxpayers and firefighters/paramedics.

In addition to the raises, the contract calls for the conversion of 15 basic life support ambulances to advanced life support, a change the mayor supported. The city will also hire between 100 and 200 new paramedics to staff the new ambulances.

The City Council still must approve the contract.

The Emanuel administration has not had formal talks with the firefighters union about the pension law that will require the city to come up with $600 million at the end of this year to help shore up underfunded police and fire pensions, Ryan said. “We’re willing to come to the table to be part of the discussion,” Ryan said of the pension situation.

thanks Dan