Elko County Board of Fire Commissioners has approved a labor contract with the firefighters’ union that calls for a minimum 6% pay hike for the current fiscal year and a 2.5% cost of living raise for the 2023-2024 fiscal year — and another 2.5% raise in the following fiscal year.
The contract follows nearly a year of negotiations between the Elko County Fire Protection District and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 5046. The county’s fire chief, Matt Petersen, said that while the minimum is 6%, some get more because the raise is “individually based factoring in their steps.”
The union negotiations included implementation of the county’s class and compensation study, and Petersen said in a memo that multiple changes in the firefighter association’s leadership and response delays contributed to the length of talks.