The Associated Press
 AP Photo/John Bazemore Family members react as they walk past the row of nine caskets and portraits of the Charleston firefighters who died in June. |
CHARLESTON, S.C. — The city says it will institute a new pay structure to reward firefighters more for working overtime.
Firefighters had been earning less per hour when they worked overtime rather than more. City officials say the pay structure was the result of a lawsuit in the 1990s.
The change is in response to a panel’s report on the department following a furniture store fire that claimed the lives of nine firefighters.
The higher pay, about $270 more per extra 24-hour shift, will help the city get more people to agree to work overtime. That will help provide the staffing to put four firefighters on each truck.
The Charleston Firefighters Association had urged the city to pay an overtime rate of 1.5 times regular pay, but the city says it can’t under an agreement that settled a 1997 lawsuit over firefighter wage claims.
The new incentive plan doesn’t increase pay for the regular hours firefighters are scheduled to work, but does provide more pay for overtime.
“On average, you are getting more than you would get, over a three-shift period, than at time-and-a-half,” said Steve Bedard, the city’s chief financial officer.
The new pay policy was to take effect over the weekend.
Roger Yow, president of the Charleston Firefighters Association and a retired city firefighter, said overtime shifts are rare, so the pay wasn’t a big issue until this fall.
“In my 25 years, I think I was called back for overtime three times,” Yow said.
Firefighters often agreed to work extra for compensatory time, but Yow said now some firefighters are owed as many as 18 days off.
The new incentive plan will do away with comp time for extra work, but firefighters will be able to trade as many as three accumulated comp days for cash.
The city has budgeted about $200,000 for overtime costs, Bedard said, adding that the need for overtime shifts will decrease as more firefighters are hired.