Four-year deal for firefighters approved

Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005 | 9:50 a.m.

Las Vegas firefighters received a new four-year contract on Wednesday, giving them cost-of-living pay raises ranging from 3 to 4.25 percent each year, plus increasing the city's payment toward health insurance costs.

The City Council voted 6-0 on Wednesday to approve the contract. There was no public discussion of the matter.

The increase in the contract with the International Association of Firefighters Local 1285 is expected to cost city taxpayers an additional $14.8 million over the course of the four-year contract, including $3.75 million during the current fiscal year, according to city documents. The contract is retroactive to June 19 and lasts through June 13, 2009.

The union, one of four bargaining units for city employees, counts 572 of Las Vegas Fire & Rescue's 612 employees among its members

The cost-of-living pay raises in the contract begin with 4.25 percent for this year and again next year, 3.25 percent the following year, and then 3 percent in the final year of the contract.

The contract also increases the health insurance premium paid per employee by 5 percent each year, which will the current $327 per pay period premium for the city to $397 by the fourth year of the proposed contract.