Posts Tagged new contract for firefighters includes pay increase

Mundelein firefighters get pay raise

The Daily Herald has an article stating that:

Mundelein’s 14 unionized firefighter/paramedics will get 2-percent salary raises and be eligible for other pay bumps under a deal approved by the village board.

The raises for the full-time firefighters will be retroactive to May 1, 2011. That’s when similar pay hikes were approved for other village employees, Fire Chief Tim Sashko said.

The firefighters had gone without cost-of-living raises for a year and so-called “step” raises, which are based on experience, for two years, said Lynne Maley of the village’s human resources department.

The average salary for the affected firefighter/paramedics is $69,063, Maley said.

Those raises will cost the village an additional $235,647 this fiscal year, Maley said.

The last few years have been a time of austerity at village hall.

Last year, Mundelein officials merged the engineering and public works departments to reduce costs. The year before, public operating hours at village hall and the staff’s work hours were reduced.

In 2009, two police officers were laid off to reduce payroll spending. Employees have been forced to take furlough days, too.

The entire article can be found HERE.

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Downers Grove firefighters to get a raise

The TribLocal has an article stating that Downers Grove firefighters have received a new contract that includes pay raises over the next several years.

A deeply divided Downers Grove Village Council recently voted to approve a three-year contract with the village’s firefighters union that will give firefighters a 1 percent raise in the current fiscal year and 2 percent raises in the years ending in April 2013 and April 2014.

Commissioners voted 4-3 for the contract in December.  Those casting votes against the pact expressed concern that all village employees are not being treated the same, given that Downers Grove officials have imposed furlough days and wage freezes on some non-union employees in other departments.  In addition, several commissioners said they would have preferred a contract that would have allowed wage increases to be renegotiated if certain village revenue benchmarks were not met.

“We’ve asked other village employees to take furlough days and accept wage freezes.  It’s not equitable or fair to me to guarantee one segment of our population ever-increasing compensation,” said Commissioner Bob Barnett.   “A contract which provides for guaranteed compensation increases without consideration for the unpredictability of the future is from my vantage point irresponsible.”

The article can be found HERE.

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