The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia government has agreed to pay city firefighters $45 million in back overtime.
The settlement signed by city leaders and the firefighters’ union on Saturday ends a lawsuit that had stretched over 14 years. Firefighters will start to see the back pay in their checks starting in the current pay period. Most of the settlement will be paid out by the end of the year.
Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser says in a statement that the settlement has “resolved overtime pay issues for the past, present and future.”
Firefighters’ union president Ed Smith says more than 3,000 firefighters will benefit from the settlement. He says three previous mayoral administrations fought the lawsuit.
The city will pay the settlement with surplus revenue that has already been set aside.