BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – It’s been more than a year now since Brevard County and its firefighters got to work on a new contract.
As difficult negotiations continue, more than 100 firefighters have quit their jobs in search of better pay and work-life balance.
News 6 has been reporting since last summer how new employees at Brevard County Fire Rescue can make as little as $15/hour.
Thursday at the county government center in Viera, firefighters, again, organized a rally calling for a fair raise.
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In over 20 years of negotiating, one of the firefighters told News 6 this is the longest they’ve been at a standstill.
The president of the firefighter’s union said he’d like to see Brevard firefighters get paid comparable to the other counties in Central Florida they’re leaving for.
“We’re at a critical staffing issue right now,” Mike Bramson said. “Every time someone leaves, we don’t replace them with the same amount of experience or even certification.”
While the rally was going on, the county said it invited the union to negotiate.
However, inside the room at the government center, the union wasn’t there.
The county’s communications director, Don Walker, sent a statement to reporters that read in part, “...the union is touting the number of personnel lost, but they won’t come to the bargaining table.”
Bramson responded that both sides are at an impasse and he had to go to work after the rally.
“I still have to go on shift. I can’t do union business there,” Bramson said.
Firefighters cheered during the rally when county commissioner Katie Delaney addressed them.
Delaney campaigned on helping firefighters before she was elected last year. She called Brevard Fire Rescue the best-trained firefighters in America.
“We have the best trained people in the country, and they deserve to have the support of the government officials who are supposed to have their back,” Delaney said.
Bramson said he’s not sure when a resolution could be reached.
The county wrote in its statement it hopes it’s sooner than later.
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