Fire union urges council to approve market pay adjustments and fix firefighter holiday valuation

Max Ganano, president of Virginia Beach Professional Fire and EMS, told City Council at an April 22 public hearing that the city’s market salary adjustments should move forward and urged the council to correct a long‑standing disparity in how firefighters’ holiday pay is calculated.

"The city study showed that out of all the city's workforce, the group most behind the market was public safety," Ganano said. "Within public safety, the job titles that lag the most were firefighters." He said maintaining recruitment and retention depends on keeping pace with comparable pay in the region.

Ganano also described what he called an inequity in how holiday pay is valued: firefighters working a 16‑hour shift schedule are being paid 11.2 hours for holidays at an hourly rate that he said is roughly 28% less than others on the same base salary. "This means that holidays for firefighters are valued less than anyone else despite working 40% more hours," he said, and urged council to "revalue firefighter holidays to 16 hours to maintain parity and equality with the rest of the city."

Ganano said the disparity predates current leadership but requires council intervention. He also asked council to support a staff fix discussed at an April 15 briefing to ensure flex leave and holiday pay are handled consistently across public‑safety groups.

Why it matters: Public safety pay and scheduling affect recruitment, retention and emergency response staffing. The union represents roughly 600 full‑time firefighters and EMS personnel, and union leadership told council the issue has become more urgent as scheduling and pay rules change.

Council did not vote on the matter during the hearing; comments were entered into the public record for council and staff review.