Hawthorne : Firefighter Pay Talks Stall

The City Council this week approved a one-year contract with a 2% pay increase for its police officers, but negotiations with city firefighters have stalled.

The Hawthorne Firemen’s Assn. took its case to the council this week after its negotiators said the city’s representative had failed to provide the council with accurate salary figures for other fire departments.

Fire Capt. Roy Markoski said Hawthorne firefighters are seeking a pay level among the top three for departments in the area. He said the city ranked ninth in a pay survey of 10 nearby city fire departments.

Markoski said his firefighters respond to more calls than those in any of the other nine cities in the survey. He said their pay has been raised 4% over the last two years, during which they have been working without a contract.

Markoski said the firefighters are willing to accept the city’s offer of a 3.5% raise this year if the city offers a multiyear contract guaranteeing that the department will be among the top three in pay by the end of the contract.

No new talks have been scheduled.

City Manager R. Kenneth Jue and the council declined to comment.