By Verónica Egui Brito
Miami Herald
HIALEAH, Fla. — Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo celebrated a historic agreement with the city’s firefighters Thursday, but the contract approved after months of contentious negotiations gives firefighters roughly half the raises their union initially sought, while questions about staffing, employee retention and the department’s ability to compete for qualified personnel remain.
“Today is a good day to be a firefighter in Hialeah,” Calvo said at a news conference announcing the agreement, using the same celebratory phrase he used two months earlier when announcing a new contract with the city’s police officers.
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The deal provides firefighters with compounded raises of 15.6% over two years. Paramedics would receive an overall increase of 17.7%. The union had sought compounded raises of about 27% over three years, plus an additional 5% for paramedics.
The raises will take effect with firefighters’ next paycheck and will be applied retroactively to Sept. 30, when the previous contract expired.
Unlike the three-year agreement reached with the police union, the firefighters’ contract does not include a third year of raises.
The agreement comes as Hialeah continues to grapple with staffing shortages and difficulties retaining experienced emergency personnel.
When contract negotiations began in July, the Hialeah Fire Department had 226 firefighters, about 74 fewer than two decades ago, while responding to more than 31,000 emergencies annually.
The department has since lost at least five firefighters during negotiations, including a paramedic and hazardous-materials technician trained to respond to incidents involving dangerous chemicals. The departures add to concerns about retaining experienced personnel as the city struggles to compete for qualified emergency responders.
The department has increasingly relied on emergency medical technicians, or EMTs, rather than paramedics, whose advanced training allows them to provide a higher level of emergency medical care. The city has faced difficulties attracting and retaining paramedics amid competition over salaries and the higher cost of employing more highly trained personnel.
When negotiations began, many firefighters viewed the contract as an opportunity to address departures and improve retention. The union had told the city that keeping firefighters on the job was a priority.
Calvo said Thursday that his administration plans to hire 25 additional firefighters. The announcement comes as the department continues to face questions about its ability to recruit and retain experienced personnel.
Different views
The disparity between the police and firefighters’ agreements is notable as Calvo, who took office in January, faced negotiations with the city’s three unions: police, firefighters and civilian employees. His administration has described the agreements as historic, but the raises secured by the two groups of first responders differ considerably.
The police contract provides officers with an 8% raise beginning in October, with an additional 5% for those with longer tenure. Further raises of 6% are scheduled for 2027 and 2028, amounting to compounded increases of roughly 25% to 30% over three years, depending on the applicable pay provisions.
The firefighters’ union had proposed raises of 10% in the first year, 8% in the second and 7% in the third, plus an additional 5% for paramedics. Its proposal was modeled on the agreement reached with police.
But negotiations became contentious, with canceled meetings and heated exchanges at the bargaining table.
Jose Torres , Calvo’s chief of staff, a Hialeah police officer and the city’s lead negotiator, eventually told the firefighters’ union that the administration’s proposal was its best and final offer. As a police officer, Torres himself is covered by the police union agreement, which provides officers with substantially larger raises over three years than the increases secured by firefighters.
The union put the firefighters’ proposal to a vote Oct. 11, 12 and 13; 93% of firefighters approved the agreement.
During the final bargaining session, union representative Danny Cruz said Hialeah firefighters were 26% behind other fire departments in pay.
Union leaders also questioned whether the proposed raises would bring compensation in line with other first responders and firefighters in neighboring communities.
However, at the news conference Calvo defended the agreement, describing the fire department’s compensation as “truly competitive.” The mayor announced new investments, including the purchase of a new fire rescue vehicle and a hazmat truck, and plans to hire 25 additional firefighters.
Calvo also highlighted the promotion of eight firefighters to lieutenant, the department’s first level of supervision. The promotions were not part of the new collective bargaining agreement. They followed a departmental promotional process in which firefighters took and passed a qualifying examination.
The contrast between the public celebration and the union’s lingering concerns was also evident in the union’s presence at the news conference. Eric Johnson, the firefighters union president, was the only union leader in attendance.
Johnson said the Hialeah Fire Department was “back on the map” among fire departments. His remarks also struck a different tone from his comments at the final bargaining session on Sept. 30, when he issued a much more urgent warning about the department’s staffing shortages.
“On behalf of this fire department, I am sounding the alarm. I am ringing the bell. Our staffing is low,” he said.
Cruz, one of the union leaders who skipped the news conference, told the Miami Herald that the agreement is a step in the right direction. But he said firefighters did not consider the outcome “fair” compared with their counterparts among Hialeah’s other first responders or firefighters in neighboring departments.
“There is still a lot of work to be done in compensation if this department is really going to ‘be on the map.”
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