Leland Township approved the firefighters wage schedule per schedule A, which highlights steady increases starting this year until 2028 for full-time fire department personnel including paramedics, EMTs and advanced EMTs, at a special meeting Tuesday afternoon.
Clint Mitchell, Leland Township supervisor, said the approved wage schedule should go into effect after April 1 when the new fiscal year begins. In the last contract, which was geared towards both recruitment and retention, Mitchell said rather than having cost of living raises throughout it, retention bonuses were included in it at the end of each year. The current wage schedule is geared more toward retention rather than recruitment though, with Mitchell adding that the firefighters preferred to have cost of living adjustments instead of the retention bonuses.
The wage schedule includes a 10% salary increase from the last contract, as well as 3.5% cost of living raises throughout the contract. The year-to-year step increases are roughly 5%, and the top-out wage schedule for paramedics was shortened to five years.
“It does (the contract) make it more competitive,” said Leland Township Fire Chief Dan Besson at the meeting. “I think every contract, as soon as we settle, other agencies locally would negotiate and our guys would move back down… we’re trying to keep these guys around, it’s a good core group. We know they can travel to other places and make more money, especially downstate, but we’re trying to keep it competitive up here.”
Leland Township Clerk Lisa Brookfield reiterated at the meeting that the board took action Tuesday so that they can include the increases by the first pay period of April 11.
