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City Council Approves Raises for Firefighters

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From Times Staff Reports

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.

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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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