Birmingham mayor proposes another 5% raise for city workers, more firefighters

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin this week proposed a 5 per cent cost of living adjustment for all city workers during a presentation to Birmingham City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee.

“We want to make sure we’re making the necessary investments in our people,” Woodfin told reporters Tuesday. “And they deserve it.”

The increase in the cost of living for employees, coupled with last year’s increase, would represent a combined increase of 10% since last year, when employees got a 5% increase.

“The city’s greatest asset in serving Birmingham is our people, our city employees,” Woodfin said. β€œWe appreciate your sacrifice and commitment. The City is committed to investing in all City employees and providing competitive compensation in order to retain and recruit a customer service oriented, efficient and effective workforce.

The total cost of the salary increases would be $13.5 million, the mayor’s office said.

Woodfin also announced a plan to hire 37 additional staff for the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service, at a cost of around $2.5 million.

In 2022, Birmingham Fire and Rescue responded to a record number of calls, he said.

“Our fire department continues to receive an extremely high volume of calls,” Woodfin said.

Woodfin said he does not foresee any difficulty finding candidates for the positions. β€œThey have no problem filling those positions,” he said. β€œWe are lucky that people want to become firefighters in our city.

The proposal could be presented to Birmingham City Council for approval later this month.

See also: Mayor of Birmingham offers funds for Amphitheatre, CrossPlex, Legion Field, Rickwood

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