ATLANTA — Atlanta's firefighters will be getting pay raises, the mayor's office announced on Thursday.
According to the city, Mayor Andre Dickens reached an agreement with firefighters to "provide additional compensation to attract new recruits to the City and add a new tier with higher compensation for longer-tenured firefighters."
The mayor's office said the agreement would next be submitted as legislation to the City Council for approval.
The agreement would provide for raises of 7% to 15.5% for Atlanta Fire Rescue Department personnel, "with the largest percentage increase targeted at recruits."
It will also create a new, fifth pay tier to "better compensate longer-tenured firefighters."
"The increases add to the Mayor’s original budget proposal which already exceeded previous pay increase commitments and delivered them ahead of schedule," a release said.
In a statement, Mayor Dickens said the city's firefighters "put their lives on the line on behalf of Atlanta residents, and as Mayor I want to make sure they are fully supported."
"These increases will go a long way toward helping us recruit and train the best firefighters in the region as well as retain firefighters who have served our City for years. I thank Chief Smith and the leaders of the Atlanta Professional Fire Fighters for working with me as we charted this path forward," Dickens added.