labor firegeezer on 28 Aug 2007 07:28 pm
NC Firefighters Left Waiting Again
THE WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA FIREFIGHTERS haven’t had a raise in years. In fact, none of the city employees have, except the City Manager and the City Attorney.
 |
Surprisingly, Wilmington is the most expensive place to live in the entire state. More so than Charlotte or Raleigh, even. But a recent study done by the firefighter’s Local showed that FF’s salary is 40% below that of comparable cities that size.
Back in June they attended en masse the City Council’s public hearing for the upcoming budget, but the Council refused to give any of the City employees anything other than a measly 1.5% raise. The firefighters were asking for 5%. The public meeting became acrimonious, according to the newspaper account, and the FF’s rallied on the front steps and vowed to politic for new council members in this year’s election.
What really has the city’s workers grumbling is that the council has appropriated $5 million to develop a ½-acre park. That’s right….one half acre. A lot of citizens are curious to see which friends and relatives get the landscaping and outdoor furniture contracts for that one.
Last week at the City Council’s regular meeting, they voted to spend $220,000 for……a study to see how much the City’s employees should be earning. They hope that it will be completed by early next year so they can consider any pay raises for next year’s budget.
In other words, the firefighters are being put off for another year and the politicians are refusing to do anything before the election. Local 129 has work to do.
The Wilmington Star-News has the STORY.
WWAY Channel 3 has the VIDEO.
