Firefighter Union Reaches Tentative Salary Agreement, Report Says

Los Angeles officials and the union representing the rank and file of the Los Angeles Fire Department have reached a tentative salary agreement that provides no raises in the current fiscal year but a 2 percent increase next summer, it was reported today.

Frank Lima, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, told the Los Angeles Times that the proposed two-year deal would address a decades-old pay disparity that has left firefighters earning 2 percent less than their counterparts in the Los Angeles Police Department.

“We’ve been 2 percent behind the LAPD in our base pay for too long now,” Lima said. “We realize the city’s in financial difficulty and the firefighters have absolutely done our part to help with the city’s structural deficit. But we feel this tentative agreement honors our work and is fair.”

The union still must hold a ratification vote for its 3,000 members.

The deal provides the first breakthrough for Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council after months of protracted salary talks involving three major employee groups, The Times reported. But it also represents a departure from the financial strategy laid out earlier this year by City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, the high-level budget official.

In April, Santana recommended that Garcetti and the council hold off on employee raises for three years. That approach, he said in a 37-page report, would bring the city’s budget into balance by 2018.

Santana confirmed the two sides have a tentative agreement but would not provide specifics, The Times reported.

--City News Service

PHOTO Patch file photo.

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