Federal firefighters secure permanent pay raises in spending bill
Source: Yahoo! News/NBC News
Fri, March 14, 2025 at 6:28 PM EDT
Federal wildland firefighters secured a permanent pay raise Friday after years of waiting for Congress to answer their plea. Included in the spending bill approved by Congress is a new pay scale and incident-response premium pay, which would apply to employees assigned to active fires. The bill next goes to President Donald Trump to sign into law.
The new pay scale means firefighters will keep their temporary pay raises of either $20,000 annually or 50% of their base salary, enacted in 2021 under the Biden administration. Firefighters will not be eligible for premium pay for fires contained within 36 hours. The pay will be calculated at 450% of their hourly base rate for each day a firefighter is on an active fire and will be limited to a total of $9,000 in any calendar year.
This marks the first time federal firefighters will get paid for the hours they rest and sleep while away from home, which is standard practice in most municipal and state departments. “For years, our union and NFFE members have fought tirelessly for a lasting pay solution for federal wildland firefighters,” Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees union, said in a statement.
“Now, that fight is paying off,” he added. “A permanent pay fix means we can shift our focus to addressing other critical issues — recruitment and retention, housing, mental health benefits, rest and recuperation, and the overall well-being of our nation’s wildland firefighting workforce.”
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/federal-firefighters-secure-permanent-pay-222838362.html