<span class="field field–name-title field–type-string field–label-hidden">Chicago City Council Approves New Firefighters Union Contract</span>
<span class="field field–name-uid field–type-entity-reference field–label-hidden"><span>Heather Cherone</span></span>
<span class="field field–name-created field–type-created field–label-hidden"><time datetime="2025-10-16T14:45:00-05:00" title="Thursday, October 16, 2025 – 14:45" class="datetime">Thu, 10/16/2025 – 14:45</time>
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<div class="clearfix text-formatted field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden field__item"><p>The Chicago City Council unanimously approved a new six-year deal that means annual average raises of approximately 3% for the city’s nearly 4,900 firefighters and paramedics — but puts off fraught negotiations over how fire stations should be staffed and whether the city needs more ambulances.</p>
<p>Chicago firefighters and paramedics — who are prohibited from striking — have been working for nearly four years under the terms of a contract that took effect in 2017 and expired in 2021. The new deal expires on June 30, 2027, shortly after the mayor and City Council members start new terms, records show.</p>
<p>Members of the Chicago Fire Department will get $185 million in retroactive pay in 2026, an amount included in the city’s budget projections for 2026, said Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd Ward), chair of the Workforce Development Committee.</p>
<p>Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 ratified the tentative agreement with 73% of the vote, said union President Pat Cleary.</p>
<p><a href="https://ift.tt/Uwydi9O" target="_blank">Read the full proposed contract</a>.</p>
<p>The new contract means salaries for firefighters and paramedics will rise by at least 21%, but no more than 25% depending on the increase in the cost of living, during the life of the agreement.</p>
<p>The deal calls for employees to get a $2,500 signing bonus once the deal is approved, records show.</p>
<p>The original version of the new contract approved by the City Council’s Workforce Development Committee changed the department’s mandatory retirement age from 63 to 65, but that provision was removed from the final version.</p>
<p>The mandatory retirement age for Chicago police officers was changed last year from 63 to 65.</p>
<p>The deal calls for firefighters who retire before they turn 63 to pay more toward their health care, according to the deal.</p>
<p>The deal does not change a rule that requires every engine and truck to be staffed by at least five employees, even as two-thirds of the calls for help the department responds to are for medical emergencies, not fires.</p>
<p>Instead, a committee has until July to study the issue and reach an agreement. If that fails, a “neutral fact-finder” will issue an advisory opinion.</p>
<p>The proposed contract also eliminates all references to affirmative action. That prompted Alds. David Moore (18th Ward) and Desmon Yancy (5th Ward) to vote against the deal.</p>
<p>The Trump administration has targeted all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as unlawful, and the U.S. Supreme Court has severely restricted the ability of municipalities and schools to use affirmative action when making decisions.</p>
<p>The Chicago Fire Department, which is 90% male and 60% White, has been sued many times by prospective, current and former members alleging they were subjected to discrimination and sexual harassment while in uniform.</p>
<p>Approximately 11% of firefighters and paramedics are Black, and another 21% are Latino, according to data published by the Office of the Inspector General. The city’s population is approximately one-third White, one-third Black and one-third Latino, according to census figures.</p>
<p>Instead, the new contract includes promises department leaders will “actively advertise for recruits in socio-economically disadvantaged areas” and eliminate “obstacles unrelated to the job that hinder inclusion of communities historically underrepresented” in the fire department.</p>
<p>In other action, the City Council agreed to <a href="https://ift.tt/w19LyNk" target="_blank">pay $8 million to the family of Leonardo Guerrero</a>, who died after being strapped to a stretcher by Chicago Fire Department paramedics.</p>
<p>Guerrero died at an Uptown hospital on Aug. 31, 2022, after his heart stopped in a Chicago Fire Department ambulance. The restraints applied by paramedics contributed to his death, which was also caused by high blood pressure triggered by cocaine and alcohol use, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.</p>
<p>Guerrero’s death was ruled a homicide, records show.</p>
<p><em>Contact Heather Cherone: </em><a href="https://ift.tt/83N4pxv" target="_blank"><em>@HeatherCherone</em></a><em> | (773) 569-1863 | </em><a href="mailto:hcherone@wttw.com"><em>hcherone@wttw.com</em></a></p>
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