City and Fire Union Reach Tentative Agreements on Pay, Leave Two Items Open

City of Beaumont negotiators and representatives of Local 399 tentatively agreed to language on maintenance of standards, most contract definitions (the union's proposed definition of "benefit" was removed), additional/certification pay and parts of a revised wage table, but left seniority/promotions and department-committee scheduling unresolved. The parties said the tentative agreements (TAs) will be packaged for union ratification and then presented to city council for final approval.

The tentative pay package presented by city negotiators included a three-year wage proposal described in sessions as a "7/4/3" plan (7% on ratification, 4% later in the year, then a 3% step in the final year, as presented), new certification/incentive pay and the addition of an assistant chief position to the wage table with a step increase to be calculated. The city representative said the full package would raise total compensation for the fire department by 22.15% and estimated a total dollar increase in the neighborhood of $5 million; the city also supplied a separate line-item estimate the negotiators described as about $1.6 million for newly created incentive pay. All dollar and percentage figures were stated in the meeting by city negotiators and are reported here as spoken.

Why it matters: the tentative agreements would add recurring pay and new certification bonuses for firefighters, alter starting pay levels the city compared with peer cities, and add an assistant chief to the department wage table — all items the negotiators…