After seven months of negotiations, the city of Sycamore and the Sycamore Firefighters Local 3046 reached a contractual agreement regarding wage increases during the April 20 city council meeting.

The council decided the 3.75 percent increase proposed by an arbitrator would not be feasible during the current economic downturn.

Assistant City Manager Brian Gregory, said the economic climate needs to be addressed before all budgetary means.

“Balancing the budget in accordance to arbitration’s preliminary 3.75 percent increase introduced the possibility of layoffs,” Gregory said. “It was never the goal to reduce staff.”

While negotiation of the original arbitration was underway, the council thought of cutting three firefighters per fire house to two per house.

“We are already below average, but two people would have put us at a very unsafe level,” said Dan Marcinkowski, President of International Association of Firefighters Local 3046.

Any layoffs would end up costing more due to overtime, Marcinkowski said.

“If they would have laid anyone off it would have cost the city more in overtime than it would save them by deducting those two employee salaries,” he said.

The new contract, which was effective Friday, stipulates no existing employee layoffs. It is a 3-year retroactive contract and indicates two fiscal year periods of 2 percent wage increases.

Firefighters received a 2 percent increase Friday and will receive another 2 percent increase on May, 1 2010; another will be awarded November 1, 2010.

However Local 3046 has not given up on the 3.75 percent wage increase they were originally looking to receive.

Negotiation in regards to compensation will be discussed after the contract is up in May 2011, Marcinkowski said.

“The cut backs leave the department at a bare minimum,” he said. “We’ve suffered a big loss.”