The city of Las Vegas reached a collective bargaining agreement with the union that represents Fire Department employees.
Contract negotiations with the International Association of Firefighters Local 1285 began early in 2024.
The agreement — set to cost about $15.2 million for wages, medical benefits and tool allowance — covers the current and next fiscal year, ending in mid 2026.
“Today is the culmination of many, many months of negotiation,” City Manager Mike Janssen said Wednesday. “These are conversations get spirited, but at the end of the day, both of our sides can say we had a very professional period of time to make it to this moment today,” he added.
The “moment” arrived moments later when the City Council unanimously voted to ratify the agreement.
Under the two-year contract, the 711 employees will get a 3.25 percent cost of living adjustment for fiscal year 2024, which runs through June, said Las Vegas Human Resources Director Vincent Zamora.
They also got a 1.35 percent salary bump, and the city said the employees will get retroactive pay for the past fiscal-year months, Zamora said.
For the following fiscal year that kicks off in July, employees will get an increase of 2.6 percent cost of living adjustments, Zamora explained.
Staff in communications, prevention and equipment mechanics will get a 0.7 percent raises, while firefighters, captains and paramedics will get 1.6 percent raises, Zamora said.
The contract also covers supervisors.
Nine negotiation meetings in the first quarter of 2024 led to an impasse, the city said.
Fact-finding hearings then took place in August. The fact finder in a January report recommended a contract settlement, the city said.
By approving the firefighters’ contract, Las Vegas is now up to date with the five collective bargaining units that represent city employees.
In late January, the City Council approved a two-year contract with The Las Vegas City Employees’ Association, which represents nearly 1,300 civilian employees. That agreement had been expired.
Talks with the unions that speak on behalf of corrections officers and marshals, which expire at the end of June, are ongoing. The agreement with the bargaining unit that represents corrections lieutenants expires next summer.
The city previously confirmed that union negotiations have touched on the longstanding legal battle between Las Vegas and the would-be developer of the defunct Badlands golf course expected to cost the city $636 million.
The city will recover $350 million from a new developer planning a housing project on the 250 acres. The remaining $286 million will stay with CEO Yohan Lowie’s EHB Cos. to settle pending litigation.
The three-party deal is expected to close this month.
The Las Vegas Fire Department, along with other public safety employees, “still remains the cities first priority,” Councilman Brian Knudsen said.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
