BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – After years of trouble keeping firefighters because of low starting pay, Brevard County Fire Rescue has reached an unfortunate milestone.
Over the summer, a standing-room-only crowd demanded better wages in front of the county commission.
Starting pay at BCFR can be as little as $15/hour.
Now, a retired firefighter says 108 employees have left the county.
Christina Fleming said the retention problems are a sad and potentially dangerous consequence of poor pay.
“That’s roughly 20% of your workforce that has left so far,” Fleming said. “What you’re gonna get is tired firefighters because they’re all being mandated to work or just picking up that voluntary overtime to compensate the pay.”
Contract negotiations are still ongoing between firefighters and the county.
Fleming said she’d like to see higher pay at the beginning of the contract along with more time off after working a 24-hour shift, what firefighters call 24/72s.
“So that’s 24 hours on, 72 hours off,” Fleming said. “That is a great work/life balance that a lot of departments in the state of Florida are going to.”
Brevard County said it’s thinking of holding a public workshop as negotiations continue.
There’s no date, yet.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, in one of the counties that Brevard firefighters are leaving for, Osceola County, the state fire marshal director commented on retention and pay.
JoAnne Rice said her office is trying to help firefighters all over Florida. “We’re always gonna ask for more pay, more benefits,” Rice said at a press conference in Kissimmee. “Departments are struggling and working as hard as they can to make those benefits available to our firefighters, but it’s across the state and it’s across the country, honestly. But we’ve tried to do what we can in the state to make sure that we are firefighter-friendly,” she said.
Below is a collective bargaining agreement including a 2021-2024 pay plan for Brevard County firefighters. County officials told News 6 that while the plan shows a sub-$15/hour pay scale, the county has continued to pay a minimum of $15/hour since the state mandate was released.
IAFF-Rank and File Agreement 21-24 ADA by Anthony Talcott on Scribd
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