City Council Approves Collective Bargaining Agreement
City of Corpus Christi
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — (News Release) On Aug. 13th at the regularly scheduled City Council meeting, Mayor Paulette Guajardo and the Council approved a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the City and the Corpus Christi Professional Firefighters Association (CCPFA).
The CBA is a contract between the City of Corpus Christi and the CCPFA that governs firefighters' wages, hours, and working conditions.
Representatives from both sides have been meeting since Wednesday, March 6 and reached an agreement on Wednesday, May 1. The four-year agreement was ratified by a majority vote of the CCPFA voting membership.
The total value of the CBA is $28 Million over four years. The CBA focused on wages, including a Cost-of-Living Adjustment over the four-year contract for all firefighters as follows:
Year 1: 7% to a Cadet and starting pay for a Firefighter I with a step restructure of 3.25% between pay steps and 0.5% between ranks to all, effective October 1, 2024.
The average pay increase for all Firefighters in Year 1, including the one-time stipend for a Firefighter I, is approximately 9%.
Year 2: 3% effective October 1, 2025
Year 3: 4% effective October 1, 2026
Year 4: 4% effective October 1, 2027
The City conducted a market rate study for firefighter pay in the top seven cities in Texas by population. The contract increases firefighters’ pay to a competitive market rate.
The CBA also includes a one-time stipend in the amount of $2,000 for a Firefighter I at the 30-, 84-, and 120-month steps during the first 18 months of the agreement, along with a new driver operator assignment pay, new on-call compensation pay, new dog handler overtime pay, and a specialty assignment station pay increase.
Additionally, Firefighters enrolled in the City’s Consumer Drive Health Plan will receive an additional one-time contribution of $2,000 in FY 2025.
The CBA also includes a new Volunteer Wellness Program, which the City will fund. The Program will provide early cancer screening for all firefighters.
“As Mayor, I have worked with the City Council and City Manager to continue our commitment to support Public Safety initiatives,” Mayor Paulette Guajardo said. “This agreement demonstrates the importance we place on the safety of our residents while ensuring our firefighters are compensated fairly for the role they play in those initiatives.”
“This agreement includes a compensation plan that provides competitive pay and benefits for our firefighters,” City Manager Peter Zanoni said. “I commend both negotiation teams for working in good faith by balancing the needs of our professional Firefighters and those of our taxpayers.”
“This new contract is the result of a collaborative effort that is fair to the members of the Corpus Christi Fire Department and to the taxpayers of our city whom we have sworn to protect,” CCPFA President Johnny Stobbs said.
The new contract will take effect on October 1.
