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Youngstown firefighters to get annual pay raises in 3-year deal
YOUNGSTOWN
The city has a tentative three-year contract with its firefighters union with salary increases for its members for the first time in five years.
The increases “are in line with other union contracts that were approved,” said Mayor John A. McNally.
That would be a 1-percent raise in the first year, effective Sunday, followed by a 1.5-percent raise the second year, and a 1-percent salary increase in the final year of the contract.
The previous contract expired Sunday.
The city has signed contracts with four other employee unions in recent months with those annual pay raises.
David Cook, president of the 138-member International Association of Firefighters Local 312, confirmed the salary increases, but he declined to discuss other specifics Wednesday.
The firefighters union members voted on the contract Tuesday and late Wednesday. The union was expected to approve the deal.
City council is having a special meeting at 4:30 p.m. Friday to vote to approve the contract.
The firefighters, like other unions in the city, had not received salary increases since 2009.
Those other contracts kept workers’ contributions to their health-care premiums at 10 percent, and the premium for those in the firefighters union will remain at that amount.
The contracts with other unions also removed caps on the maximum amount an employee could contribute to their premiums — in some cases the caps were immediately removed and in others it was delayed a couple of years.