Councilman Jerry Cleworth proposed the second amendment, which had two elements. First, it cut firefighters' 2018 increases of 1 percent to wages and 5 percent to health care. Second, it reinstated one of two firefighter positions originally slated to be cut due to attrition. The increases were part of an arbitration award between the city and firefighters, but the arbitration is nonbinding, and the council can choose not to fund it. The council did fund the arbitration’s 4.1 percent package increase in 2017.
Cleworth acknowledged that keeping one firefighter on payroll will cost $30,000 more than giving raises and closing two positions. But he said the long-term outlook is more important.
“We have one group that’s getting the lion’s share of everything. We have a train wreck coming — this is what the borough is starting to realize with the rapid pay increases they’ve done,” he said.