City Council Approves Raises for Firefighters
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved raises for city firefighters that would cost $9.8 million this year and $41.5 million over the next three years.
Only Councilman Bernard C. Parks voted against the contract, saying that the city could not justify the expense when it is facing a projected shortfall next year of about $250 million.
“We are facing a significant budget crisis,” he said, noting that officials have begun preparing plans to lay off city employees.
Others defended the expense, saying that it was only fair to give the firefighters the same thing that police officers and other city employees have received.
The three-year contract gives the city’s 3,400 firefighters and paramedics a 2% raise this year retroactive to July 1, a 3% raise next year and a 4% raise the following year.
“We think it’s a fair deal for both sides,” said Pat McOsker, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, the firefighters union.
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