Mayor wants double-digit pay hike for firefighters

06:44 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 11, 2005

By Doug Miller / 11 News

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Houston firefighters haven't had a raise in more than five years. The mayor hopes to change that and cut a deal for a new firefighter contract within a matter of days.

They're still negotiating and things can change, but Mayor Bill White said he is looking at giving Houston firefighters a double-digit pay hike.

On the one hand, that might sound like a generous offer. But on the other hand, while the people who put out the fires in Houston went without a raise, the cost of living has risen an average of about two and a half percent a year for the last five years.

"The reality is the firefighters and EMS personnel are underpaid. We need to have a plan to bring that up," said Mayor Bill White.

Overtime pay for Houston firefighters, for years now, has been calculated at 1.75 percent. Not the usual time and a half, but time and three quarters. That extra quarter percent is costing the city an extra $1 million this fiscal year.

So firefighters have been pocketing a lot more overtime pay than the mayor thinks is appropriate. That's one of the points they've had to talk about during these contract negotiations.

They are under a lot of pressure to get this deal done. At City Hall, they're putting together next year's budget and they need to plug in a number for a firefighter pay hike. That's why, the mayor said, he'd like to nail down a new contract within the next few days.