Boston firefighters would get an 18.8 percent pay raise under a contract deal that city labor officials said includes measures to improve safety and management in the Fire Department.
The six-year pact, which firefighters are expected to vote on next week, would cost the city $92.4 million, say city officials, and it comes seven months after an arbitrator put an end to acrimonious negotiations between the city and police officers .
Firefighters have been without a contract for about three years. Mayor Martin J. Walsh had promised during last year’s campaign that he would move swiftly to reach a resolution.
The firefighters’ raise would be less than the 25.4 percent pay increase police officers received from the arbitrator last year, a boost that became a hot topic in last year’s mayoral race.
The tentative firefighter agreement includes a baseline 14 percent pay increase, along with additional funds that preserve a unique 0.5 percent pay perk known as the transitional career award program, which firefighters get each time there is a pay increase.
Walsh administration officials said the union agreed to a lower pay package than police received to end the long-stalled negotiations.
APRIL 25, 2014