Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
After 20 months at the bargaining table, the City of Elgin and the firefighters union have agreed on a contract that largely mirrors the previous one.
The contract, approved by the city council without discussion Wednesday night, is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2018, and calls for 2.5% pay increases across the board for the 127 members of the International Association of Firefighters Local 439. That’s the same pay increase received by other city employees, both union and nonunion. The new contract ends Dec. 31, 2021.
Starting Jan. 1, the salary range for firefighters will be $72,347 to $96,426. The range for lieutenants will be $103,934 to $113,035, and for captains it will be $123,109 to $142,514.
The city wanted to impose a cap on unused vacation days that firefighters can roll over into the next year. In return, the union mainly wanted the city to give the firefighters more notice — currently it’s 30 days — about any cuts to daily staffing, and also wanted more time — currently also 30 days — for the union to respond to such notices. In the end, both parties agreed to walk away without those changes.
The new contract has the same salary increases and health insurance provisions as the last one, and minor changes about things like assignments that the firefighters are pleased with.
Union members have voted to accept the contract.
