Posted on: Saturday, March 26, 2005

State, county firefighters win pay hikes of 8.2% over 2 years

Associated Press

An arbitration panel has awarded state and county firefighters a pay raise of at least 8.24 percent over the next two years.

The award by the three-member panel gives the firefighters 2 percent pay increases every six months during a two-year contract beginning July 1. The panel also included pay increases based on longevity for each rank and $350 per month incentive pay for firefighters assigned to desk jobs.

The state and counties and the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association submitted the contract to binding arbitration last month after they were unable to agree to the terms of a new contract.

Under the state's collective-bargaining law, the Legislature and all four county councils need to approve the arbitration award to ratify the contract. If the Legislature or any one of the county councils rejects any cost item, the entire award is voided.

"I think it was very fair, a win-win for both sides," said Bobby Lee, president of the union.

The pay raises affect 973 Honolulu Fire Department employees and will cost the city $3 million in the first year of the agreement and $7 million in the second year.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann had anticipated an arbitration award in the $1.35 billion operating budget he submitted to the City Council, according to his spokesman.

Big Island Mayor Harry Kim said pay raises for Hawai'i County's 302 firefighters will cost $1.2 million in the first year and $2.9 million in the second year. Kim also included money in his budget for employee pay raises.

The pay raises for Maui County's 277 firefighters will cost the county $832,000 in the first year and $2.2 million in the second year.

Kaua'i County has 111 firefighters. No cost figures were available.

The state employs about 150 firefighters at state airports, said state chief negotiator Ken Taira. Gov. Linda Lingle's administration is not releasing the state's cost for the pay raises until it submits the figures to the Legislature, Taira said.

The firefighters received 1.5 percent pay raises each year for the two years of the current contract under a 2003 arbitration award that included new pay schedules for each rank.