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Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

 

Osage Beach / Sunrise Beach Fire Districts Reach Agreement For Pay Wage Increases

All News RSS Feed Politics Thursday, December 22nd, 2022

Firefighters in Osage Beach will see more on their paychecks now that the fire district’s board of directors has reached an agreement to bump up the starting wage.

Chief Paul Berardi says the pay-raise from what had been $12.15 an hour has been long overdue…“Happy to say that the board approved our starting salary, which will be $15 an hour. These guys work 56 hours a week. So that’s quite a bit of time there at the fire station. But it allows us to be able to recruit, retain our employees, and we really think maintain the good employees that we have for many years to come.”

Also included in the new contract is disability coverage and a critical illness pool.

The pay-raises for the Osage Beach Fire District were made possible by passage of a ballot issue in November and are effective, pretty much, immediately.

Also voting to raise wages for their firefighters was the Sunrise Beach board of directors bumping wages another $10-thousand over the next three years.

The Sunrise Beach agreement also increases benefits for retirement and allows for additional staffing per shift.

***Pictured left to right: Sunrise Beach Fire Chief Joseph LaPlant, Treasurer Rick Butler, President John Suellentrop, Lieutenant and Shop Steward Tim Vester, Secretary Laurie Preator and Director Denise Dill.

 

***More info:

From Osage Beach Fire:

At tonight’s regularly scheduled board meeting the Osage Beach Fire Board and IAFF Local 3987 Lake Area Firefighters of Osage Beach have agreed to a multi year working contract.
The contract includes a new pay scale with an average of a 14% pay increase for current firefighters and brings the starting wage for new firefighters up to $15 an hour. This new pay scale also ensures that we do not put ourselves in a similar position where our starting wage does not keep up with the economic climate.
Also included in the contract is disability coverage for our firefighters in the event one gets hurt and cannot return to work for a length of time. And most importantly the fire district now participates in a critical illness pool that would help our firefighters should they be diagnosed with a disease such as cancer. This is very important as our job increases our likelihood of contracting cancer by 14% or more.
We appreciate the great working relationship we continue to maintain with Local 3987 and look forward to the years to come. We could not have provided any of this to our firefighters if it were not for the support of our voters in August who approved our ballot issue. We are grateful for our residents support of their firefighters.
Congrats to all parties involved and again thank you to our residents. We hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season.
“Our Family, Protecting Your Family, Because We Care”

From Sunrise Beach Fire:

At tonight’s Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors, the Board voted 4-0 to accept the new contract proposal for the firefighters!
As promised in our tax levy, the new agreement will raise firefighter pay $10,000 over the next three years, increase retirement to Level 6 LAGERS and also increases minimum manning from 5 firefighters per shift to 6 firefighters per shift with two additional firefighters per shift by 2024 to open Station #4.
The Board also approved contracts for Fire Chief LaPlant, Asst Chief Wieberg and Deputy Chief Odenwald, and the 2023 budget, as well as the purchase of iPads for the Board to streamline communications and information sharing.
The Station 3 renovation is under review by our attorney for final approval and Station 4’s renovation will be put out for bid in the coming weeks!
We would like to thank everyone for their support and wish every one a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as we continue to grow, improve and provide the best service possible to our residents and visitors!

All News RSS Feed Politics Thursday, December 22nd, 2022

Reporter Mike Anthony