The International Association of Firefighters Local 1236 and the City of DeKalb are engaged in arbitration over a one year wage re-opener.

The city and Local 1236 have come to a disagreement on the city’s offer of a 2 percent wage increase, said Steve Reid, vice president of the fire fighters’ union.

The city believes the 2 percent offer is fair. The proposed increase is the same wage increase negotiated and agreed upon with the city’s two other collective bargaining units and given to management and part-time employees, City Manager Mark Stevens stated in a press release.

The city does not believe evidence has been presented to substantiate the firefighters’ claim for a higher increase than other city employees, the release stated.

Reid said DeKalb city management is receiving more than their proposed 2 percent raises through merit raises, which are just “smoke-screens” for their bonuses.

The firefighters’ work is more dangerous, with higher death and cancer rates and there are fewer employees to do more work, he said.

The city believes there is no conclusive evidence that police officers and firefighters should be the same, but believes the two are being compensated nearly the same, Steven’s release stated.

However, Reid said firefighters are making about 11 percent less than police officers and have not made as much as police officers since 1978.

He said even if the firefighters receive the 6.5 percent increase requested, they would still make less than police.

The city calculated in the release that firefighters receive other benefits to compensate for wage increases, such as a higher overtime rate than police officers and educational bonuses (paramedic training).

While their overtime is higher (2.1 times the base rate as opposed to 1.5 for police), the firefighters rarely receive overtime pay and police officers receive it often, Reid said.

The city also noted the firefighters receive six more days off than the police.

Reid said even though they work fewer days, the firefighters work a total of 640 more hours annually than the police.

“We think the arbitration will go well for us,” Reid said. “We’ve been able to show we are paid less than other fire departments,” he said.