Mayor Brandon Johnson achieved labor peace, but little else in a tentative agreement with the union representing Chicago’s 4,800 firefighters and paramedics so weighted in the union’s favor that it’s hard to imagine why it took more than four years to break the stalemate.
Former Mayors Lori Lightfoot and Rahm Emanuel talked about eliminating or softening the minimum staffing requirement and reconciling the number of firehouses with the fact that the Chicago Fire Department now spends two-thirds of its time responding to medical emergencies.
Neither one of them ultimately made those cuts. Johnson followed the same tough-talking script, only to retreat the same way.
The tentative, six-year contract hammered out under pressure from a mediator includes no major union concessions while matching pay raises — up to 20% depending on the rate of inflation — awarded to Chicago police officers in the contract that Johnson extended and sweetened.
It enhances benefits and working conditions for members of Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2. They include:
- A $2,500 cash bonus to match the one-time payment given to Chicago police officers.
- An increase in duty availability pay to $1,000 per quarter. That’s in addition to the 10% incentive for fire suppression and rescue employees who have obtained licenses to be full-fledged paramedics.
- EMT-Bs, which stands for emergency medical technician-basic, will get a 6.5% pay hike after 42 months on the job instead of waiting 54 months.
- Eliminating merit promotions that account for up to 16% of all promotions.
- Mandating the city to provide copies of answer sheets to candidates taking written promotional exams “upon departure from test sites.”
- Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for all firefighters and paramedics, whether they are the “birthing or non-birthing parent.”
- Fifteen days for City Council to approve the contract after a rank-and-file vote, and full payment of retroactive pay 75 days after that.
- Removing testing positive for marijuana during random testing as a violation of the department’s “last chance” policy.
- Freezing health care contributions until January 2027. Union members whose annual salaries exceed $115,000 will then contribute the same percentage of their income, but it will apply to $130,000 of annual income.
- Eliminating all references to affirmative action and the prior goal of the hiring of 45% minorities and women across all ranks. Instead, the new contract refers to “equity” and commits the department to “actively advertise for recruits in socio-economically disadvantaged areas” and eliminate “obstacles unrelated to the job that hinder inclusion of communities historically underrepresented” in the fire department.
- Appointing a committee to study the union’s demand for 20 advanced life support ambulances to bolster the fleet of 80 of these ambulances. The panel will “make every effort to assess and implement components of” the expansion by July 1, 2026. If there’s no agreement, the matter will be “turned over to a neutral fact-finder” charged with issuing a nonbinding advisory opinion.
The mayor started out wanting to reshape the department by doubling — from 35 to 70 — the number of daily “variances” that allows the city to operate with four employees on engines and trucks.
What exactly did Johnson get out of the marathon labor stalemate at a time when he’s struggling to erase a $1.12 billion shortfall?
“He got labor peace in the fire department after four years of negotiations. We couldn’t get a contract. We have a contract. It’s a fair contract for the city,” senior mayoral adviser Jason Lee told the Chicago Sun-Times.
“That means that hardworking folks in the fire department have clarity on their wages [and] other dynamics. … That’s a good thing when your first responders are not worried about bargaining negotiations. They’re worried about doing exactly what they love to do every day, which is keeping the public safe. For us, that’s a win.”
Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2 President Pat Cleary, who briefed his union stewards Tuesday, said the stalemate dragged on for more than four years because the city “wanted to give us less than what the cops got” but he wouldn’t allow it.
“I got what I wanted and prevented what I didn’t want: the manning variances he wanted to double,” Cleary said. “That’s crazy. It’s too dangerous for our members. We’re not going to put them in that situation where you have less manpower on the scene so when something bad happens, I don’t have the help I need.”
The union’s members still need to ratify the agreement before a final vote by the City Council.