By Kate Moran
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Copyright 2006 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
After getting by for 17 years without major revisions to their pay plan, employees of the East Bank Consolidated Fire Department would receive a 35 percent across-the-board salary increase next year under a measure before the Jefferson Parish Council today.
The council will vote whether to adopt the recommendations of a consultant who found that Jefferson fire department salaries lag far behind those in other urban areas around the South and that they need a 35 percent boost to remain competitive.
Firefighters receive a 5 percent pay raise most years, but their overall pay plan, which is used to determine starting salaries, has not been substantially amended since 1989. A firefighter hired then and one hired today each would take home a base salary of $17,000 in his or her first year.
Starting pay in cities such as Memphis, Tenn.; Mobile, Ala.; and Gulfport, Miss., dwarfs what Jefferson firefighters receive, even when accounting for the 442 hours of scheduled overtime each firefighter is paid whether or not he or she works. Louisiana cities such as Shreveport and Alexandria also pay rookie firefighters more than Jefferson does, according to the consultant, Lstaff Inc. of Metairie.
Where Jefferson did match up was in the salaries paid to its veteran employees, who have benefited the most from the 5 percent annual raise. But the consultant recommended that these employees also receive the 35 percent boost so that the parish continues to reward longevity and dedication to the department.
Robert Burkett, president of the Jefferson Firefighters Association, which counts 220 members in the East Bank Consolidated district, said employees who have been working longer than 25 years receive no annual raise, while those who have worked 16 to 25 years receive only a 2.5 percent annual raise.
He said the association’s membership approved the recommendations of the pay plan study last week. The East Bank Consolidated department fights fires in Old Jefferson and most of Metairie.
“We feel very blessed that we earn a living in a community that provides us with not only the equipment that we need and the stations that we need to provide a Class 1-rated service to our citizens, but that also adequately compensates our firefighters for the work that we do,” Burkett said.
The pay plan overhaul will increase the annual payroll by more than $2.9 million, according to Lstaff.
The department has not had trouble recruiting firefighters despite the low starting pay, and Jefferson leaders attribute the interest to a benefits package more generous than those offered by other cities that the consultant surveyed. Parish Council Chairman John Young said he receives regular calls from people asking about work with the fire department.
“Even though starting salaries were relatively low, there were still people who wanted to become firefighters because they understood the value of fringe benefits,” said Bert Smith, an executive assistant to Parish President Aaron Broussard.
Smith said the Broussard administration is working with another consultant, the Archer Group, on another pay plan study for judicial and civil services employees. He said the administration will take it to the council Nov. 15, in time to be approved for 2007.