Firefighters’ new
pay scale rewards them
for their experienceThe accord took more than
a year of bargainingAfter more than a year at the bargaining table, Hawaii's state and county firefighters have what they wanted: a new pay scale to reward them for their experience, according to union officials.
Meanwhile, state officials and representatives for eight public employee bargaining units were negotiating late last night trying to reach settlements so that lawmakers can meet their Friday deadline to finish work on the state budget.
The units include 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 13 for the Hawaii Government Employees Association, Unit 5 for the Hawaii State Teachers Association, and Unit 7 for the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly. All units involved in last night's talks have the right to strike.
The Hawaii Fire Fighters Association, which does not have the right to strike, won an arbitration award on Friday that includes a 1.5 percent pay increase each year for the next two years and a new step-increase pay scale for eligible employees in a new contract.
"In the past, a firefighter with one year of experience could make as much as a 10- or 12-year veteran," said Waipahu Capt. Robert Lee, union president. "We just never had the language in our contract which incorporated salary steps based on years of service.
"This was a serious inequity in our contract."
Before the new pay scale, a firefighter could receive an increase in pay only if he or she were promoted to a new rank or position, but once within that position the pay stayed the same, Lee said. One example given was that a newly promoted fire captain would be paid as much as a captain with nine years' experience.
Under the new eight-step pay scale, for example, a firefighter who makes it past the first year of probation receives $2,943 a month. But even if he or she stays in that same entry position, he or she can reach that eighth step increase after 22 years to receive $3,839 a month.
"I'm pleased with the award, given the current situation of the economy," said Lee. "We're still behind our mainland counterparts, but overall this helps."
The union represents 1,800 active and 800 retired firefighters across the state, including all city and county firefighters as well as those at state airports. Lee said meetings are scheduled on Oahu this week to inform members about the details of the arbitration award as well as on the neighbor islands.
Negotiations between the union and the state began in March 2002 and had been at an impasse since July. The new contract begins July 1 and ends on June 30, 2005.
The HFFA is one of 13 public employee bargaining units that had been involved in negotiations with the state, and only the second one to receive an arbitration award, according to union officials. About 1,200 registered professional nurses with Bargaining Unit 9 of the Hawaii Government Employees Association received its arbitration award earlier this month, which included a one-time 3 percent across-the-board pay raise and a 50-cent increase in hourly wages for night-shift pay over a two-year contract.
Hawaii Fire Fighters Association